Grants Available for Sportfish Habitat Restoration
by Johanna Laderman
January 22, 2008 — Alexandria, VA — The FishAmerica Foundation has grant monies available for marine and anadromous sportfish habitat restoration projects across the coastal United States and the Great Lakes basin. These grants will be awarded to community-based, on-the-ground projects to restore marine, estuarine and riparian habitats, including salt marshes, mangrove forests and freshwater habitats important to anadromous fish species such as salmon and striped bass that spawn in freshwater and migrate to the sea.
The FishAmerica Foundation will accept grant proposals through February 11, 2008. Grants of up to $50,000 each will be awarded in June 2008. Eligible applicants include community-based nonprofit organizations, such as local sporting clubs and conservation associations, as well as state and local agencies. Applicants are encouraged to partner with NOAA staff in order to strengthen the development and implementation of sound restoration projects. The announcement and full grant package are available at www.fishamerica.org.
This year, FishAmerica and the NOAA Restoration Center are celebrating 10 years of partnering for fisheries habitat restoration. Since 1998, the partnership has awarded more than $5 million in grants in 25 states and has leveraged an additional $6.4 million in funds matched by local communities for a total of more than $11 million in restored fisheries habitat that is critical for marine and anadromous sportfish.
Successful projects funded through the 10-year partnership include:
- Restoration of fish passage and fisheries habitat in the Lower Klamath watershed in California.
- Restoration of mangrove fisheries habitat devastated by Hurricane Charley in 2004, in the Charlotte Harbor Estuary of Southwest Florida.
- Removal of the Ralph Stover Dam in the Delaware River Basin to restore fish passage.
The FishAmerica Foundation is the conservation and research foundation of the American Sportfishing Association. FishAmerica unites the sportfishing industry with conservation groups, government agencies, fishing tournaments, corporations and charitable foundations, investing in fisheries conservation and research across the country. FishAmerica provides matching grants that empower citizen conservationists in their own communities. Celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2008, FishAmerica has provided more than $10 million for nearly 1,000 fisheries conservation and research projects nationwide. Visit www.fishamerica.org for more information.
