NOAA Fisheries and the National Fish and Wildlife Service (NFWF) have announced USD 3.4 million (EUR 2.9 million) in grants to support data modernization and electronic data collection.
“By investing in emerging technologies, NOAA is continuing to provide fishermen with the high-tech tools necessary to ensure the long-term sustainability of our nation's seafood sources,” NOAA Fisheries Assistant Administrator Eugenio Piñeiro Soler said in a release. “These emerging technologies will improve data and increase the speed and transparency of information, allowing both managers and the fishing community to respond more effectively to the evolving challenges of our marine ecosystems.”
The funding was provided by the Electronic Monitoring and Reporting Grant Program (EMR Grant Program), a 2015 program that leverages matching contributions to support data improvements for the nation’s fisheries. Since its establishment, the EMR Grant Program has awarded USD 40.6 million (EUR 34.6) and leveraged USD 58.6 million (EUR 50 million) in matching contributions. The 2026 grants will leverage USD 4.2 million (EUR 3.6 million) in matching contributions, resulting in a total financial impact of USD 7.6 million (EUR 6.5 million).
According to NFWF, the grants will be spread across 13 projects that “will expand proven electronic monitoring and reporting to new fisheries, deploy artificial intelligence onboard vessels to make electronic data collection more efficient, and improve the timeliness of data collection in some of the nation’s largest fisheries.”
“Innovative technologies have always helped advance the science and practice of wildlife conservation,” NFWF Executive Director and CEO Jeff Trandahl said in a release. “The grants announced today will support the continued development of advancements in the use of artificial intelligence and other technologies to modernize how vital fisheries data are collected, shared, and analyzed. These conservation investments will benefit vital marine wildlife populations while also supporting more effective and efficient fishery management that will benefit the people and communities that rely upon them for their way of life.”
