Request for Planning Letters

The Northeast Consortium

FY2000 Request for Planning Letters

Released January 21, 2000

Due: March 10, 2000

The Northeast Consortium (University of New Hampshire, University of Maine, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution) invites Planning Letters for cooperative research projects involving commercial fishermen and commercial fishing vessels in oceanographic research, projects relevant to fisheries management in the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank, and research leading to the development of selective fishing gear. Planning Letters will be used to select projects for further development via a Full Proposal. Funding of approved projects would commence on June 1, 2000. Funding is contingent on timely release of funds to the Northeast Consortium from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA).

This request for Planning Letters contains information on the background, goals, and objectives of the Northeast Consortium, guidelines for preparing Planning Letters, contact information for questions regarding proposal ideas, and submission of Full Proposals. The deadline for receipt of Planning Letters is March 10, 2000. Full Proposals may be submitted without prior submission of a Planning Letter, but must be submitted by the deadline of April 21, 2000. This RFP and additional information are available from the web site: http://www.NortheastConsortium.org.

Background

The Northeast Consortium has been created to encourage and fund effective, co-equal partnerships among fishermen, researchers, and other stakeholders to become active participants in collaborative research and monitoring projects in the coastal ocean, including the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank. Commercial fishermen and commercial fishing vessels from New Hampshire, Maine, and Massachusetts are encouraged to participate in cooperative research using these funds. We anticipate that commercial fishing vessels may be outfitted for specialized use for collaborative research. A general aim of the Consortium is that these activities may eventually provide ancillary employment, on a semi-permanent basis, for commercial fishermen and their vessels in the three states.

The Northeast Consortium consists of four research institutions (University of New Hampshire, University of Maine, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution) which are working together to foster this initiative. Each institution has designated an individual who will serve as a representative to the Consortium. The representatives will administer the Northeast Consortium funds, will interface with all stakeholders, and will be responsible for funding decisions. A ~30-member Advisory Committee will provide programmatic advice and guidance to representatives of the Consortium and will assist in the selection of projects to be funded.

The Northeast Consortium expects to receive nearly $2M for FY2000 to fund cooperative research projects. The funding is anticipated to be appropriated to the National Marine Fisheries Service and to be administered by the University of New Hampshire on behalf of the Northeast Consortium. Northeast Consortium funds will be distributed via an open competition and announced via this Request for Proposals (RFP). The initial step in application for the funds is a Planning Letter, which will be evaluated for technical merit, relevance, likelihood of success, and suitability for funding under this competition. The balance of funding across the entire program will be 25% to research and 75% to industry; funding will be balanced across the entire amount, not project-by-project, to allow flexibility in the design of any particular project.

Goals of the Northeast Consortium

- To develop partnerships between commercial fishermen and researchers, educators, and coastal managers.

- To enable commercial fishermen and commercial fishing vessels to participate in research.

- To outfit participating commercial fishing vessels with equipment allowing their use as research and monitoring platforms.

Priority areas for research and monitoring

The Northeast Consortium will consider Planning Letters for cooperative research projects involving commercial fishermen and commercial fishing vessels in oceanographic research, in research relevant to fisheries management in the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank, and in the development of selective fishing gear. Planning Letter ideas may originate from the commercial fishing community, the oceanographic and fisheries research communities, or any other interested party. Planning Letters need not identify both the researchers and the commercial fishermen who will participate; Full Proposals will be required to identify at least one person from each group in order to be considered for funding.

The Northeast Consortium has not identified particular topics as high priority for funding. Individuals seeking information about possible topics and proposal ideas are encouraged to consult documents available from the National Marine Fisheries Service, New England Fisheries Management Council, Massachusetts Marine Fisheries Recovery Commission, and Gulf of Maine Aquarium, among other groups. Copies of these summary documents may be requested from the contact people listed below and via the Northeast Consortium web site.

