NOAA Fisheries is recommending roughly $6.2 million in funding for state and tribal projects through its Species Recovery Grants Program. Around $3.6 million in funding is proposed for 12 new awards to eight states, a territory, and one federally recognized tribe. Another $2.6 million will support the continuation of 13 multi-year projects that were approved in prior grant cycles.
States and tribes play an essential role in conserving and recovering species. Threatened or endangered species under NOAA Fisheries’ jurisdiction may spend all or part of their lifecycle in state or tribal waters. Successfully conserving these species depends largely on working cooperatively with states and tribes. This year’s proposed projects support our state and tribal partners in a range of activities, such as:
- Assessing and monitoring endangered and threatened species presence and status, including evaluating abundance, spawning, and foraging behaviors
- Collecting demographic and genetic information to improve understanding of population distribution, habitat use, and impacts of human threats
- Increasing the number of individuals for outplanting by improving captive reproduction, health, and survival of an endangered species
- Assisting with animal stranding responses
- Determining the importance and assessing threats of specific prey populations to the diet of endangered species
- Engaging the public in conservation of Endangered Species Act-listed species
We identified projects that would benefit the species identified in our “Species in the Spotlight” initiative as a priority in our funding decisions. Recommended and ongoing projects will address five “Species in the Spotlight”:
- Cook Inlet beluga whale distinct population segment (DPS)
- White abalone
- Atlantic salmon Gulf of Maine DPS
- Southern resident killer whale DPS
- Hawaiian monk seals
View the complete list of recommended and funded projects to states
View the complete list of recommended and funded projects to tribes
Original source can be found here.
