Research Projects
The FishAmerica Foundation provides funding for research
projects that have regional or national impact on sport fishing.
National models projects make a bigger impact on the sport
of fishing. Funds are provided for research in the following
areas: fisheries management; water quality studies; habitat
studies; stock enhancement studies; economic impact studies
related to sport fishing; and tagging.
In 2006, FishAmerica awarded $80,173 in research funding
to projects that support fisheries management guidelines,
investigate habitat utilization, assess migratory behavior,
and quantify mortality patterns of national and/or regional
fisheries populations. Grants were awarded to projects
in the United States and Canada and will provide nearly $4.5
million in leverage funds through project partners and associated
funding sources.
Research Projects (2004–2006)
Nationwide
Restore America’s Estuaries received $10,000
to create the Restoration
Marketplace website. The website
links the people, resources, products and services of all
sectors of the coastal habitat restoration community to restore
one million acres of coastal and estuarine habitat by 2010.
The website provides an opportunity for the restoration community
to exchange information and ideas and a central location
to link scientists and researchers, community organizations,
restoration practitioners, tribes, governmental agencies,
businesses providing restoration-related products or services,
and other engaged in restoring essential habitat for fish
and wildlife in coastal and estuarine habitats.
Restore America's Estuaries received a $20,000 grant for
the Third National Conference on Coastal and Estuarine Habitat
Restoration, to be held December 9-13, 2006 in New Orleans,
Louisiana. The conference will bring timely national
attention to the challenges and opportunities to comprehensive
coastal ecosystem restoration throughout the U.S. The
Conference will emphasize the successes and challenges ahead
in coastal and estuarine restoration. The conference
will host 1,500 participants from all sectors of the restoration
movement: community organizations; businesses and consultants;
local, tribal, state and federal agencies; scientists and
researchers; educators; and students and volunteers. Visit www.estuaries.org for
more information.
Northeast
The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission received
a $5,745 grant to study the effect of rearing temperature
on the straying behavior of hatchery-raised trout. The project
will address the lack of fish anglers experience on the opening
day of trout season in northeast Pennsylvania. The data will
be provided to other states that share similar straying issues.
The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife received
$15,660 to determine which of three strains of brook trout
will improve survival rate and fishing in stocked public
fishing ponds. The research will evaluate the three strains
of brook trout raised in the state’s hatcheries and
available to other states. In Maine, anglers spend 4.2 million
days fishing and bring an estimated $251 million to the state’s
economy.
The Wildlife Conservation Society received a $16,300 grant
to determine the migratory behavior, distribution, and habitat
needs of adult Atlantic sturgeon along the east coast of
the United States.
Mid-Atlantic
Stripers Forever received $7,500 to commission a study on the potential economic
effects of ending commercial harvests of striped bass and allocating striped
bass to recreational harvests. The study calculated the comparative economics
of commercial versus recreational striped bass fish. The study is available
at http://www.stripersforever.org/info/southwickstudy.
Southeast
The US Forest Service received $25,000 to determine
the migration patterns, spawning activity, habitat selection,
and overall population abundance of Alabama shad to provide
a scientific basis for developing actions to restore the
population in the Pascagoula River drainage and throughout
the southeast US.
The Southeast Watershed Forum received $4,500 to create
a brochure that companion the recently published Saving
Our Southern Rivers: A Guidebook For Local River Restoration brochure.
This companion brochure will focus specifically on the reintroduction
of native fish throughout the southeast United States. The
southeastern United States has the most diverse aquatic species
than any other region in the U.S., with 45% of the nation’s
most important wetlands for fisheries, 78% of the nation’s
coastal marshes, 26,000 miles of coastal shoreline, $17 billion
in total economic output from recreational fishing (the highest
in the country) and the most licensed anglers.
The University of West Florida received a $13,873 grant
to identify the anatomical effects of rapid decompression
and the efficacy of venting on survival of juvenile red snapper
in a laboratory setting.
Northwest
Ducks Unlimited received $25,350 in 2005 and a $15,000 in 2006 to determine
and describe the use of floodplain wetlands as over-wintering habitat by
young-of-year and yearling coho and chinook salmon. Researchers will also
determine the salmonids ability to use through water-control structures for
passage in and out of the wetlands. In 2006, the grant was used to
assess movement patterns of juvenile Chinook and Coho salmon in and between
wetland areas of the Upper Columbia Estuary in Oregon and Washington.
Canada
The University of British Columbia has received
three grants totaling $38,000 to continue its study the survival
of juvenile Pacific Coho salmon and steelhead in the Howe
Sound to help national and international fisheries management
officials create strategies for reducing juvenile mortality
and increase stocks of salmonids important to recreational
fishermen. The 2006 grant was used to assess the migration
routes and possible effects of UV-B radiation on the early
marine survival of juvenile Coho salmon and steelhead in
the Cheakamus and Squamish rivers. This project is
part of the Pacific Ocean Salmon Tracking (POST) project
a regional effort in Canada and the United States.
