Pollock Conservation Cooperative Research Center

Announcement of Availability of Funds-- 2006

This RFP is from a previous year and is not current. For the current year's RFP, click here.

Proposals due Friday, 14 October 2005 by 5:00 pm AST

The Pollock Conservation Cooperative Research Center (PCC Research Center) at the University of Alaska Fairbanks announces an opportunity for funding of marine research in the North Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea. Proposals, including an original with all required institutional signatures, 10 copies, and an electronic file, must be received by 5:00 pm AST, 14 October 2005. Send the electronic format proposal (MS Word or PDF) to carter@sfos.uaf.edu, or with proposal hard copies to:

Pollock Conservation Cooperative Research Center
School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences
University of Alaska Fairbanks
P. O. Box 757220
Fairbanks, AK 99775-7220

Submitters will be notified upon receipt of proposals. Award decisions will be made by February 15, 2006.

Funding for the PCC Research Center is provided by members of the Pollock Conservation Cooperative (PCC), a fishing cooperative of companies that operate catcher/processors in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands pollock fishery: Alaska Ocean Seafood, LP; American Seafoods Company, LLC; Arctic Storm, Inc.; Glacier Fish Company, LLC; Highland Light Seafoods, LLC; Starbound, LLC; Trident Seafoods Corporation.

For the 2006 funding cycle, the Center anticipates having a total of $325,000 available for projects.

The PCC Research Center was established in February 2000 and seeks to improve knowledge about the North Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea through research and education, focusing on the commercial fisheries of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands. The Center provides:

• (1) grants and fellowships to faculty and graduate students for research on pollock, other groundfish species, the fisheries for these species, and on marine mammals;
• (2) funding for marine education, technical training, and equipment; and
• (3) funding for research in the area of marine resource economics.

While proposals in any of the above areas will be accepted, the PCC Research Center annually identifies subjects of particular interest and gives the highest consideration to proposals within these areas.

PCCRC Research Priorities for 2006

For the 2006 funding cycle, the PCC Research Center is especially interested in trying to improve knowledge through research proposals that address:

• 1. The sustainability of the northern fur seal and other marine mammals, and identification of factors influencing their population dynamics, including a literature review of studies assessing environmental conditions and other factors that may be affecting northern fur seals in the North Pacific;
• 2. Development of a detailed plan and methodology for the benthic mapping of the Aleutian Islands, including in particular the development and/or evaluation of cost-efficient methods for large area mapping of habitats of species of particular importance to the North Pacific commercial fisheries;
• 3. Improvements in fishery stock assessment models, sampling methods and surveys, and management measures, particularly with regard to:
  • a) research which explores a range of management options to protect rockfish from potential overfishing (proposals may advance methods to identify rockfish refugia and habitat areas of particular concern; to better estimate rockfish biomass, and/or other research and management strategies with the potential to safeguard target and non-target rockfish species); and
  • b) the assessment of important non-target species stocks (e.g., large sharks, skates, and squids) and the assignment of species to stock assemblages;
• 4. Alaska pollock stock dynamics, including: (a) fisheries interactions and the concept of localized depletions; (b) general environmental factors affecting pollock stock abundance; and (c) the interrelationship (if any) between the Pollock fishery in Russian waters and the status of Pollock stocks in the Eastern Bering Sea;
• 5. A comparison of the physical and biological features of the Aleutian Islands and Bering Sea with a primary focus on species of commercial significance, as a basis for evaluating the ecological exclusivity of these two ocean areas and the appropriate FMP management structure; and
• 6. Assessments of regime changes and other factors affecting marine mammal populations of the Gulf of Alaska, Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands, based on traditional ecological knowledge of coastal community elders and commercial fishermen.

Proposal Review Process

Proposals to the Center will be peer reviewed, then prioritized by a six-member Advisory Board, which is comprised of three members representing the PCC, one member representing fisheries management agencies, and two members representing the University of Alaska Fairbanks. The Dean of the UAF School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences reviews the PCC Research Center Advisory Board recommendations and selects the projects to be funded. The PCC Research Center welcomes projects with funding from multiple sources.

Program Reporting Requirements

Annual progress reports and a final report will be required of all projects, in electronic format, in MS Word and PDF. Final reports must be accepted by the Dean of the UAF School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences and must be submitted no less than 15 days prior to the end of the project. All principal investigators will be required to present research updates at a January PCC Research Center Advisory Board meeting in Alaska. PI’s may also be asked to present reports at the Alaska Marine Science Symposium held in Anchorage concurrently with the Advisory Board meeting. Failure to meet reporting requirements in a timely manner may result in withheld reimbursements.

Proposal Content

At least one principal investigator on each project must be faculty, staff or affiliate of the University of Alaska. Proposals must be submitted through the University of Alaska. Proposals are limited to 15 pages with 1-inch margins (minimum) and type size no smaller than 10 point. All sections listed below except References and CVs (and figures) are to be included in the 15-page limit:

• Signature page
• Cover page
• Abstract
• Background and relevance to research priorities
• Objectives/Hypotheses
• Methods/Analyses
• References
• Timeline including work schedule and reporting deadlines
• Curriculum vitae for each principal investigator (limited to 2 pages each)
• Budget justification/Summary

• Budget including personnel, travel (include annual presentations), services, supplies,
  equipment, graduate tuition, and subcontracts (must have appropriate signatures)

Special Considerations:

• PCC Research Center awards cannot support indirect costs.
• PCC Research Center awards are contingent upon evidence of UAF Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) authorization where appropriate.