grants

Research is an important part of our fight against marine debris. It allows us to advance our understanding of how debris impacts the environment, and improves our ability to target and address the problem in the future. Recent research has shown that marine debris, such as microplastics (plastics less than 5mm in size), can be ingested by fish and species that filter their food out of the water. In order to improve our understanding of marine debris, the NOAA Marine Debris Program supports original and hypothesis-driven research projects which focus on the potential risk to wildlife from debris exposure and ingestion.

Lost and discarded fishing gear is hazardous, and can be a difficult marine debris problem to address. Once lost, nets, lines, and traps can entangle wildlife, create major hazards to navigation, and damage sensitive and important habitats. Because gear can have few identifying characteristics, it can be difficult to track its location, or find its source. In order to reduce the impacts to coastal habitats from derelict fishing gear (DFG), the NOAA Marine Debris Program funds projects that remove and prevent the continued impacts of fishing debris.

The presence of marine debris creates numerous problems for the environment, marine life, and humans. Large marine debris presents its own unique challenges, threatening the ocean, coasts, and waterways by obstructing navigational channels, causing harm to important habitat, and diminishing commercial and recreational activities. Removing large debris requires significant financial and technical resources.

The NOAA Marine Debris Program works with partners across the country to address marine debris through several nationwide, competitive funding opportunities annually. Over the next few weeks, we will be highlighting community-based marine debris removal and research projects that were awarded grants during the past year.

Due to recent severe weather in several parts of the country, the due date for the Letters of Intent (LOI) for the NOAA Marine Debris Program’s Marine Debris Prevention grant opportunity has changed. Letters of Intent will now be due on October 5, 2017. As a reminder, applicants for the Marine Debris Prevention grant opportunity must first submit an LOI, after which only those invited to submit a full proposal will be considered for funding. Applicants will be notified by November 1, 2017 if they have been invited to submit a full proposal. For more details, visit Grants.gov.

After an intensive evaluation process, the NOAA Marine Debris Program is proud to announce the four recipients of our 2017 research awards, totaling $935,156 of funding toward marine debris research efforts. Marine debris is a relatively new field of research, and there are many opportunities to advance understanding of how debris impacts the environment. The NOAA Marine Debris Program held a nationwide competitive funding opportunity to support original, hypothesis-driven research projects focused on the ecological risk assessment, exposure studies, and fate and transport of marine debris. Check out this year's funded projects.

After an intensive evaluation process, the NOAA Marine Debris Program is proud to announce the 11 recipients of our 2017 removal awards, totaling $1,238,358 of funding toward marine debris removal efforts. Although prevention is essential in stopping marine debris at its source, removing marine debris is unfortunately necessary to address all the debris that is already out there. The NOAA Marine Debris Program offers an annual nationwide competitive funding opportunity to support projects that focus on community-based marine debris removal. Check out this year's funded projects.

The NOAA Marine Debris Program is proud to announce our “Marine Debris Removal” federal funding opportunity. This opportunity provides funding to support projects that will create long-term, quantifiable ecological habitat improvements for NOAA trust resources through on-the-ground marine debris removal activities, with priority for those targeting derelict fishing gear and other medium- and large-scale debris. Priority will be given to projects that also foster awareness of the effects of marine debris to further the conservation of living marine resource habitats, and contribute to the understanding of marine debris composition, distribution, and impacts. Eligible applicants are encouraged to apply.

The NOAA Marine Debris Program is proud to announce our “Marine Debris Prevention” federal funding opportunity. This opportunity provides funding to support eligible organizations for activities to prevent the introduction of marine debris into the marine and coastal environment. Applicants requesting funding for projects to address a specific marine debris issue, and that will actively engage these groups in hands-on personal participation, are welcome to apply. Projects focused on efforts to prevent marine debris from entering the environment through targeted behavior change will be given priority.

Prevention is the ultimate solution to marine debris. In order to tackle this pervasive problem, we must stop it at its source. Since 2013, the NOAA Marine Debris Program has offered an annual nationwide competitive funding opportunity to support projects focused on marine debris prevention through education and outreach. This year, after an intensive evaluation process, we are proud to announce the 12 recipients of our 2016 awards, totaling $684,264 of funding toward marine debris prevention efforts.

Check out this year’s funded projects.