NOAA AWARDS $125,000 TO OCEAN TRUST
Grant Will Enhance Fishing Industry Role In Habitat Restoration Efforts

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration awarded $125,000 to Ocean Trust as part of a three-year partnership to engage fishing and seafood communities in marine habitat restoration. The partnership funds projects throughout the United States.

The award to Ocean Trust marks the continuation of a cooperative partnership with the NOAA Community-based Restoration Center that began in 2001. Projects are implemented by various commercial fishery or seafood industry groups, including members of the National Fisheries Institute and other regional associations. Past projects completed under the partnership include restoration of oyster, soft-clam, quahog and scallop beds, wetlands, mangroves, and other coastal habitats important for anadromous and marine resources.

“The continued partnership between NOAA and Ocean Trust demonstrates our commitment to restore fisheries habitat,” said retired Navy Vice Admiral Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Ph.D., under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. “Habitat restoration is a key element of ecosystem-based management and these projects promote local stewardship of the areas that sustain our nation’s fishery resources.”

“We are happy to work with the NOAA Community-based Restoration Program and the fish and seafood industry to restore the commercial productivity of shellfish resources and coastal habitat,“ said Thor Lassen, president of Ocean Trust.

The mission of OT is to provide a balanced source of information on ocean issues and innovative solutions that bridge the issues of science, conservation, and food production for humanity.

Ocean Trust is a national conservation foundation working to bring science, conservation and food perspectives together for the sustainability of the oceans. Potential partners or sponsors interested in becoming involved in habitat and resource restoration projects should contact Ocean Trust.

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 on-the-ground 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, an agency of the U.S. Commerce Department, awards approximately $900 million in grants to members of the academic, scientific and business communities to assist 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. The agency 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. NOAA goals and programs reflect a commitment to these basic responsibilities of science and service to the nation for 35 years.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, an agency of the U.S. Commerce Department, 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. Through the emerging Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), NOAA is working with its federal partners and nearly 60 countries to develop a global monitoring network that is as integrated as the planet it observes.

On the Web:

NOAA: http://www.noaa.gov

Community-based Restoration Program: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/habitat/restoration

Ocean Trust: http://www.oceantrust.org