Research Set-Aside programs are unique to federal fisheries in the northeast. Although the Northeast Cooperative Research Program manages them, no federal funds are provided to support the research. Instead, funding is provided annually by the sale of set-aside allocations for quota managed or days-at-sea managed fisheries.
University of Massachusetts – Dartmouth {$926,964} – High-resolution Video Survey of the Sea Scallop Resource in the Nantucket Lightship and Closed Area I Access Areas
Using the SMAST-Industry cooperative video survey on high resolution grids, this project will intensively survey six access areas across the Mid-Atlantic and Georges Bank (Delmarva and Hudson Canyon closed areas, Natucket Lightship, closed Area I and Closed Area II Access Areas, and the HAPC in the northern portion of Closed Area II) that are important to management and understandingscallop biology. This project will produce total and exploitable sea scallop biomass estimates for each area, which can be used to inform management decsions. Further it will examine habitat characteristics and the abundance, spatial distribution, size composition and recruitment pattens of sea scallops in these areas. This research would represent the tenth year in a time series of Georges Bank and Mid-Atlantic scallop population dynamics. This project was awarded 98,404 lb of scallops.
Coonamessett Farm Foundation {$798,240} – Understanding Impacts of the Sea Scallop Fishery on Loggerhead Sea Turtles Through Satellite Tagging
To build on the success of prior turtle behavioral research funded under the scallop RSA program since 2004, the project will tag an additional 15 juvenile loggerhead turtles with water-activated satellite tags. This work will entail fifteen sea days, utilizing 2 scallop vessels. The vessels will also conduct turtle sighting surveys for the duration of field operations. In addition, one vessel will be equipped with a Benthos Teledyne High Output MiniRover ROV system (Teledyne-Benthos Inc., North Falmouth, MA). The ROV will track, observe, and film loggerhead turtles to examine their in situ behaviors (e.g. feeding, diving, and breathing). The ROV is used for validating the location and quantity of sea turtle prey species in the water column and on the sea floor as well as interpreting tag data. The observed turtle behavior from both the tags and the ROV will be analyzed in context with oceanographic and weather data. This project was awarded 84,379 lb of scallops.
Read the complete list of the projects from NOAA.