NOAA ANNOUNCES NEW FUNDING TO PROTECT MARINE SPECIES

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Fisheries Service is initiating a program to provide funding for voluntary marine species conservation efforts. The program is designed to start conservation efforts before the species reach threatened or endangered status under the Endangered Species Act.

Through the Proactive Species Conservation Program, NOAA Fisheries Service will provide federal assistance, in the form of grants or cooperative agreements, to support the development and implementation of conservation plans for marine and anadromous species of concern. Any state, tribal, or local entity that has management or regulatory authority over activities that affect these species is eligible to apply to this grant program.

“Such proactive conservation efforts can serve as an efficient non-regulatory, and cost-effective means of managing potentially at-risk species,” said James Lecky, director of NOAA’s Office of Protective Resources.

Proposals submitted to the PSCP should address the development and implementation of conservation plans for one or more species on the NOAA Fisheries Service’ species of concern list. The species of concern list consists of a wide diversity of species, ranging from various sharks, to smaller estuarine fish, groupers, tropical wrasses, abalones and corals. NOAA Fisheries Service created the ‘species of concern’ list in April 2004 to raise awareness of potentially at-risk species and to foster proactive conservation.

Conservation plans developed under a funded PSCP grant should include conservation efforts that address or mitigate existing threats to the species throughout all or a significant part of its range, or within a particularly vulnerable or ecologically important area of its range. Priority will be given to proposals that address threats or conservation needs across a major portion of a species’ range.

The deadline for submission of proposals is March 1, 2006. More information on this grant program and how to submit a proposal can be found on the NOAA Fisheries Service Web site at http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/concern/grant.htm.

NOAA Fisheries Service is dedicated to protecting and preserving our nation’s living marine resources and their habitats through scientific research, management and enforcement. NOAA Fisheries Service provides effective stewardship of these resources for the benefit of the nation, supporting coastal communities that depend upon them, and helping to provide safe and healthy seafood to consumers and recreational opportunities for the American public.

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 Fisheries Service: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov

NOAA: http://www.noaa.gov