$1 Million Available for Community-based Habitat Restoration Projects
$700,000 awarded through NOAA partnership in 2009
Alexandria, VA - May 13, 2010 - The FishAmerica Foundation, the conservation and research foundation of the American Sportfishing Association, through its partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Restoration Center, has $1 million available for marine and anadromous sportfish habitat restoration projects in the coastal United States, the Great Lakes region and the U.S. Caribbean territories. 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. Projects in the Great Lakes must restore habitat for diadromous sportfish such as lake sturgeon, walleye and brook trout in the Great Lakes and applicable tributaries.

The FishAmerica Foundation will accept grant proposals up through June 7, 2010. Grants of up to $75,000 each will be awarded in October 2010. For those applicants affected by the recent Gulf of Mexico oil spill, FishAmerica will accept proposals through June 21, 2010. While FishAmerica and NOAA recognize the need to maintain flexibility in the way projects impacted by the April oil spill are carried out, funding cannot be provided through this proposal process for direct oil spill mitigation or clean-up. However, other modifications to the project, such as delayed implementation, may be considered.

"We understand that many organizations along the Gulf coast who would normally be preparing their applications at this time instead have to prepare for the potential impacts of the oil spill," said FishAmerica Foundation Executive Director Johanna Laderman. "We want ensure they have the opportunity to do both."

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's regional offices and other staff to develop and implement the restoration projects. The announcement and full grant package information are available at www.fishamerica.org

Since 1998, FishAmerica's partnership with the NOAA Restoration Center has funded more than 280 projects, turning almost $6 million in funding into more than $13 million in on-the-ground funding for vital fisheries habitat restoration across 25 coastal states.