News Releases
Click on the links below to access press releases related to NOAA's involvement in cooperative conservation.
January | February | March | April | May | June | July
July
July 27, 2005
NOAA Awards More Than $2.5 Million for Coastal Management in Maine
This funding supports projects in areas such as managing shoreline development, implementing coastal resource protection authorities, enhancing citizen stewardship, conserving coastal habitat, improving coastal water quality, managing dredging activities, and providing public access and recreational opportunities.
July 27, 2005
NOAA Awards More Than $2.6 Million to Support Coastal Management in Florida
The Florida Coastal Zone Management Program balances the demands of industries, such as tourism and agriculture, with the need to protect the long-term health of the environment. It also provides state programs to conserve coastal habitat, and protect coastal assets such as coastal wetlands, estuaries, and some of the most beautiful beaches in the world.
July 27, 2005
NOAA Awards Over $2.1 Million to Support Coastal Management Efforts in Hawaii
This grant will continue funding for the administration and execution of the state’s federally approved Coastal Zone Management Program, which encompasses the entire state.
7/19/2005
NOAA Officials Outline Support for Gulf States Alliance as Part of President's Ocean Action Plan
Officials from the NOAA outlined several areas where NOAA is playing a lead role in supporting the five Gulf States, addressing coastal environmental challenges as part of the U.S. Ocean Action Plan.
7/14/2005
NOAA to Develop National Strategy for Studying, Protecting Deep-Sea Corals and Sponges
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced plans to develop a comprehensive, national strategy for long-term research and conservation of deep-ocean coral and sponge habitat.
7/7/2005
NOAA Chief Praises Shared Strategy's Puget Sound Salmon Plan, Calls It a Historic Accomplishment
The head of NOAA today said a draft recovery plan for Puget Sound Chinook submitted to the agency by Shared Strategy for Puget Sound is a “historic accomplishment.”
7/6/2005
NOAA Awards $2.6 Million to Support Coastal Management in New York
The grant will support the state’s federally approved management plan, which covers New York’s 2,625 miles of coast. The New York Coastal Zone Management Program balances the demands of industries such as tourism, fishing, and shipping with the need to protect the long-term health of the environment.
7/1/2005
NOAA Awards More Than $1.4 Million to Louisiana Sea Grant
This grant through NOAA’s Sea Grant College Program will focus on developing knowledge, technology, personnel, and public understanding to advance the sustainable and economically viable use of marine and coastal environments and resources. Specific research will emphasize fisheries, aquaculture, coastal and wetland resources, and seafood products.
7/1/2005
NOAA Awards More Than $1.3 Million to Delaware Sea Grant
This grant through NOAA’s Sea Grant College Program will focus on research, education, and outreach projects to help people throughout the state and region to wisely use, manage, and conserve Delaware's ocean and coastal resources.
7/1/2005
NOAA Awards More Than $1.4 Million to Alaska Sea Grant
This grant through NOAA’s Sea Grant College Program will focus on bolstering the long-term value of Alaska's marine resources by funding scientific research on marine ecosystems, and the effects of human activity and natural environmental changes on ocean resources.
7/1/2005
NOAA Awards $90,000 to Restore Fishery Habitat in Florida
NOAA awarded $90,000 to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection for a community-based project to restore fishery habitat in the Lignumvitae Key Submerged Land Management Area in the Florida Keys.
7/1/2005
NOAA Gives Calais, Maine Observatory the First Preservation Partnership Disk
On July 2, 2005, representatives from NOAA, and other government officials, will designate the Calais Observatory with the first Preservation Partnership disk during a ceremony in Calais, Maine. The disks are intended to encourage and promote public-private partnerships, while bringing public attention to the importance of preserving the nation’s natural resources and historic sites.
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June
6/29/2005
Students Participate in Summer Weather Research Programs
Students from colleges and universities around the country are spending their summer working with the nation’s top weather researchers and forecasters from NOAA and the University of Oklahoma in Norman.
6/24/2005
NOAA Awards $54,834 for Georgia Oyster Habitat Restoration
This project, Generating Enhanced Oyster Reefs in Georgia’s Inshore Areas, will build upon the previous success of the University of Georgia’s oyster shell recycling and reef restoration program, which set up shell recycling centers, and built five reefs in the greater Savannah area. This year’s project will expand efforts beyond the Savannah area to Georgia’s entire coast. In addition, the project involves constructing five publicly visible oyster reefs, and assisting waterfront property owners in building reefs and restoring oysters in their own backyards.
6/24/2005
NOAA Awards $100,000 to County of Sacramento to Remove Invasive Plant Species
This year’s funding supports a project that builds on the success of a prior three-year effort aimed to eradicate the ten most invasive species in the American River Parkway, a 23-mile, 5,000-acre park along the American River in Sacramento, California.
6/22/2005
NOAA Fisheries Service Proposes Improved Guidelines for Fishery Management Decisions
NOAA Fisheries Service proposed improved guidelines to help fishery managers implement National Standard One of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. National Standard One requires fishery managers to prevent over-fishing and rebuild stocks in federal waters — from three to 200 miles off U.S. coasts — while achieving the optimum yield from each fishery.
