National Science Foundation grant to continue work on key fishery management issues

A cooperative research center that brings together seafood industry leaders and academic experts has received a grant from the National Science Foundation to continue its work on a number of issues that impact sustainable fisheries.

The Science Center for Marine Fisheries (SCeMFiS) will use the federal money to study four issues, including how climate change affects fisheries and how to settle differences between offshore energy producers and the fishing community. 

Other research the center will perform as part of the grant will focus on management practices that keep catch limits below levels that reduce jobs and inhibit economic growth. According to a press release from the center, the key focus will be to reduce uncertainty for the commercial industry.

According to the NSF, the grant is worth USD 100,000 (EUR 88,021). Work is expected to start on 1 March and last for five years. 

“The Phase 2 grant will enable SCeMFiS to continue to fund the groundbreaking research necessary to maintain healthy fish stocks and healthy fisheries at a time when reliance on the best available science is increasingly critical,” Eric Powell, the center’s director and the principal investigator for the project, said in the release.

The new grant comes on the heels of a five-year award that led to important discoveries on the finfish and shellfish fisheries. That work included charting how surfclams shifted their habitat off the coast of New England and what effect climate change has had on he species.

Greg DiDomenico, the executive director for the Garden State Seafood Association who serves on the center’s advisory board, said in the release fishery management is only as good as the science that guides it.

“That’s why it’s so important for the fishing industry to maintain its partnership with SCeMFiS,” he said. "We need to promote the best available science.”

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