To encourage potential proposers, but not to restrict the range of topics proposed, we provide here several examples of possible topics for consideration for Northeast Consortium funding:

Oceanographic and meterological monitoring. There is a need for better information on weather, sea-state, and oceanographic conditions, commercial harvest data, and fishing conditions in the coastal waters of the US. This information is required by the fishermen themselves, resource managers and regulators, and the oceanographic research community. Currently, these data are collected during oceanographic research efforts, National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) assessment surveys, NOAA National Data Buoy Center (NDBC) buoys, National Weather Service coverage, and operational Navy activities. These types of activities cannot provide synoptic coverage of large regions and rarely employ near-real-time telemetry. The widespread temporal / spatial distribution of commercial fishing vessels makes them ideal platforms from which to gather basic information for coastal monitoring, modeling, and prediction.
Selective gear research and development. Cooperative research is needed leading to the development of selective fishing gear to reduce or eliminate technical barriers to trade, minimize harvest losses, reduce bycatch, and improve fishing practices.
Monitoring of closed areas. Regular and long-term assessment of environmental condition, bio-diversity, oceanographic processes, and fisheries recruitment is required in areas closed to fishing in the coastal waters off the Northeast. Commercial fishermen should participate in these studies, in order to ensure that their extensive knowledge of the historical character of these regions is used to design hypotheses, collect data and samples, and analyze the impacts of area closures. Direct participation by commercial fishermen will also inform them about the changes to the landscape and the biota.
Fish habitat studies. Commercial fishermen should take advantage of and participate in the growing focus on fish habitat. As the definition of Essential Fish Habitat is refined and habitat-oriented management is fully implemented, the participation of commercial fishermen will improve the accuracy and reliability of the underlying information and increase the effectiveness of new management strategies.

Potential proposers are strongly encouraged to discuss their ideas, prior to preparation of a Planning Letter, with any of the people listed below.

Ann Bucklin, Professor and Director

University of New Hampshire Sea Grant Program

Durham, NH 03824

Tel: (603) 862-0122; Fax: (603) 862-0243; email: acb@christa.unh.edu

Peter H. Wiebe, Senior Scientist

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Woods Hole, MA 02543

Tel: (508) 289-2313; Fax: (508) 457-2169; email: pwiebe@whoi.edu

Rollie Barnaby, Extension Educator

University of New Hampshire Sea Grant Program

Durham, NH 03824

Tel: (603) 679-5616; Fax: (603) 679-8070; email: rollie.barnaby@unh.edu

This RFP and additional information are also available from the web site: http://www.NortheastConsortium.org.

Procedures for distribution of funds

The distribution of Northeast Consortium funds will be via an open competition to be administered by the University of New Hampshire on behalf of the Consortium. Funding recommendations and decisions will be made by the Northeast Consortium representatives.

The Request for Proposals (RFP) process and funding decisions will be guided by a 30-member Advisory Committee, whose roles also include helping to announce this funding opportunity to their communities, evaluating Planning Letters, assisting in project development and preparation of Full Proposals, and evaluating Full Proposals. Advisory Committee members will be encouraged to help match-make between fishermen and researchers. Neither Consortium representatives nor Advisory Committee members will be allowed to submit Full Proposals to the Northeast Consortium. Advisory Committee members may submit Planning Letters, but may not participate in discussions of any Planning Letter on topics related to their submission and must resign if they are encouraged to submit a Full Proposal.

Funding decisions will be determined by criteria regarding quality of the proposed work, assuming broad relevance for fisheries management from Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. An essential requirement for consideration of the Full Proposal is the co-equal partnership between fishermen and researchers, including NMFS researchers.

Guidelines for preparation of Planning Letters

Anyone may submit a Planning Letter to the Northeast Consortium. The use of Planning Letters is intended to expand access to these funds to people who are not accustomed to writing proposals. The Planning Letter should explain the idea or concept in enough detail to be understandable to a reader knowledgeable about regional oceanography and fisheries management. A limited number of Planning Letters will be selected for further development; the proposers will be assisted in team-building, project development, and preparation of a Full Proposal.

Project duration and award levels

A mix of one, two, and three year projects is desired. Currently, only FY2000 funds are anticipated to be available through UNH/NOAA to support Northeast Consortium projects. Projects recommended for funding may be funded for multiple years using FY2000 funds. Projects should be designed to meet the overall target distribution for funding: 25% to researchers and 75% to fishermen. Funds may be requested for participants' salary and wages, vessel use, equipment (for the fishing vessel or the laboratory), and supplies.

Full Proposal evaluation criteria

Proposals will be judged based on the following criteria: technical merit; scientific and project relevance; technical approach, feasibility, and innovativeness; qualifications of investigators (including researchers and fishermen); facilities, equipment, and other resources available to accomplish the proposed work; plans and prospects for dissemination of results; and budget and cost-effectiveness.

Guidelines for preparation of Full Proposals

Full Proposals may be submitted to the Northeast Consortium without prior submission of a Planning Letter. Full Proposals for consideration for Northeast Consortium funding must include as co-principal investigators both one or more researchers (faculty or staff members at institutions of higher learning or accredited research facilities, or employees of state or federal programs or agencies) and one or more commercial fishermen. All parties must be specifically identified by name and position.

