UMass researchers land $4.4M from NOAA for scallop study

MARINE RESEARCHERS AT the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth have received $4.4 million from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to study sea scallops.
MARINE RESEARCHERS AT the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth have received $4.4 million from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to study sea scallops.

DARTMOUTH – The School for Marine Science & Technology at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth has received $4.4 million for sea scallop research under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Northeast Cooperative Research Program.

To fund research through the program, NOAA awards recipients the right to an allocation of sea scallops at certain quota-managed federal fisheries in the Northeast. The sea scallops are then harvested and sold or auctioned to provide funds for the research.

“The funding provided by NOAA is essential to support critical science being done at SMAST in collaboration with the fishing industry,” said Kevin D. E. Stokesbury, who chairs SMAST’s department of fisheries oceanography and is a principal investigator on three of the four projects receiving funding. “The collaborative nature of how this award will be allocated signifies that we achieve far more cooperatively in fulfilling the need for research efforts that could improve the outlook of the fishing industry.”

UMass research projects receiving NOAA funding this year include:

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  • Scallop Fishery Bycatch Avoidance System: $678,955 to principal investigators Steven Cadrin, Catherine O’Keefe and Greg DeCelles.
  • Broadscale Video Survey of the Open Areas of Georges Bank: $2.7 million over two years to principal investigators Kevin D. E. Stokesbury and N. David Bethony.
  • High-Resolution Video Survey and Biological Sampling of the Northern Area of Closed Area I: $438,898 to principal investigators Kevin D. E. Stokesbury, Susan Inglis and N. David Bethony.
  • Tracking the Occurrence of Gray Meat in Atlantic Sea Scallops: $572,123 to principal investigators Kevin D. E. Stokesbury, Susan Inglis and Dan Georgianna.

The School for Marine Science & Technology at UMass Dartmouth focuses on interdisciplinary marine sciences and related technologies. In addition to the scholarly marine science and technology communities, SMAST also emphasizes interaction with regional industry and governmental and non-governmental agencies on marine-related issues.

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