6/22/2005
NOAA’S Farallones National Marine Sanctuary Needs Volunteer Monitors for Central Coast Shores
NOAA ’s Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary is calling for volunteers for its Beach Watch monitoring program. Beach Watch is a long-term research project of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary and is coordinated by the non-profit Farallones Marine Sanctuary Association.
6/22/2005
NOAA Awards Nearly $2 Million to Wisconsin Sea Grant
This grant through NOAA’s Sea Grant College Program will focus on research, education and outreach, relating to marine sciences in Wisconsin and the Great Lakes region. Specific programs will emphasize aquaculture and seafood technology, biotechnology, estuarine and coastal processes, living resources, microcontaminants and water quality, policy studies and diver safety.
6/21/2005
NOAA Awards More Than $1.3 Million to the University of Southern Mississippi for Oyster Research
This grant will support research to determine the integrity of using high intensity x-ray irradiation as a means of treating shell stock oysters to eliminate Vibrio pathogens.
6/17/2005
NOAA Awards $500,000 to FishAmerica Foundation to Restore Coastal Fisheries Habitat
This grant will continue a program between the FishAmerica Foundation and NOAA’s Restoration Center to conduct habitat restoration projects that benefit recreational sportfish throughout the coastal United States. The goal of this multi-project partnership is to implement meaningful on-the-ground habitat restoration of marine, estuarine and riparian areas.
6/16/2005
NOAA Awards More Than $700,000 to the University of North Carolina, Wilmington
This grant supports the NOAA Undersea Research Program at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, which uses scientists from all over the world to complete more than forty projects each year.
6/16/2005
Administration Bill Update Protections for Marine Animals
This proposed legislation fulfills a goal of the administration’s U.S. Ocean Action Plan. The bill’s major amendments would strengthen initiatives to reduce marine mammal bycatch, clarify the definition of marine mammal harassment for the regulated community and the public, and enhance the Act’s enforcement capabilities.
6/14/2005
NOAA Volunteers and Partners Join in Chesapeake Bay Restoration Program
Volunteers planted 54 trays of underwater grasses previously grown in NOAA offices around the region. They also installed 5,400 wetlands plants, distributed 100 bags of native oysters, and removed invasive species from the water’s edge. All together these projects will help restore more than 1,000 feet of highly eroding shoreline.
6/7/2005
Bush Administration Releases National Offshore Aquaculture Bill
The President pledged to propose this bill in the 109th Congress as part of his U.S. Ocean Action Plan, which outlines near-term and longer-term actions to protect our oceans and marine resources.
6/6/2005
NOAA Awards $700,000 to the Nature Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy is partnering with the NOAA Restoration Center to implement innovative restoration projects benefiting marine, estuarine, and riparian habitats on both U.S. coasts and in the Gulf of Mexico, Alaska, and Hawaii.
6/2/2005
NOAA And Nauticus Unveil New 3-D Multi-media Exhibit at the National Maritime Center
NOAA and Nauticus, The National Maritime Center, today unveiled an imaginative and dynamic 6-foot globe that shows 3-D animated images of how the oceans and atmosphere interact to produce our weather and climate.
6/1/2005
NOAA Fisheries Service Recovery Plan for Endangered North Atlantic Right Whales
The recovery plan highlights the necessity of reducing or eliminating right whale deaths and injuries from shipping and commercial fishing operations. The plan also recommends protecting important habitat, monitoring the distribution and abundance of the species, and conducting further studies to assess the health of the species.
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May
5/27/2005
Sea Scallop Gear Change Proposed to Protect Sea Turtles
NOAA Fisheries Service today proposed a change for sea scallop gear that will prevent loggerhead sea turtles from entering dredges, where they can be injured or killed during fishing operations.
5/13/2005
NOAA Awards $200,000 to Restore Salmon Habitat in California
This NOAA award will allow more than 300 California Conservation Corps members to implement habitat restoration projects along California streams and estuaries.
5/6/2005
NOAA $1.9 Million Grant Will Restore Estuaries From Maine to Washington
Through this award, Restore America’s Estuaries will implement community-based habitat restoration projects benefiting marine, estuarine and riparian habitats in the Gulf of Maine, Narragansett Bay, Long Island Sound, Hudson-Raritan Estuary, Chesapeake Bay, Albemarle and Pamlico Sounds, Tampa Bay, Louisiana's Mississippi Delta, Galveston Bay, San Francisco Bay, and Puget Sound.
April
4/27/2005
Administration’s Salmon Recovery Efforts Remain on Track
Thanks to an emphasis on cooperative conservation, local recovery planning and technological improvement, salmon in the northwest are continuing a trend of six straight years of strong returns.
4/26/2005
NOAA Great Lakes Lab on Mission to Lake Erie Dead Zone
NOAA’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, in collaboration with researchers in the U.S. and Canada, will lead one of the largest, most comprehensive Lake Erie research field programs.
