The National Fisheries Institute’s Clam Committee has announced a sustainability partnership with the National Science Foundation.
As part of the partnership the foundation has established a five-year grant designed to help fund the new Science Center for Marine Fisheries (SCeMFiS), a public-private effort to support research on sustainable fisheries in the Mid-Atlantic and Gulf Coast regions. In creating SCeMFis the partners hope to help federal and state agencies generate the necessary scientific data to determine stock assessment and fishery health.
The National Science Foundation, an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1950, promotes the “progress of science; advances the national health, prosperity, and welfare.”
Guy Simmons of Sea Watch International and Clam Committee chairman, believes the National Science Foundation’s support of SCeMFis is a testament to their valued research.
“This additional support for SCeMFiS will add to the research available to managers and help ensure America’s clam fisheries remain healthy and robust,” said Simmons. “The fact that the NFI Clam Committee is involved in this important partnership with the National Science Foundation illustrates our members’ commitments to the long term health of the nation’s marine resources.”
Initial areas of clam research will involve survey data quality, optimal survey clam density, and spawning stock biomass. The SCeMFiS work will be directed by highly regarded fisheries scientists, Dr. Eric Powell of the University of Southern Mississippi and Professor Roger Mann of William and Mary’s Virginia Institute of Marine Science.
Established more than 20 years ago, the NFI Clam Committee helps ensure sustainability by sponsoring independent research. Members include Atlantic Shellfish, Blount Fine Foods, Galilean Seafood, J H Miles & Company, Sea Watch International and Snow’s Doxsee.
