Pollock Conservation Cooperative Research Center
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Announcement of Availability of Funds for 2009
PROPOSALS DUE: Friday, October 17, 2008 by 5:00 pm ADT
The Pollock Conservation Cooperative Research Center (PCC Research Center) at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (www.sfos.uaf.edu/pcc/)announces an opportunity for funding of marine research in the North Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea. Proposals, including one original with all required institutional signatures and an electronic file, must be received by 5:00 pm ADT, October 17, 2008. Send the electronic format proposal (MS Word or PDF) to:
Denis Wiesenburg
wiesenburg@sfos.uaf.edu
Proposal hard copy with original signatures should be sent 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. Start date of the proposal is to be set no earlier than April 1, 2009. Awarding will be made on a yearly basis but faculty are encouraged to submit a multi-year budget based on project needs. Award decisions will be made by February 15, 2009.
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.
For the 2009 funding cycle, the Center has a total of up to $350,000 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, relevant to the commercial fisheries of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands.
(1) grants to faculty and research stipends to 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 2009
For the 2009 funding cycle, the PCC Research Center is especially interested in trying to improve knowledge through research and education in the following subject areas:
1. Factors Influencing the Sustainability of Steller Sea Lion Populations
Proposals to assist in the evaluation of:
- a)a) the "fishery competition hypothesis" by exploiting a diverse range of evidence using statistical maximum-likelihood modeling experiments. The recovery plan for the endangered Steller sea lion (SSL) recommends a long-term, field-based adaptive management experiment to test the fishery competition hypothesis. However, such an experiment is challenging to construct, would require 10-15 years before any conclusions could be drawn, and may not provide an unequivocal result. There are alternative approaches that may be more effective and may better align with the risk assessment framework now being used, albeit implicitly and informally, to assess the potential causes of the SSL decline. For example, existing analyses (e.g., Wolf and Mangel 2004 [www.soe.ucsc.edu/~msmangel/Steller%20final.pdf]) could be extended to incorporate state-space (or hidden process) models. What is desired is a type of meta-analysis which evaluates the likelihood of the hypothesis by combining all available data and studies, not just data from a single study.
- b) population viability analysis as a tool to assess extinction risk in the western population of Steller sea lions;
- c) natality studies as a tool to assess changes in mortality and survival in the western population of Steller sea lions.
2. Alaska Pollock Stock Dynamics
- General environmental factors affecting pollock stocks, including e.g. the impacts of global warming on stock abundance, the relationship of primary and secondary production levels and pollock recruitment, and temperature changes as they relate to pollock roe maturation.
3. Salmon Ecology in the Bering Sea
Proposals to assist in the understanding of:
- a) feeding and migration behavior of salmon in the Bering Sea;
- b) the effects of climate and water temperature on plankton production and the ocean survival of salmon;
- c) the mechanisms that affect the co-occurrence of pollock and salmon populations in the Bering Sea, e.g. food availability and predation;
- d) the occurrence of salmon diseases and their impacts on salmon survival and reproduction;
- e) the impacts of Asian hatchery-produced salmon on the survival and reproduction of wild salmon in the Bering Sea.
4. Salmon Assessment and Bycatch Reduction Technologies
Proposals to assist in the development of:
- a) technology and methods to monitor salmon returning to natal rivers including sonar, weir counting and/or other innovative means to assess in-river migration;
- b) technology and methods to identify salmon stream-of-origin;
- c) technology and/or gear modifications designed to reduce the incidental catch of salmon in the Alaska pollock fisheries.
Proposal Review Process
Proposals to the Center will be peer reviewed, then prioritized by a seven-member Advisory Board, which is comprised of three members representing the PCC, one member representing fisheries management agencies, and three members representing the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Proposers may be asked to respond in writing to written questions from the Advisory Board as part of the selection process. 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.
The required standardized format for the final report and acknowledgements is available on the PCCRC website at www.sfos.uaf.edu/pcc/guidelines/index.html. A thesis written as a result of the project research is not acceptable as a final report.
Proposal Content
One principal investigator on each project must be a faculty member or research staff member of the University of Alaska, who must participate significantly in the project. 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, Cover, and CVs (and figures) are to be included in the 15-page limit:
- Abstract
- Background and relevance to research priorities
- Objectives/Hypotheses
- Methods/Analyses
- References
- Timeline including work schedule and reporting deadlines
- Short description of results of previous work funded by the PCCRC
- Curriculum vitae for each principal investigator (limited to 2 pages each)
- Budget justification/Summary
- Budget including personnel, travel (include costs for annual presentations), services, supplies, equipment (items above $5000), graduate tuition, and subawards. All subawards from UAF need to provide:
- 1. Budget and budget justification
- 2. Statement of work
- 3. Letter from organization’s AOR (not investigator) acknowledging commitment to the project.
List of other funding sources to which the proposer has submitted the proposal
Names and email addresses of three potential reviewers should be submitted by e-mail to wiesenburg@sfos.uaf.edu.
Special Considerations:
- PCC Research Center awards cannot support indirect (F&A) costs.
- PCC Research Center awards are contingent upon evidence of UAF Institutional
Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) authorization or Human Subjects Application (IRB) approval where appropriate.
Contact PCCRC
For further information about this request for proposals, please contact Denis Wiesenburg at the UAF School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences at 907-474-7210 or via e-mail at wiesenburg@sfos.uaf.edu.
Denis Wiesenburg, PCCRC Director
School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences
University of Alaska Fairbanks
P.O. Box 757220
Fairbanks, AK 99775-7220
Phone: (907) 474-7210
Fax: (907) 474-7204
Email: wiesenburg@sfos.uaf.edu