Commercial fishing in the Valdez, Alaska harbor.
Carrie Selberg Robinson (front row, right) at groundbreaking ceremony for Herring River Restoration Project in Cape Cod, MA.
2019 Funded Bycatch Reduction Engineering Program Projects
Descriptions of BREP projects funded in 2019.
Northeast |
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Grantee |
Project |
Funding amount |
| Gulf of Maine Research Institute | Improving the selectivity of the ultra-low opening trawl (ULOT) to reduce bycatch of Atlantic cod. | $127,329 |
| Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries | Bycatch reduction of red hake in the Southern New England silver hake trawl fishery | $176,572 |
| Cornell University | Advancing bycatch reduction technology in New England small mesh multispecies fisheries-outreach and technology transfer of the large mesh belly panel | $75,169 |
| Maine Department of Marine Resources | Assessing the feasibility of Time Tension Line Cutter use in fixed gear fisheries to reduce entanglement risk for the endangered North Atlantic right whale | $198,018 |
| Sea Mammal Education Learning Technology Society | Developing and testing innovative ropeless lobster fishing gear to reduce bycatch of North Atlantic right whales | $225,000 |
| New England Aquarium | Whale release ropes as a large whale bycatch mitigation option in the lobster fishery | $125,000 |
Southeast |
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Grantee |
Project |
Funding amount |
| University of Mississippi | Shark bycatch reduction in tuna/swordfish fisheries: the potential for using ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene leaders to encourage shark “bite-offs” in the Gulf of Mexico | $125,250 |
| University of Missouri | Quantifying and reducing post-release mortality of shortfin mako sharks captured as bycatch in the Atlantic coast pelagic long-line fisheries | $195,000 |
Alaska |
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Grantee |
Project |
Funding amount |
| Natural Resources Consultants, Inc | Testing gear modifications to avoid bycatch in Bering Sea Pacific cod and halibut pot fisheries | $100,874 |
| FishNext Research | Reducing bycatch using real-time video and active release in Alaskan pollock and Pacific whiting fisheries | $199,679 |
West Coast |
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Grantee |
Project |
Funding amount |
| International Seafood Sustainability Foundation | Acoustic discrimination to avoid purse seine catches of undersized yellowfin tuna | $140,020 |
| Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission | Development and testing of a rockfish bycatch reduction device for the Pacific hake fishery: A collaborative study between fishing industry and gear researchers | $165,000 |
| Wild Fish Conservancy | Evaluation of an experimental commercial pound net for stock-selective harvest and ecological monitoring of endangered Chinook salmon in the lower Columbia River, Oregon | $171,050 |
| Coastal Monitoring Associates | Low-cost timed release for ropeless traps in the U.S. West Coast dungeness crab and spiny lobster fisheries where humpback, grey, and blue whale entanglement is a threat | $119,746 |
Pacific Islands |
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Grantee |
Project |
Funding amount |
| Hawaiian Fresh Seafood | Improving post-hooking survival of marine turtles and sharks: designing and testing a cost effective linecutter prototype for use in the Hawaii longline fishery | $98,392 |
| Eric Gilman LLC | Demonstration of practicality and safety of alternative branchline weighting designs that reduce seabird catch risk in the Hawaii pelagic longline deep-set fishery | $98,900 |
Commercial fishing in the Valdez, Alaska harbor.
Carrie Selberg Robinson (front row, right) at groundbreaking ceremony for Herring River Restoration Project in Cape Cod, MA.