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The NOAA Marine Debris Program, authorized in the Marine Debris Research, Prevention, and Reduction Act, codified at 33 U.S.C. 1951-1958, provides funding to support locally-driven, marine debris prevention, assessment, and removal projects that will benefit coastal habitat, waterways, and NOAA trust resources. Funding for this purpose comes through the NOAA Marine Debris Program as appropriations to the Office of Response and Restoration, National Ocean Service. Projects awarded through this grant competition will implement effective, on-the-ground marine debris removal activities, with priority for those targeting medium- large-scale debris, including derelict fishing gear. Projects should also provide benefits to coastal communities, and create long-term ecological habitat improvements for NOAA trust resources. Through this solicitation NOAA identifies marine debris removal projects, fosters awareness of the effects of marine debris to further the conservation of living marine resource habitats, and contributes to the understanding of marine debris composition, distribution and impacts. Successful proposals through this solicitation will be funded through cooperative agreements. Funding of up to $2,000,000 is expected to be available for Community-based Marine Debris Removal Project Grants in FY2016. Typical awards will range from $50,000 to $150,000

The NOAA Marine Debris Program, authorized in the Marine Debris Act, codified at 33 U.S.C. 1951-1958, supports the development and implementation of locally-driven, marine debris prevention, assessment, and removal projects that benefit coastal habitat, waterways, and NOAA trust resources. Projects awarded through this grant competition will create long-term, quantifiable ecological habitat improvements for NOAA trust resources through on-the-ground marine debris removal activities, with priority for those targeting derelict fishing gear and other medium- and large-scale debris. Projects should also foster awareness of the effects of marine debris to further the conservation of living marine resource habitats, and contribute to the understanding of marine debris composition, distribution and impacts. Successful proposals through this solicitation will be funded through cooperative agreements. Funding of up to $2,000,000 is expected to be available for Marine Debris Removal grants in Fiscal Year 2019. Typical awards will range from $50,000 to $150,000. Funding for this grant competition comes through the NOAA Marine Debris Program as appropriations to the Office of Response and Restoration, National Ocean Service

The NOAA Marine Debris Program (MDP), authorized in the Marine Debris Act (33 U.S.C. 1951-1958), provides funding to support eligible organizations to conduct research directly related to marine debris through field, laboratory, and modeling experiments. The MDP invites applications for research funding in any of three areas of focus: research that explores the ecological risk associated with marine debris and determines debris exposure levels; research that examines the fate and transport of marine debris; and/or research that quantifies habitat impacts resulting from marine debris and the gains in ecosystem services that result when debris is removed. Projects may address one or more of these research priorities and should be original, hypothesis-driven projects that have not previously been addressed to scientific standards. Successful proposals through this solicitation will be funded through cooperative agreements. Funding of up to $1,500,000 is expected to be available for Marine Debris Research grants in Fiscal Year 2019 (FY19). Typical awards will range from $150,000 - $250,000. Funding for this grant competition comes through the NOAA Marine Debris Program as appropriations to the Office of Response and Restoration, National Ocean Service.

The National Marine Fisheries Service (hereinafter, "NMFS") recognizes the unique importance of marine mammals to Alaska Native Organizations (hereinafter, "ANOs") and values ongoing efforts by Alaska Native Tribes and ANOs to conserve and protect subsistence species under NMFS' jurisdiction. Pursuant to 16 U.S.C. § 1388, NMFS may provide Federal assistance to ANOs to conserve marine mammals and to promote co-management of Alaska Native subsistence use of such mammals under NMFS' jurisdiction. This assistance, provided in the form of cooperative agreements, may be used to support conservation of marine mammals utilized for subsistence purposes by Alaska Natives. Funded activities may include development and implementation of species management, subsistence harvest monitoring, subsistence harvest sampling, scientific research, and public education and outreach. Proposed activities should address priority actions identified in an Endangered Species Act Recovery Plan or Marine Mammal Protection Act Conservation Plan where applicable and the priorities identified within this federal funding opportunity. Tribally-Authorized ANOs with a signed agreement for co-management with NMFS are eligible to apply under this solicitation. Proposals focusing on marine mammals under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will not be considered for funding under this grant program. This document describes how to prepare and submit proposals for funding in fiscal year (hereinafter, "FY") 2015 and how NMFS will determine which proposals will be funded. This announcement should be read in its entirety, as some information has changed from the previous year.

