NOAA Awards More Than $1.8 Million To The South Carolina Department Of Natural Resources For Fisheries Research

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration granted $1,814,940 to the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources for cooperative fishery research. NOAA is an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

The grant will support a project to assess and identify high priority commercial and recreational fisheries management research needs, including those related to the organisms and habitats upon which those fisheries depend. The grant will also support efforts to implement projects that address those needs. Research will be carried out by SCDNR personnel, commercial and recreational fishermen and researchers from universities.

“This grant is good news for South Carolina's future. We need a far better understanding of what's happening with the fish population to ensure that years from we have healthy commercial and recreational fishing opportunities,” said Senator Fritz Hollings (D-S.C.).

“This NOAA grant will build cooperation between federal and state agencies, academia and the public to provide fishery managers with the tools that they need to accurately manage wild populations and habitats,” said retired Navy Vice Adm. Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Ph.D., under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. “NOAA and the Bush Administration are working to improve the understanding of our environment and to strengthen local fisheries research initiatives like those of the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources.”

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’s goals and programs reflect a commitment to these basic responsibilities of science and service to the nation for the past 34 years.

NOAA 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. To learn more about NOAA, please visit http://www.noaa.gov.