2018 Fisheries Resource Monitoring Program | F17AS00028

Opportunity Information: Apply for F17AS00028

The 2018 Fisheries Resource Monitoring Program is a biennial grant competition run by the U.S. Department of the Interior through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of Subsistence Management (OSM). Its main purpose is to fund technically solid monitoring and research projects that collect, analyze, and report the kinds of fisheries data that managers need to conserve and manage subsistence fishery resources in Alaska. The program is specifically focused on producing practical information that can be used in real-world subsistence fisheries management decisions, rather than general fisheries research that is not tied to management needs.

A central priority of this opportunity is ensuring that Alaska Native and rural communities are meaningfully involved in fisheries management. In practice, that means proposals are expected to support participation by Alaska Native and rural organizations and to encourage collaboration across agencies and institutions, including Federal and State entities as well as Alaska Native, tribal, and local organizations. The program is framed as a way to build shared knowledge and coordinated management by bringing multiple partners into the process of designing and carrying out monitoring work.

The eligible work under this funding opportunity is tightly defined by geography and jurisdiction. Only studies that generate information needed for subsistence fisheries management on Federal public lands in Alaska will be considered. The notice highlights the kinds of Federal units where this applies, including National Wildlife Refuges, National Forests, National Parks and Preserves, National Conservation Areas, National Wild and Scenic River Systems, National Petroleum Reserves, and National Recreation Areas. In other words, the funded work must directly support subsistence fisheries management where Federal public lands and waters are involved; projects outside that scope, or projects that do not clearly feed into subsistence management needs, would not fit the program.

From an administrative standpoint, awards are made as cooperative agreements, which typically implies a more active Federal role in the project compared with a standard grant (for example, coordination, technical involvement, or shared oversight during project implementation). The opportunity is categorized as discretionary funding and falls under natural resources, science and technology, and other research and development. The underlying legal authorities cited for the program are the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act (16 USC 661-667(d)) and the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, ANILCA (16 USC 3101-3233), reflecting the program's conservation, coordination, and subsistence management mandates in Alaska.

The competition is presented as the single designated biennial solicitation through which multiple awards will be made. The expected scale is up to about 25 awards, with an award ceiling of $215,000 per project. Eligibility is listed as unrestricted, meaning a wide range of applicant types may apply (such as government entities, tribal organizations, nonprofits, universities, and others), subject to any additional eligibility clarifications contained in the full announcement. Key timing details in the source information include a creation date of November 22, 2016, and an original closing date of February 20, 2017, associated with the funding opportunity number F17AS00028 and CFDA 15.636.

Overall, this opportunity is best understood as a targeted Alaska subsistence fisheries monitoring program: it funds projects that deliver management-ready data for subsistence fisheries on Federal public lands, while also aiming to strengthen cooperative management and ensure Alaska Native and rural organizations are directly involved in the monitoring and decision-support work.

• The Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service in the natural resources, science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "2018 Fisheries Resource Monitoring Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.636.
• This funding opportunity was created on Nov 22, 2016.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Feb 20, 2017. (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 $215,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 25 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.

Apply for F17AS00028

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