The NOAA Marine Debris Program, authorized in the Marine Debris Act (33 U.S.C. 1951-1958), provides funding to support eligible organizations to educate the public about the issue of marine debris through dedicated activities to prevent the introduction of marine debris. Funding for this purpose comes through the NOAA Marine Debris Program as appropriations to the Office of Response and Restoration, National Ocean Service.

The principal objective of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Habitat Blueprint - Coastal and Marine Habitat Focus Area Grants solicitation is to identify and support comprehensive and cooperative habitat conservation project(s) in NOAA Habitat Focus Areas (HFAs) that sustain resilient and thriving marine and coastal resources, communities, and economies. Proposals submitted under this solicitation will be selected based on their ability to demonstrate success in achieving the NOAA Habitat Blueprint's primary objectives within three newly-selected HFAs - Biscayne Bay, FL; Puerto Rico's Northeast Reserves and Culebra Island, and Kachemak Bay, AK. These objectives vary from region to region, but they all effectively protect and/or restore high-priority habitat for managed fisheries, protected species, and other coastal and marine life; foster resilient coastal communities; advance habitat science; and lead to increased socio-economic benefits. HFA - specific objectives are identified in this federal funding opportunity, and successful proposals will achieve one or several objectives by: 1) addressing a habitat-based issue/concern contributing to the loss or deterioration of coastal resiliency or marine habitats for target managed or protected species (e.g. fish, marine mammals, sea turtles, corals); 2) identifying the project's outcomes and goal(s) and describing in detail the actions and project(s) to be undertaken to achieve those goals; and 3) describing the measurable impact on the issue/concern, target species, or resource, including proposed evaluation techniques. Proposals selected for funding through this solicitation will primarily be funded through cooperative agreements. Two-year cooperative agreement awards will be considered, and additional releases of funds may be used to fund selected proposals through FY16 without further competition. Awards are dependent upon FY15-FY16 congressional appropriations. NOAA anticipates appr

The Marine Turtle Conservation Fund (MTCA) is soliciting proposals for the conservation of marine turtles (Chelonia mydas, Caretta caretta, Dermochelys coriacea, Eretmochelys imbricata, Lepidochelys olivacea, Lepidochelys kempii) throughout their range outside of the United States and its territories. The U.S. Government enacted the Marine Turtle Conservation Act of 2004 in response to the decline of many marine turtle populations worldwide and the serious threats to their long-term survival. The primary purpose of the Act is to provide financial support for projects that conserve nesting populations and habitat and address other threats to the survival of marine turtles in foreign countries.

The National Sea Grant College Program was enacted by U.S. Congress in 1966 (amended in 2008, Public Law 110-394) to support leveraged federal and state partnership that harness the intellectual capacity of the nation's universities and research institutions to solve problems and generate opportunities in coastal communities. The 2019 NMFS-Sea Grant Fellowship Program in Marine Resource Economics expects to award one new Ph.D. Fellowship each year to students who are interested in careers related to the development and implementation of quantitative methods for assessing the economics of the conservation and management of living marine resources. This fellowship can provide support for up to three years. Fellows will work on thesis problems of public interest and relevance to National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) under the guidance of NMFS mentors at participating NMFS Science Centers or Offices. The NMFS-Sea Grant Fellowship in Marine Resource Economics meets NOAA's Healthy Oceans goal of "Marine fisheries, habitats, biodiversity sustained with healthy and productive ecosystems." The expected annual award per Fellow will be $48,000 (Federal plus matching funds), jointly funded by NOAA Fisheries and Sea Grant.

