June 1, 2018 — NOAA has opened the annual Saltonstall-Kennedy Grant competition to interested applicants despite having no idea yet how much money it will have for projects designed to help fishing communities, sustain the nation’s fisheries and expand the viability of its working waterfronts.
“We don’t know what the amount is (for distribution) because we don’t have the fiscal year 2019 budget yet,” said Susan Olsen, the Saltonstall-Kennedy manager at NOAA’s Gloucester-based Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office. “We’re moving forward as if we already have funding.”
Olsen said she didn’t have any real sense of whether this year’s funding pool will be greater or less than the $10 million the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration distributed last year.
“I’m hoping it will be level-funded,” Olsen said.
The Saltonstall-Kennedy program administrators said they are seeking applications that relate to one of three priorities: promotion, development and marketing; marine aquaculture; and support for science that maximizes fishing opportunities and employment while also sustaining marine resources.
“We encourage applicants from the fishing community and applications that involve fishing community cooperation and participation,” NOAA said in its online primer on the grants program. “We will consider the extent of fishing community involvement when evaluating the potential benefit of funding a proposal.”
Applicants may request a minimum of $25,000 for their projects, but no more than $300,000.
Read the full story at the Gloucester Times