June 25, 2015

Department of Fisheries Oceanography research

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has awarded SMAST $956,000 under the 2014-2015 Saltonstall-Kennedy (S-K) Grant Program for six projects that help build and maintain sustainable fisheries.

Saltonstall-Kennedy grants, administered by the U.S. Department of Commerce, fund projects that address the needs of fishing communities. SMAST research on scallop health and physiology, new methods for avoiding bycatch of sensitive species, and improving stock assessments were among the projects awarded S-K funds.

Professor Geoffrey Cowles received $131,491 for his use of archival tagging data to develop geolocation methodologies for North Atlantic groundfish. Professor Pingguo He received two awards for projects in the Georges Bank Haddock Fishery: $247,502 to reduce the catch of juvenile haddock and cod, and $233,535 to reduce flounder bycatch. Professor Emeritus Dan Georgianna received $299,551 for his project combining fishermen’s knowledge to locate, evaluate, and predict gray meat outbreaks.

In two subawards for projects with the New England Aquarium Corporation, Associate Professor Steve Cadrin received $14,273 to estimate the discard mortality rate and develop catch-and-release guidelines for haddock in the Gulf of Maine; and $29,688 to reverse the acute effects of barotraumas and increase the post-release survival of cusk.

Participating researchers also include Susan Inglis, research associate; Gavin Fay, assistant professor; Kevin Stokesbury, professor and chair; Doug Zemeckis, PhD student; and Chang Liu, PhD student.