NMFS Northeast Region

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"We need to work more closely with fishing communities to take advantage of the expertise that exists within the industry,” NOAA Fisheries Northeast Regional Administrator Pat Kurkul said in announcing the assignment. “This new office will serve as the point of contact for fishermen who want to become involved in joint research projects.” NOAA Fisheries is the agency charged with building sustainable fisheries in federal waters.

The CPC office is made possible by a $1.88 million appropriation intended to improve management of Northeast commercial groundfisheries. That appropriation also provides funds for training and paying fishery observers, scientific sampling in ports, and participation of NOAA Fisheries scientists in collaborative research. (For more information, see August 9, 1999 press release titled “Cooperative Research Program Announced”.)

"A lot of people have already done a lot of work to forge industry/science research partnerships in the Northeast,” Chu noted. “My task will be to build on those forward-looking efforts and to help establish ongoing research programs that produce good science that is useful to those working to manage our fisheries.”

"We have two goals for the Office for Cooperative Programs Coordination," Chu said. "We want to improve the science that guides fisheries management decisions, and we want to improve communications between the fishing industry and the National Marine Fisheries Service.”

Chu received a Ph. D. in zoology in 1988 from Boston University. Before working for NOAA Fisheries, he worked in the State Department and served briefly on the staff of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives. He has been a special assistant to the Northeast regional administrator of NOAA Fisheries since 1996.

In the near future, the CPC office will focus on research projects growing out of days-at-sea available through the $5 million Northeast groundfish disaster assistance program administered by NOAA Fisheries. The CPC office also will work with the New England Fishery Management Council to review proposals for other collaborative research projects.