SEAFOOD.COM NEWS [SCOM] March 28, 2014 — Cape Ann Seafood Exchange is the lone Gloucester-based applicant that NOAA is recommending to receive funds under the long-awaited 2013 Saltonstall Kennedy Grant dispersal.
The Rogers Street business, which primarily operates as one of the city's two seafood auctions, is set to receive $391,670, pending final cost analysis and legal review by NOAA's grants management office, for its project to help build a sustainable redfish fishery and market the under-utilized species to consumers.
Cape Ann Seafood Exchange is operated by Kristian Kristensen, who took it over from the Ciulla family after a series of lawsuits. He had been a tenent of the Ciulla's before, operating Zeus packing as a successful exporter of skate wings, dogfish, and monkfish. The current project will focus on redfish.
The other auction in Gloucester is affiliated with New Bedford's BASE seafood display auction. The two auctions in Gloucester have both been holding their own as well as they can with declining volumes.
For the rest of the country educational institutions are managing the majority of the projects. They focus on the following four areas:
– reducing fisheries bycatch in the lobster, monkfish and striped bass fisheries
– ecosystem investigations involving Bluefin tuna, blue crabs, cod, lobster, mackerel and striped bass
– understanding the socio-economic issues affecting groundfish fishermen
– projects that increase utilization of fishery resources including redfish and dogfish.
NOAA said anticipates the recommended applicants will receive the grants within 30 to 60 days.
The announcement of the successful candidates has been delayed almost three months, first by the partial shutdown of the federal government last fall and then by what NOAA characterized as the sheer volume and competitiveness of the field of candidates.
Following is the list of recommended projects for the Greater Atlantic Region (New England and Mid-Atlantic). Under the Saltonstall-Kennedy Grant Program, which is administered by NOAA Fisheries, funding would be made available to provide financial assistance for research and development projects that benefit the U.S. fishing industry. NOAA Fisheries has recommended these projects for approval. They still have to be reviewed by the NOAA Grants Office.
This list was provided to by NOAA Fisheries.
Recommended for funding:
13NER028
University of New Hampshire, NH "A Multi-Trophic, All-Season Aquaculture Raft," Federal Funding: $249,762. Principal Investigators are Dr. M Robinson Swift and Michael Chambers.
Integrated multi-trophic aquaculture provides the by-products, including waste, from one aquatic species as inputs (fertilizers, food) for another. A multi-trophic raft will be developed for the cultivation of steelhead, blue mussels, and sugar kelp.
13NER077
Downeast Institute for Applied Marine Research & Education, ME "Demonstrating Shellfish Aquaculture Technology in Pilot and Commercial Scale Projects: Creating New Opportunities for Maine's Coastal Communities," Federal Funding: $348,767. Principal Investigator is Dr. Brian Beal.
To create a model shellfish management program for soft-shell clams, Mya arenaria.
13NER110
Marine Biological Laboratory, MA "Expanding Opportunities for Blue and "Gold" Mussel Farming in New England from Hatchery to Growout," Federal Funding: $373,088. Principal Investigator is Dr. Scott Lindell.
To develop hatchery and nursery technology for the improved production of blue mussels.
13NER031
Virginia Institute of Marine Science, VA "Testing Raised Foot Lines in Virginia Striped Bass Fishery: A Gear Based Method of Reducing Sturgeon Interactions in Anchored Gillnet," Federal Funding: $138,632. Principal Investigator is Thomas Murray.
Development of improved fishing practices and innovative gear technologies to reduce sturgeon interactions in the striped bass fishery.
13NER055
University of Maine, ME "Improving survivability of cusk and Atlantic cod bycatch discarded in the Gulf of Maine lobster trap fishery," Federal Funding: $229,326. Principal Investigator is Dr. Yong Chen.
To identify the time and areas where cusk and cod are likely to be caught in lobster traps; identify key factors in handling which may significantly influence the survival rates of discarded cusk and cod; evaluate the effectiveness of recompression and venting in improving the survivability of released cusk and cod discarded in the lobster trap fishery; develop a protocol to reduce the discard mortality; and to conduct an outreach program to educate stakeholders on the discarded groundfish in the lobster fishery.
13NER105
Delaware State University, DE "Conservation Engineering Within the Monkfish Gillnet Fishery: Reducing Negative Fishery Interaction Through Gear Modification and Assessing Post Release Mortality and Behavior of Atlantic Sturgeon," Federal Funding: $316,325. Principal Investigator is Dr. DeWayne Fox.
To quantify the nature of sturgeon/sink gillnet interactions through direct assessment of post-release survival and in-situ behavior observation of Atlantic sturgeon exposed to sink-gillnets.
13NER107
Marine Biological Laboratory, MA "Developing Whale and Turtle-Friendly Subtidal Aquaculture Gear," Federal Funding: $125,638. Principal Investigator is Dr. Scott Lindell.
Investigators, in collaboration with shellfish farmers, will demonstrate ways that subtidal aquaculture gear, including anchors and lines, may be modified to eliminate the risk to protected species, such as whales and turtles.
13NER005
Virginia Institute of Marine Science, VA "Genetic Tagging of Bluefin Tuna: Marker Optimization and Preliminary Assessment," Federal Funding: $107,924. Principal Investigators are Dr. Jan McDowell and Dr. John Graves.
To develop a suite of molecular markers that can be used to estimate the abundance of the western stock of Atlantic bluefin tuna.
13NER010
University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, MD "Otolith Stable Isotopes: A Natural Marker of Contingent Structure for Northwest Atlantic Mackerel," Federal Funding: $205,281. Principal Investigators are Dr. David Secor and Dr. Lee Cooper.