4/25/2005
NOAA, Partners Expand Tao Array Into the Indian Ocean as Global Earth Observing System Grows
The system of moored buoys in the Pacific that has helped predict El Niño events is being expanded into the Indian Ocean to help improve the understanding of the climate system in that region. Scientists from NOAA are working with international climate scientists to develop a plan for such a system.
4/21/2005
NOAA Biologists Start Seagrass Restoration in Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary
NOAA biologists are working with several contractors, including Seagrass Recovery, Inc. and Adventure Environmental, to place more than 350 cubic meters of native crushed limestone, enough to fill nearly seven backyard swimming pools, in blowholes created by the Myra Lee, the Dream On, and an unknown vessel.
4/20/2005
NOAA Responds to Mock Ship Grounding and Oil Spill in Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary
NOAA, the U.S. Coast Guard and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection responded to a simulated ship grounding and oil spill in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. The first-ever Safe Sanctuaries emergency response drill was designed to improve the agencies' ability to protect the environment and the public in the event of an incident.
4/18/2005
NOAA Fisheries Delivers Washington Lower Columbia Salmon Recovery Plan
The plan is the first ever, comprehensive science-based recovery plan to be endorsed by NOAA for the recovery of three species of Endangered Species Act-listed salmon and steelhead in the Pacific Northwest.
4/13/2005
NOAA Chief Leads 100 Volunteers in Restoring Tidal Wetlands of Fort McHenry on Saturday
The director of the nation’s top science agency for oceans and the atmosphere, Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Jr., will lead 100 volunteers from the Commerce Department’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the annual tidal wetland restoration at historic Fort McHenry in Baltimore’s inner harbor on Saturday, April 16.
4/12/2005
NOAA Awards $275,000 to Trout Unlimited
The grant supports a three-year partnership between Trout Unlimited and the NOAA Restoration Center for habitat restoration projects that benefit commercial fisheries resources and recreational sportfish. The partnership will engage citizens in local habitat restoration projects that benefit cold-water fisheries, such as placement of wood in spawning streams and removal of out-dated dams.
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March
3/26/2005
Volunteers Count Whales From the Shores of O‘ahu, Kaua‘i, the Big Island and Kaho‘olawe
More than 430 volunteers gathered data from the shores of O‘ahu, Kaua‘i, the Big Island, and Kaho‘olawe at Saturday’s annual Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary Ocean Count to tally sightings and document surface behaviors of the endangered humpback whales.
3/4/2005
NOAA Awards $1.4 Million to South Carolina Sea Grant
NOAA awarded $1.4 million today to the South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium to further its mission of coastal environmental stewardship, education, and community involvement.
February
2/17/2005
NOAA Rolls Out Recreational Fisheries Strategic Plan
With input from recreational fishing constituents, the NOAA has developed a plan defining a common vision for the future of recreational fisheries and a strategy to achieve that vision.
2/14/2005
NOAA Awards More Than $900,000 to Continue Development of Caribbean Fishery Management Plans
The funding will support the council’s activities as outlined in the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, which places responsibility for the conservation and management of fishery resources in specific regions to appointed regional councils.
2/14/2005
NOAA announced a $1,435,978 grant to continue the creation and implementation of fishery management plans by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council.
2/14/2005
NOAA announced a $2,090,518 grant to support the continued operation and administrative activities of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, which works to manage and conserve fishery resources off the coast of Alaska.
2/14/2005
NOAA announced a $1,960,278 grant to support the continued creation and implementation of fishery management plans and conservation activities by the Pacific Fishery Management Council.
2/14/2005
NOAA Awards $2.7 Million to Support Fishery Management and Conservation Efforts in New England
NOAA awarded a $2,798,251 grant to the New England Fishery Management Council to support the continued creation and implementation of fishery management plans and conservation efforts.
2/14/2005
NOAA awarded a $1,729,854 grant to the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council to support the continued creation and implementation of fishery management plans and conservation efforts.
2/8/2005
Pennsylvania Moves Forward on Sea Grant Status
Pennsylvania is half way in its progress to attain full college status within the National Sea Grant College Program.
2/7/2005
NOAA Awards $1.7 Million to Restore Oyster Resources in Florida
This grant will fund the restoration and enhancement of Florida’s natural oyster reefs that were damaged during Hurricane Ivan. Oyster reefs will be identified for restoration in Escambia Bay, East Bay (Santa Rosa County), Choctawhatchee Bay, West Bay, North Bay, East Bay (Bay County) and Apalachicola Bay.
2/7/2005
NOAA Awards $1.4 Million to Improve Oyster Resources in Louisiana
This grant funds the Oyster Resource Improvement Project, which aims to restore the oyster population and habitat to pre-Ivan conditions.
2/7/2005
NOAA Awards $4.3 Million to Restore Resources in Alabama
This grant will fund the restoration and enhancement of Alabama’s natural oyster reefs that were damaged by strong tides and currents during Hurricane Ivan.
January
1/27/2005
EPA, NOAA Will Help Coastal Communities with Coastal Growth, Development Issues
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and NOAA agreed to work together to help coastal communities grow in ways that benefit the economy, public health, and the environment.
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