SOUTH KINGSTOWN – The University of Rhode Island’s Coastal Resources Center has received a significant 10-figure federal grant to help the center address ecological and social drives of illegal and unregulated fishing in the Pacific Islands region.
The university announced Wednesday that the center – located inside the Graduate School of Oceanography – received a five-year, $15 million grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development that will help the center and URI researchers work with local partners across six island countries in the Pacific region as part of its “OurFish OurFuture” program.
The program, URI said, will address improvements in sustainable coastal fisheries management; enhanced monitoring and surveillance in coastal fisheries; private sector partnerships promoting sustainable supply chains; and strengthened resilience and meaningful engagement of marginalized actors in coastal fisheries management.
URI’s project is in partnership with the Locally Managed Marine Area Network, World Wildlife Fund and the University of the South Pacific, the university said. The new URI project also follows a $25 million award the center in 2018 received from the U.S. AID to assist sustainable fisheries efforts in the Philippines.
In a statement, URI President Marc B. Parlange said with the new grant and project partnership, the university can “blue economy activity locally and internationally by helping to foster an active and engaged community in the Pacific Islands that is skilled in coastal ecosystem and fisheries management.”
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter at @James_Bessette.