Healthy and productive fisheries are an essential component of the U.S. economy. There is increasing concern about the impacts of climate variability and change on fish stocks, fisheries, and marine ecosystems in the U.S. Climate variability and change influences many parameters (e.g. extreme events, winds, ocean temperatures, stratification, currents, coastal precipitation, inundation, etc.) that directly and indirectly affect marine ecosystem conditions including the abundance, distribution, and productivity of fish stocks that support economically important fisheries. Sustainable fisheries management in a changing climate requires an improved understanding of how climate, fishing, and other stressors interact to affect fish stocks (including their habitats and prey), fisheries and fishing-dependent communities. To address these issues of growing concern, in 2014 the Office of Atmospheric Research (OAR) Climate Program Office and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Office of Science and Technology launched a new partnership to advance understanding of climate-related impacts on fish or other species that support economically important fisheries and fishing communities. The goal is to inform sustainable fisheries management and promote resilience of the nation's fish stocks and fisheries in a changing climate. For FY17, this OAR/NMFS partnership, through the Coastal and Ocean Climate Applications (COCA) Program, will continue to take a regional approach to improving the resilience and adaptation of fisheries in a changing climate by soliciting proposals under two competitions. The first competition solicits proposals for projects in the California Current Large Marine Ecosystem (CCLME) and the second competition solicits proposals for projects in the Northeast US Continental Shelf Large Marine Ecosystem (NESLME).

The Challenger Society has members in Universities, research institutes, regulatory agencies and more widely in the UK and indeed worldwide. The society thereby is the main academic society representing the UK academic marine research community. It also has strong links to and members with the UK marine technology sector and policy community. The UK marine science community is strong, large and world-leading with its ships and scientists operating around the world. The Society was founded in 1906 and over a century later brings together scientists working and researching in all areas of the marine sciences.

The NOAA Marine Debris Program, authorized in the Marine Debris Research, Prevention, and Reduction Act (33 U.S.C. 1951 et seq.) as amended by the Marine Debris Act Amendments of 2012 (P.L. 112-213, Title VI, Sec. 603, 126 Stat. 1576, December 20, 2012), provides funding to catalyze the implementation of locally-driven, community-based marine debris prevention, assessment, and removal projects that will benefit coastal habitat, waterways, and NOAA trust resources.

NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA/NMFS) is soliciting proposals for the FY 2015 NOAA's Marine National Monument Program Grants Funding Opportunity. In 2009, three Marine National Monuments (MNMs) were designated by Presidential Proclamation to protect the relatively undisturbed marine ecosystems that are flourishing with healthy coral reefs, large numbers of apex predators, fish biomass, and seabirds. Management plans for the Marianas Trench MNM, Rose Atoll MNM, and Pacific Remote Islands MNM are in preparation. These plans will guide management to preserve and protect the resources in these isolated locations. NOAA is soliciting proposals for projects to fulfill the objectives of the Proclamations and MNM management goals.

The Fellowship Program expects to award two new Ph.D. Fellowships each year to students who are interested in careers related to the development and implementation of quantitative methods for assessing the economics of the conservation and management of living marine resources. Fellows will work on thesis problems of public interest and relevance to National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) under the guidance of NMFS mentors at participating NMFS Science Centers or Offices. The NMFS-Sea Grant Fellowship in Marine Resource Economics meets NOAA's Healthy Oceans goal of "Marine fisheries, habitats, biodiversity sustained with healthy and productive ecosystems." The expected annual award per Fellow will be $46,000 (Federal plus matching funds), which is funded jointly by NOAA Fisheries and Sea Grant.

The Marine Fisheries Initiative (MARFIN) is a competitive Federal assistance program that funds projects seeking to optimize research and development benefits from U.S. marine fishery resources through cooperative efforts involving the best research and management talents to accomplish priority activities. Projects funded under MARFIN provide answers for fishery needs covered by the NMFS Strategic Plan, available from National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), particularly those goals relating to: rebuilding over-fished marine fisheries, maintaining currently productive fisheries, and integrating conservation of protected species and fisheries management. Funding priorities for MARFIN are formulated from recommendations received from non-scientific and technical experts and from NMFS research and operations officials. With the long-term planning capabilities available through the Southeast Data Assessment and Review (SEDAR) process, the priorities are selected to coordinate assessment needs with this solicitation. There is no preference between short-term and long-term projects.

The Graduate Fellowship Program awards at least two new PhD fellowships each year to students who are interested in careers related to marine ecosystem and population dynamics, with a focus on modeling and managing systems of living marine resources. The emphasis will be on the development and implementation of quantitative methods for assessing marine ecosystems, for assessing the status of fish, invertebrate, and other targeted species stocks, and for assessing the status of marine mammals, seabirds, and other protected species. Fellows will work on thesis problems of public interest and relevance to NMFS under the guidance of NMFS mentors at participating NMFS Science Centers or Laboratories. The NMFS-Sea Grant Fellowships in Population and Ecosystem Dynamics meets NOAA's Mission goal of "Protect, Restore and Manage the Use of Coastal and Ocean Resources Through Ecosystem-Based Management".