Project aims to better resolve the migration and range dynamics of Northwest Atlantic mackerel through the development of otolith stable isotope markers (δ13C, δ18O, and δ2H) to track the migration patterns.
13NER016
Virginia Institute of Marine Science, VA "Laboratory Studies on the Effect of Temperature on Epizootic Shell Disease in the American Lobster, Homarus Americanus," Federal Funding: $279,492. Principal Investigator is Dr. Jeffrey Shields.
To understand and quantify how temperature affects lobsters with epizootic shell disease, so as to better understand the disease dynamics in light of the increasing variability in ocean water temperature in the region.
13NER044
University of Maine, ME "The Effects of Regional Temperature Cycles on the Development and Disease Susceptibility of the American lobster (Homarus americanus)," Federal Funding: $249,516. Principal Investigators are Dr. Heather Hamlin, Deborah Bouchard, Dr. Robert Bayer, Dr. Ian Bricknell and Dr. Anne Lichtenwalner.
The project goal is to examine the hypothesis that increasing ocean temperature is a causative agent in the population decline of lobsters in Southern New England.
13NER058
Smithsonian Institution, DC "Nursery Habitat Contributions to the Chesapeake Blue Crab Spawning Stock," Federal Funding: $323,341. Principal Investigator is Dr. Matthew Ogburn.
To generate information on the relative nursery value of sub-estuaries of Chesapeake Bay with a particular focus on their contribution to the reproductive output of the blue crab spawning stock.
13NER069
The Nature Conservancy, MA "Ecosystem Studies of Atlantic Cod Spawning Aggregations in Relation to Fisheries Interactions Using Novel Active and Passive Acoustic Approaches," Federal Funding: $400,000. Principal Investigator is Christopher McGuire.
To provide a detailed description of the spatial and temporal extent of winter cod spawning activity in Massachusetts Bay.
13NER111
Gulf of Maine Research Institute, ME "Continuation of the Maine Inshore Acoustic Herring Survey: Collaborative Research to Support the Maine Lobster Industry," Federal Funding: $385,263. Principal Investigators are Dr. Graham Sherwood, Adam Baukus and Curt Brown.
Project activities would support continuation of an ongoing acoustic herring survey being conducted in Maine's inshore waters for an additional two years. Information gathered provides direct and quantitative estimates of herring abundance in State waters.
13NER116
Gulf of Maine Research Institute, ME "Ecological Diversity of Atlantic Cod in the Gulf of Maine Fishery and Its Role in Resiliency of a Fishery," Federal Funding: $332,741. Principal Investigators are Dr. Lisa Kerr, Dr. Graham Sherwood, Dr. Steve Cadrin, Dr. Adrienne Kovach, and Captain David Goethel.
To characterize the ecological diversity (i.e., genetic variation, habitat use, and spatial behavior) of two major spawning complexes of Atlantic cod in the Gulf of Maine and evaluate how the fishery interacts with these groups of fish.
13NER114
Northeastern University, MA "Assessing Social Impacts in Groundfish Fishing Communities," Federal Funding: $236,785. Principal Investigators are Dr. Jonathan Grabowski and Dr. Steven Scyphers.
Working directly with New England groundfish industry stakeholders and fishing communities, investigators will conduct an integrative research study and intervention program to document and mitigate the social and psychological consequences resulting from the Northeast groundfish fishery disaster.
13NER006
University of Connecticut, CT "Harmful Algal Blooms: A Compendium Desk Reference," Federal Funding: $217,865. Principal Investigator is Dr. Sandra Shumway.
This proposal will result in a publication that summarizes decades of research in the field of harmful algal bloom science.
13NER026
Cape Ann Seafood Exchange, Inc., "Sustaining Redfish," Federal Funding: $391,670. Principal Investigator is Gerald McCarthy.
The goal of this project is to build a sustainable, fully utilized fishery for Gulf of Maine harvested redfish (Sebastes fasciatus). Efforts undertaken to realize the full market potential value of this underutilized species include creating the capacity to process and market whole redfish fresh and frozen fillets that are competitively prices for new domestic and international markets.
13NER042
Rutgers the State University of New Jersey, NJ "Collecting Fishery Dependent Data on the Developing Offshore Whelk fishery in the Mid-Atlantic Bight and Using HabCam to Estimate Relative Abundance," Federal Funding: $262,940. Principal Investigators are Dr. Daphne Munroe and Dr. Eleanor Bochenek.
This project will collect information on relative abundance of offshore whelk in the Mid-Atlantic Bight over the fishery range using HabCam images from the Northeast Fisheries Science Center scallop survey, collect baseline fishery dependent data on offshore whelk biology and population demographics, and investigate the potential of new locations to support expansion and development of the fishery.
13NER051
University of Rhode Island, RI "Bioconversion of Squid and Scallop Processing Byproducts into Specialty Aquaculture Feed Ingredients Employing Energy Efficient Hydrolysis and Low-Cost Drying Processes," Federal Funding: $279,544. Principal Investigators are Dr. Chong Lee and Dr. David Bengtson.
The goal of this project is to develop innovative ways for complete utilization of squid processing byproducts and scallop for specialty aquaculture feed ingredients.
13NER052
University of New England, ME "Optimum Utilization of Spiny Dogfish, Squalus acanthias, through Industry Partnerships and Product Development and Marketing," Federal Funding: $245,246. Principal Investigators are Dr. Barry A. Costa-Pierce, Eric Brazer, and Nancy Civetta.
To increase domestic demand for consumption of fillets by educating consumers and creating improved domestic demand for this underutilized species.
This story originally appeared on Seafood.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.