According to NOAA Fisheries Service new proposals under the New England and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Councils’ Monkfish Research Set-Aside (RSA) Programme are pouring in. This is for monkfish related research activities to be conducted during the 2009 monkfish fishing year (May 1, 2009 – April 30, 2010), says NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science.
It is said that NOAA has set aside 500 monkfish days-at-sea (DAS) to be used to conduct monkfish related research activities and/or to conduct compensation fishing trips for the purpose of generating funds to pay for the cost of the research. NOAA also said that these are based on the Councils’ recommendations.
It is said that the Monkfish RSA Programme must enhance the knowledge of the monkfish fishery resource or contribute to the body of information on which management decisions are made. It is informed that the Councils and NOAA Fisheries Service will give priority to funding research proposals in the following general subject areas such as cooperative research to supplement NOAA Fisheries Service surveys; life history studies on age and growth, longevity, reproduction, and natural mortality; tagging and telemetry studies to investigate short- and long-term movements and habitat use; research concerning bycatch and discard mortality of target and/or non-target species; trawl and gillnet gear studies concerning size and/or species selectivity and bycatch reduction (including reducing bycatch of and interactions with protected species); and research concerning trophic interactions of monkfish with other species.
