Saving Seafood

Biden-Harris Administration, NOAA make $100 million available for habitat restoration and coastal resilience

December 6, 2024 — Today, NOAA Fisheries is announcing the availability of up to $100 million in funding for transformational habitat restoration and coastal resilience projects as part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Through this funding opportunity, NOAA will continue supporting habitat restoration approaches that enhance the resilience of coastal and Great Lakes communities — including tribes — against climate hazards.

Dedicated funding is available for U.S. tribes, Alaska Native corporations and tribal-affiliated organizations. This funding — up to 15% of the $100 million available — is the result of direct feedback from tribes, and demonstrates NOAA’s commitment to ensuring communities and tribes are integral to decision-making that affects their environment and wellbeing.

“Under the Biden-Harris Administration, the Department of Commerce has delivered historic amounts of funding for habitat restoration and coastal resilience that will help strengthen the economies of coastal communities across America,” said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. “These investments have been transformative and will continue to support Tribes and communities on the front lines of the climate crisis, sustain our nation’s fisheries and protect ecosystems from the impacts of climate change for years to come.”

Applications are due by April 16, 2025. For more information, visit the Transformational Habitat Restoration and Coastal Resilience Grants website.

NOAA Fisheries will seek proposals for projects to restore marine, estuarine, coastal or Great Lakes ecosystems. Degraded habitat is one of the largest obstacles to rebuilding sustainable fisheries and recovering threatened and endangered species. Restoration activities such as enhancing coastal wetlands and rebuilding coral reefs can strengthen both ecosystem and community resilience.

NOAA Fisheries will also prioritize projects — ranging from planning and assessments, engineering design project monitoring and capacity building — that demonstrate a broad base of stakeholder and community support. NOAA encourages projects developed with inclusive practices that incorporate meaningful strategies to engage a diverse range of community groups, including tribes and underserved communities.

“Investments in healthy coastal and Great Lakes habitats benefit fish and communities,” said Janet Coit, assistant administrator for NOAA Fisheries. “Through funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, NOAA is committed to working with partners, including tribes and underserved communities, to realize the environmental, cultural and economic benefits of habitat restoration.”

NOAA’s habitat restoration work

NOAA’s Community-based Habitat Restoration Program provides technical and financial assistance to partners across the country to develop high-quality habitat restoration projects that support our nation’s fisheries. Since its start in 1996, the Program has helped implement more than 2,200 coastal habitat restoration projects — restoring more than 94,000 acres of habitat for fish and opening more than 4,400 stream miles for fish passage.

NOAA’s habitat restoration experts also provide technical assistance and oversight to design and implement high-impact projects, and work closely in the field with our tribal, state, local and non-profit partners.

Read the full story at NOAA Fisheries

 

Feds: Habitat, dams, hatcheries keys to saving Maine salmon

April 4, 2016 — PORTLAND, Maine — The Gulf of Maine’s endangered salmon will need restored habitats, removal of dams, aggressive hatchery programs and other conservations actions if its population is to rebound, according to a federal government plan to save the fading and iconic fish.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has released a recovery plan for the Gulf of Maine salmon, listed as endangered in 2000, that is intended as a roadmap to sustainability for a fish whose populations have plummeted since the 1800s.

Recovery will take time and patience — the plan estimates 75 years and $350 million, which would have to come from some combination of federal, state and private money. The wildlife service estimates 100,000 adult salmon returned to the Penobscot River each year in the 19th century, and less than 750 of the fish returned to spawn in Maine rivers last year.

Maine’s salmon face numerous threats, and one of the biggest is the continued presence of dams that prevent them from spawning, said Dan Kircheis, a fisheries biologist with the National Marine Fisheries Service. He said there are 400 dams in the state in areas that affect salmon.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at The Gloucester Times

Trustees Propose Comprehensive Restoration Plan for the Gulf of Mexico

October 5, 2015 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Because of potential relevance to Atlantic highly migratory species fisheries and constituents, we want to make you aware of the announcement below from the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Natural Resource Damage Assessment Trustees.

The Trustees have proposed a comprehensive, integrated, ecosystem restoration plan for the Gulf of Mexico. The draft plan is based on our thorough assessment of impacts to the Gulf’s natural resources-and the services they provide-following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

The draft plan would allocate up to $8.8 billion allocated for natural resource injuries under a proposed settlement with BP. We have proposed to accept this settlement, which would resolve BP’s liability for natural resource injuries stemming from the spill.

The draft plan would allocate funds to meet five restoration goals, and 13 restoration types designed to meet these goals. The restoration types address a broad range of impacts at both regional and local scales. Together, these efforts will restore wildlife and habitat and increase recreational opportunities in the Gulf.

The five goals of the draft plan are to: 1) restore and conserve habitat; 2) restore water quality; 3) replenish and protect living coastal and marine resources; 4) provide and enhance recreational opportunities; and 5) provide for monitoring, adaptive management, and administrative oversight to support restoration implementation.

The 13 proposed restoration types are:

1. Wetlands, coastal, and nearshore habitats

2. Habitat projects on federally managed lands

3. Nutrient reduction

4. Water quality

5. Fish and water column invertebrates

6. Sturgeon

7. Submerged aquatic vegetation

8. Oysters

9. Sea turtles

10. Marine mammals

11. Birds

12. Mesophotic and benthic (lowlight and ocean floor) communities

13. Provide and enhance recreational opportunities

In proposing this plan to address the ecosystem-level injuries caused by this spill, we considered both the potential environmental benefits and impacts. The plan does not identify specific projects for each restoration type, but lays out a framework for developing future project-specific restoration plans. The public will have the opportunity to comment on these subsequent restoration plans.

The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Draft Programmatic Damage Assessment and Restoration Plan and Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement is available for public review and comment through December 4, 2015. We will hold eight public meetings where you will be able to provide comments on the draft plan and the proposed settlement with BP.