NFWF Announces $3 Million in Grants to Support Electronic Monitoring and Reporting in U.S. Fisheries

Washington D.C. (June 1, 2015) — The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) today announced the first round of grant awards for the Electronic Monitoring and Reporting (EMR) Grant Program. The EMR Grant Program was launched this year to support the integration of electronic technologies into fisheries management and improve the quality, accuracy and timeliness of fishing data. The grants announced today will advance regional implementation of electronic technologies in both commercial and recreational fisheries throughout the United States.

“The Electronic Monitoring and Reporting Grant Program is an exciting new opportunity to build on the success of NFWF’s Fisheries Innovation Fund and allow us to begin applying innovative new tools at scale,” said Jeff Trandahl, executive director and CEO of NFWF. “The five grants we announce today will help fishermen and fisheries managers alike gather better, more reliable information, which is needed to ensure the long-term sustainability of U.S. fisheries.”

The five grants for 2015 total $3 million and will be matched by more than $1.46 million in additional support from the grantees. NFWF’s EMR Grant Program is supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

“We’re pleased to be collaborating with grantees to promote and support the adoption of new technologies to improve data collection efforts in a manner that can be directly incorporated into the existing management process,” said Eileen Sobeck, Assistant Administrator for Fisheries at NOAA Fisheries. “These projects demonstrate how fishermen, private industry, and NOAA Fisheries are working together to ensure we’re managing our fisheries sustainably.”

The EMR Grant Program is a new funding opportunity under the Foundation’s Fisheries Innovation Fund, which announced separate awards last month. Over the past five years, the Fisheries Innovation Fund has awarded numerous grants that have supported the development and refinement of innovative electronic technologies through small-scale pilot projects. The EMR grants announced today will significantly bolster the previous efforts of the Fisheries Innovation Fund by facilitating large-scale regional implementation of electronic monitoring and reporting technologies. Applying these technologies at scale will help fill a critical need in sustainable fisheries management.

The 2015 Electronic Monitoring and Reporting grants can be found here.

About NFWF

Chartered by Congress in 1984, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) protects and restores the nation's fish, wildlife, plants and habitats. Working with federal, corporate and individual partners, NFWF has funded more than 4,000 organizations and committed more than $2.9 billion to conservation projects. Learn more at www.nfwf.org.

About NOAA

NOAA’s mission is to understand and predict changes in the Earth's environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and to conserve and manage our coastal and marine resources. Join us on Facebook, Twitter and our other social media channels at http://www.noaa.gov/socialmedia.