2009 Monkfish Research Set-Aside

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NMFS announces that the New England and Mid- Atlantic Fishery Management Councils (Councils) have set aside 500 monkfish days-at-sea (DAS) to be used for research endeavors under a research set-aside (RSA) program. NMFS is soliciting proposals for research activities concerning the monkfish fishery for fishing year 2009 (May 1, 2009-April 30, 2010). Through the allocation of research DAS, the Monkfish RSA Program provides a mechanism to reduce the cost for vessel owners to participate in cooperative monkfish research. The intent of this program is for fishing vessels to utilize these research DAS to conduct monkfish related research, rather than their allocated monkfish DAS, thereby eliminating any cost to the vessel associated with using a monkfish DAS. Landings from such research trips may be sold to generate funds to help defray research costs. No Federal funds are provided for research under this notification. Rather, projects funded under the Monkfish RSA Program would be provided with additional opportunity to harvest monkfish, and the catch sold to generate income to offset research costs. Projects funded under an RSA DAS award must enhance the knowledge of the monkfish fishery resource or contribute to the body of information on which management decisions are made. The Councils and NMFS will give priority to funding research proposals in the following general subject areas: (1) Cooperative research to supplement NMFS surveys; (2) life history studies on age and growth, longevity, reproduction, and natural mortality; (3) tagging and telemetry studies to investigate short- and long-term movements and habitat use; (4) research concerning bycatch and discard mortality of target and/or non-target species; (5) trawl and gillnet gear studies concerning size and/or species selectivity and bycatch reduction (including reducing bycatch of and interactions with protected species); and (6) research concerning trophic interactions of monkfish with other species. Please note that the research subject areas listed above are not listed in order of priority. Projects that follow up or expand on previous cooperative research are encouraged and will be given additional consideration, provided such research would enhance the utility of the initial work.

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