FY 22-24 Fishery Management Council Coral Reef Conservation Cooperative Agreements | NOAA NMFS HCPO 2022 2007086

Opportunity Information: Apply for NOAA NMFS HCPO 2022 2007086

The FY 22-24 Fishery Management Council Coral Reef Conservation Cooperative Agreements opportunity is a NOAA funding program designed to strengthen the conservation and management of coral reef fisheries in the United States and its island jurisdictions. It is offered through the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Grant Program under the authority of the Coral Reef Conservation Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 6401-6409). The basic idea behind the solicitation is to provide multi-year support to the Regional Fishery Management Councils so they can carry out applied projects that directly improve how shallow coral reef fisheries and their habitats are understood, managed, and sustained over time.

This opportunity uses the cooperative agreement funding instrument, which means NOAA expects to be actively involved beyond simply issuing funds. In practice, NOAA partners with the Councils throughout the life of the project to help identify high-value project ideas, strengthen project design and implementation, and coordinate work with the mix of federal, state, territorial, or commonwealth authorities that share responsibility for coral reef resources. Because coral reefs are used by many groups (commercial and subsistence fishers, recreational users, local communities, conservation organizations, and management agencies), NOAA also emphasizes coordination with coral reef user groups and other stakeholders so that management improvements are practical and supported on the ground.

Funded projects are expected to fall into three broad priority areas. First, projects should produce better scientific information that can be used to improve management of shallow coral reef fisheries and associated essential fish habitat. This can include efforts that address data gaps, refine understanding of stock status or fishing impacts, or improve habitat information needed for management decisions. Second, projects should be collaborative by design, working with state and territorial fishery agencies, fishers, and local communities to build capacity and long-term support for coral reef fishery management. This focus highlights that successful reef fisheries management often depends as much on relationships, shared understanding, and local implementation capacity as it does on technical analysis. Third, projects should advance ecosystem-based fisheries management by incorporating existing data into fisheries management tools, meaning the program is looking for practical ways to turn information that already exists into models, decision-support systems, indicators, assessments, or other tools that managers can use to account for ecosystem conditions and tradeoffs.

Awards selected under this solicitation are intended to be implemented over a three-year period, reflecting the reality that meaningful improvements to fishery information, management tools, and collaborative processes often take multiple years to plan, test, refine, and integrate into routine management. For FY 2022, NOAA anticipated roughly $1.25 million total available for this program, with an expectation of about four awards. Typical award sizes were projected to range from $125,000 to $500,000 per year, with a stated annual ceiling of $500,000. Continued funding across the three-year period is not automatic; it depends on future congressional appropriations, NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program priorities, and satisfactory performance in the early years of the award.

Administratively, the opportunity is listed as a discretionary grant program under the Department of Commerce, tied to CFDA/Assistance Listing 11.441. The funding opportunity number is NOAA NMFS HCPO 2022 2007086. The notice was created on October 13, 2021, with an original closing date of January 20, 2022. Eligibility is identified as “Others” with further clarification referenced in the full announcement, but the program description makes clear that the primary intended applicants and recipients are the Regional Fishery Management Councils, since the cooperative agreements are specifically structured to support Council-led projects aimed at coral reef fisheries conservation and management.

• The Department of Commerce in the environment, natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "FY 22-24 Fishery Management Council Coral Reef Conservation Cooperative Agreements" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 11.441.
• This funding opportunity was created on Oct 13, 2021.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jan 20, 2022. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $500,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 4 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for NOAA NMFS HCPO 2022 2007086

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