NOAA Awards More Than $850,000 To The Washington Department Of Fish And Wildlife

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced a grant of $862,785 to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to support ongoing activities required under the Pacific Salmon Treaty. NOAA is an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

The grant provides support for continued research and management activities that are required to meet national commitments as part of this treaty. The Pacific Salmon Treaty is an agreement established in 1985 between the United States and Canada, to cooperate in the management, research and enhancement of Pacific salmon stocks. The research activities include planning and implementation of tagging and tag recovery programs as well as sampling and conducting counts of fishery catches and salmon spawning escapements.

“The work funded by this grant to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is an extension of NOAA’s and the Bush administration’s commitment to fulfilling our nation’s obligation to protect, manage and enhance Pacific salmon populations,” said retired Navy Vice Adm. Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Ph.D., undersecretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator.

The principal goals of the treaty are to increase production of salmon and to provide for fair harvest sharing between the two countries. The grant supports research on the migratory movements of stocks subject to interception. This research is required not only to determine the extent of interceptions by both sides with more precision, but also to provide an improved basis for conservation and enhancement.

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 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.