All Full Proposals submitted in this competition should contain the following sections and elements. Note: There is a 15 single-spaced page limit on proposals, excluding Literature Cited, Budget, Resumes, and subsequent sections. Please use 1 inch margins and 12 point font.

- Abstract: The abstract is intended to present a concise summary of the funded activity in a form useful to a variety of readers not necessarily requiring detailed information. They are not substitutes for proposals but should permit judgments as to whether such proposals merit reading for a particular purpose.

- Rationale: This section should thoroughly develop the justification/need for your proposed work and how it relates to the goals of the Northeast Consortium set forth in this RFP. Discussion of relevant oceanographic, fisheries management, or selective fishing gear development issues/events having a bearing on your proposal is appropriate here. A convincing argument why it is important to carry out the project should be included. Also, any anticipated collaborations between this project and other cooperative research efforts, including those funded by other sources, should be identified here.

- Review of Previous Work: A description both of the previous work done in the area of the project you are proposing and a review of your experience working in this area.

- Project Objectives and Scientific Hypothesis: A clear statement of the project objectives and goals. If appropriate, clearly construct and state a defensible scientific hypothesis.

- Project Plan/Methodology: Carefully explain the conceptual approach to the project with the methodology to be used. Feel free to use language and terminology appropriate to your discipline. The plan should include a discussion of the timeline for the proposed work. The need for experimental fishing permits, access to closed areas, and other special requirements should be explained here.

- Available Resources: Briefly describe personnel qualifications or special resources, equipment or facilities which demonstrate either your ability or special opportunity to successfully pursue the proposed project.

- Dissemination of Results: Provide specific information about plans and prospects for dissemination of the results of the proposed work, including publication, workshops, inclusion in databases, and integration into stock assessment or management processes.

- Budget Justification: Provide brief explanations of the major budgetary items for the proposed work.

- Literature Cited: Complete bibliographic citations including titles of all papers, books, and reports to which reference is made.

- Resumes of Principle Investigators and Key Associate Investigators: Include resumes on all those individuals (two page maximum for each) who will play a major role in the project. As a part of your resume please include your complete address and current telephone number.

Planning Letter and Full Proposal Submission

Planning Letters and Full Proposals should be sent to:
Ann Bucklin
UNH Sea Grant
Kingman Farm
Durham, NH 03824

Planning Letters must be received by 4:30 p.m. on Friday, March 10, 2000.

Full Proposals must be received by 4:30 p.m. on Friday, April 21, 2000.

Proposal development calendar

- January 11, 2000: First meeting of Advisory Committee; discussion of process for distribution of funds and examination of draft RFP.

- January 21, 2000: Distribution of RFP.

- March 10, 2000: Planning Letters due to UNH Sea Grant.

- March 13 - 17, 2000: Advisory Committee meets to consider Planning Letters and make recommendations regarding further project development and Full Proposal preparation.

- March 20, 2000: Northeast Consortium representatives inform Planning Letter authors of decisions.

- March 20 - April 21, 2000: Advisory Committee members assist proposers in team-building, project development, and Full Proposal preparation.

- April 21, 2000: Full Proposals due to UNH Sea Grant.

- May 1 - 5, 2000: Advisory Committee meets to discuss Full Proposals and make recommendations regarding funding of projects.

- May 15, 2000: Northeast Consortium representatives inform proposers of decisions; UNH establishes project budgets and access to funds.

- June 1, 2000: Projects commence.

Consortium representatives

Ann Bucklin, Professor and Director
University of New Hampshire Sea Grant Program
Durham, NH 03824
Tel: (603) 862-0122; Fax: (603) 862-0243; email: acb@christa.unh.edu

Peter H. Wiebe, Senior Scientist
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Woods Hole, MA 02543
Tel: (508) 289-2313; Fax: (508) 457-2169; email: pwiebe@whoi.edu

Chrys Chryssostomidis, Professor and Director
MIT Sea Grant Program
292 Main Street
Cambridge, MA 02139
Tel. (617) 253-7131; FAX: (617) 258-5730; email chrys@deslab.mit.edu

Ian Davison, Professor and Director
University of Maine Sea Grant College Program
14 Coburn Hall
Orono, ME 04469
Tel: (207) 581-1435; Fax (207) 581-1426; email: davison@maine.maine.edu