Massachusetts

American Saltwater Guides Association
Incentives for Electronic Reporting in the Massachusetts Recreational Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Fishery
Survey Massachusetts recreational bluefin tuna anglers to identify barriers to and incentives for complying with the requirement to self-report bluefin tuna landings and dead discards. Project will provide information to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries to increase reporting compliance and improve quota monitoring in this fishery and other recreational fisheries relying on self-reporting.
$45,210

Canaan Valley Institute
Coordinating Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture Strategies and Goals (multiple states)
Continue the activities of the Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture in the historic range of the species. Project will refine the strategic objectives and key conservation priorities of the Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture using the results of the recently completed status assessment of wild brook trout at the catchment scale.
$74,999

Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance
Electronic Monitoring Innovations in the New England Groundfish Fishery (MA, ME, NH, RI)
Support the implementation and advancement of electronic monitoring in the New England Groundfish fishery at an operational scale serving as a national example of the third-party audit model. Project will reduce the cost of video review, increase fishermen compliance and reduce barriers to entry for interested fishermen through on-deck innovations and advances in artificial intelligence.
$275,437

City Of Gloucester Harbormaster
Collection of Fishing Gear in Gloucester, Massachusetts
Collect and dispose of derelict fishing gear from the City of Gloucester, Massachusetts. Project will recycle or convert to energy 50 tons of fishing gear, including lobster pots, ropes and buoys.
$10,000

Connecticut River Watershed Council
Increasing Technical Assistance to Benefit Northeast Turtles on Private Working Lands (MA, NH, VT)
Provide private landowners with technical assistance to accelerate on-the-ground delivery and implementation of Farm Bill conservation programs designed to specifically benefit two Working Lands for Wildlife priority species: wood turtle and spotted turtles in the Connecticut River watershed. Project will develop 15 best management practices to improve water quality through reductions in sediment and nutrients runoff, plus riparian buffer plantings to improve habitat for rare freshwater turtles.
$100,000

Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey
Assessing Southbound Migration of Red Knots Along the Atlantic Coast (MA)
Study the southbound migration of red knots moving from Arctic breeding areas to both long and short-distance wintering areas by attaching satellite transmitters to shorebirds at Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge, Massachusetts. Project will document fine-scale movements and migratory pathways to improve management at key sites, increasing red knot protection and survival.
$45,000

Groundwork Somerville
Community Forestry for Green Jobs and Resilience in Somerville and Cambridge (MA)
Create and run a program to engage residents of Cambridge and Somerville, Massachusetts in collective urban forestry management. Project will train young people in the science and skills of urban forestry, providing an introduction to green jobs while also reducing both cities’ vulnerability to heat and flooding.
$49,428

Gulf of Maine Lobster Foundation Developing Logistics for Fishing Net 
Collection in Portland, Maine
Develop logistics for the collection of fishing nets from local New England fishermen who are looking for ways to properly dispose of their end of life nets. Project will develop locations and proper disposal options to recycle or convert to energy 280 tons of fishing gear, reducing unwanted bycatch of many marine species.
$136,610

Gulf of Maine Research Institute
Maximized Retention Electronic Monitoring the New England Groundfish Fishery (MA, ME, NH, RI)
Prepare the maximized retention electronic monitoring program for implementation in the New England groundfish fishery. Project will continue collecting data for fishing year 2021 with a focus on testing catch handling methods for high-volume fishing vessels and collaboratively identify and overcome steps necessary to implement this program through outreach and stakeholder workshops.
$500,000

Industrial Economics
Onboarding, Development, Maintenance, and Upgrading of the NFWF Resilience Data Hub
Assist in the onboarding, development, maintenance, and upgrading of the Resilience Data Hub, two systems that support data collection for NFWF resilience programs. Project will contract tasks include onboarding backlog of grantees, ongoing onboarding and technical assistance for grantees, training for NFWF Staff, development of user dashboard, maintenance of database, and upgrades.
$149,959

Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association
Piloting Electronic Monitoring in the Northern Gulf of Maine Scallop Fleet- Year Three (MA, ME, NH)
Continue developing an electronic monitoring program for the northern Gulf of Maine scallop fleet to test feasibility on small scallop vessels and demonstrate the data it provides. Project will engage three new vessels, refine protocols and processes for electronic monitoring in scallop fisheries and work closely with federal agencies to develop a viable monitoring option that works under new regulations which are expected to be implemented.
$120,960

Manomet
Managing American Oystercatchers and Minimizing Coastal Engineering Impacts Along the Atlantic Coast (multiple states)
Coordinate the American oystercatcher recovery initiative, implement best management practices for disturbance and predation management along the U.S. Atlantic Coast and Gulf Coast of Florida and develop long-term improvements in coastal engineering protocols to restore habitats critical to focal shorebird species. Project will support the goals of the Atlantic Flyway Business Plan by creating a framework for long-term protection, restoration and creation of shorebird habitat at key sites.
$189,999

Massachusetts Audubon Society
Restore Aquatic Connectivity for Eastern Brook Trout on 27 Miles of the Mahan River (MA)
Restore critical ecological functions and protect community water infrastructure vulnerable to flooding through the removal of the Lyman Pond Dam on the Manhan River, a tributary to the Connecticut River in south central Massachusetts. Project will eliminate a total barrier to upstream movement of native brook trout and anadromous fish species, protect a public source of drinking water and restore fish passage to 27 miles of previously inaccessible high quality habitat.
$80,627

Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries
Developing a Framework for Ropeless Fishing in New England (MA, ME, NH, RI)
Characterize the issues and challenges associated with the integration of on-call or ropeless fishing gear technology into New England fisheries. Project will evaluate the issues using semi-structured interviews and workshops with experts in the field, synthesize perspectives and analyze the technical, legal and socioeconomic challenges and opportunities to develop a set of recommendations for further work, including in situ testing and policy development.
$170,861

Merrimack River Watershed Council
Riparian Restoration and Water Quality Monitoring Along the Merrimack River (MA)
Restore and open public access to eleven acres of riparian and wetland habitat on a neglected riverine island and monitor and improve nearby water quality. Project will train community members to design and implement the project alongside trained local youth “Green Team” restoration crews and benefit shortnose sturgeon, Atlantic sturgeon, blueback Herring and American eel.
$39,850

New England Marine Monitoring
Kept Catch Data from Electronic Monitoring in the New England Groundfish Fishery (MA, ME, NH, RI)
Develop machine learning tools that use existing electronic monitoring data to collect information on kept catch in the New England groundfish fishery through testing three catch monitoring approaches across a variety of vessels. Project will derive kept catch data useful for science and management from video already being collected in the New England audit and maximum retention electronic monitoring programs and explore how this impacts program costs.
$225,962