The USFWS is seeking proposals on behalf of the Aleutian and Bering Sea Islands Landscape Conservation Cooperative hereafter shown as ABSI LCC. The Mission of the ABSI LCC is to promote coordination, dissemination, and development of applied science to inform conservation of natural and cultural resources in the face of climate change and other landscape scale stressors. This Notice of Funding Availability has multiple Topics. For each the following topics we envision research efforts will primary consist of syntheses and modelling based on existing data and/or climate projections but we are also interested in possible proposals involving field research if leveraging of that existing work sufficiently addresses one or more of our topics. The following four topic areas have been identified by the ABSI Steering Committee as key information needs for managers and communities in the ABSI region relative to climate change: Topic 1: We are interested in an evaluation of how climate change might disrupt trophic function important for key prey species of importance to marine mammals. We are specifically interested in an exploration of shifts in timing and spatial distribution of primary and secondary productivity in areas important to marine mammal species. Topic 2: We want to understand how climate change might facilitate the expansion of parasites, diseases, or other pathogens in marine species important to human communities within the ABSI region. We are interested in syntheses, modelling, projections, etc. that specifically identify climatic thresholds (e.g., ocean temperatures or sea ice extent) that define the ranges of pathogens and the potential for those ranges to change or expand given future projected conditions. We are particularly interested in projects in this topic area that focus on pathogens that affect marine species important to subsistence harvest practices and human health in the region. Topic 3: We want to understand the potential negative effects of c

Marine science increasingly demonstrates the value of marine protected areas (MPAs) for biodiversity, the improvement of fisheries management, and other important ecosystem services. Many nations have committed to designating 10 percent of their waters as marine protected areas, with some nations committing to 30 percent. To support the designation of MPAs, the Waitt Foundation has issued a Request for Proposals that aims to identify "shovel ready" MPA projects where six to twelve months of additional targeted funding will result in the creation of legally-binding MPAs that have the political and social support necessary for implementation success.

The National Marine Fisheries Service (hereinafter, "NMFS") is soliciting competitive applications for the fiscal year 2015 Partnerships for Hawaiian Monk Seal Recovery and Marine Mammal Response. Projects are being solicited to support specific programmatic activities related to promoting the recovery of endangered Hawaiian monk seals and supporting responses to marine mammal strandings in the main Hawaiian Islands and US Territories.

MASNA is a non-profit organization composed of marine aquarium societies and individual hobbyists from North America and abroad, totaling several thousand individuals. MASNA operates from a central Board of Directors elected each year by the delegates from the member societies at the Marine Aquarium Conference of North America, (MACNA). This year there are two scholarships available: one scholarship for a college undergraduate student and one scholarship for a college graduate student.

The National Marine Fisheries Service (hereinafter, "NMFS") is responsible for the stewardship, conservation, and management of pinniped species in Alaska, including the Steller sea lion, Northern fur seal, ringed seal, bearded seal, spotted seal, ribbon seal, and harbor seal. Two of these pinnipeds are currently listed under the Endangered Species Act: the endangered western Distinct Population Segment (DPS) of Steller sea lions and the threatened Arctic subspecies of ringed seals (a third species, the Beringia DPS of bearded seals, was also listed as threatened but the listing was vacated by the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska). NMFS has the responsibility to foster the recovery of these ESA-listed species and research is necessary to support our recovery programs for these species. Non-ESA-listed pinniped species or populations in Alaska are listed as strategic stocks under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, and/or are important as a subsistence resource to Alaska Natives and co-managed by NMFS and Alaska Native co-management partners. Research is also an important component to co-management of these animals. Beginning in fiscal year (hereinafter, "FY") 2015, certain priority pinniped research in Alaska will be administered through a competitively-funded, merit-based grants program. This program concerns only Alaskan pinnipeds for which NMFS bears responsibility; proposals focusing on marine mammals under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will not be considered for funding under this grant program. This document describes how to prepare and submit proposals for funding in FY 2015 and how NMFS will determine which proposals will be funded.