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NOAA05-R923 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Aja Sae-Kung 6/17/05 |
NOAA
News Releases 2005 NOAA Home Page NOAA Public Affairs |
NOAA AWARDS
$500,000 TO FISHAMERICA FOUNDATION The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced a $500,000 grant to the American Sportfishing Association’s FishAmerica Foundation as part of a three-year cooperative partnership to restore marine and anadromous fisheries habitat. The grant will continue a program between the FishAmerica Foundation and NOAA’s Restoration Center to conduct habitat restoration projects that benefit recreational sportfish throughout the coastal United States. The goal of this multi-project partnership is to implement meaningful on-the-ground habitat restoration of marine, estuarine and riparian areas. This may include habitat such as salt marshes, seagrass beds, mangrove forests, shellfish beds, and freshwater streams and rivers important to anadromous fish species for spawning and rearing. The partnership emphasizes using a hands-on, grassroots approach to restore fisheries habitat throughout coastal America. “The continued partnership between NOAA and the FishAmerica Foundation demonstrates both organizations' commitment to restoring fisheries habitat,” said retired Navy Vice Adm. Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Ph.D., under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. “These habitat restoration efforts fit into our model of ecosystem-based management, and promote local stewardship of the habitats that sustain our nation’s fishery resources.” “The restoration projects funded through this partnership help us achieve our mission of healthy fisheries and habitat, building on the long-standing efforts of the sportfishing industry to conserve fishing as a national pastime,” said Johanna Laderman, managing director, FishAmerica Foundation. “These projects meld the efforts of local communities with the industry and fisheries managers to restore habitat and ensure fishing's future." The NOAA Restoration Center Community-based Restoration Program is a financial and technical assistance program that promotes strong partnerships at the national, regional and local level to restore fisheries habitat. NOAA CRP works with organizations and government to support locally-driven habitat restoration projects in marine, estuarine and riparian areas. NOAA CRP funds habitat restoration projects that (1) offer educational and social benefits for citizens and their communities, and (2) provide long-term ecological benefits for fishery resources. Since 1996, more than 900 projects in 26 states have been implemented using NOAA funding and leveraged funding from national and regional habitat restoration partners. Each year, NOAA awards approximately $900 million in grants to members of the academic, scientific and business communities to assist the agency in fulfilling its mission to study the Earth’s natural systems in order to predict environmental change, manage ocean resources, protect life and property, and provide decision makers with reliable scientific information. NOAA goals and programs reflect a commitment to these basic responsibilities of science and service to the nation for the past 35 years. NOAA,
an agency of the U.S. Department
of Commerce, is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national
safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related
events and providing environmental stewardship of our nation’s
coastal and marine resources. |
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