NFWF Announces $1.23 Million in Grants to Support Sustainable Fisheries in the U.S.

WASHINGTON, July 24, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) today announced the fourth round of grant awards from its Fisheries Innovation Fund, a program launched in 2010 to support sustainable fisheries in the United States. The goal of the Fisheries Innovation Fund is to sustain fishermen while at the same time rebuilding fish stocks. The grants announced today will aid in the design and implementation of projects that provide technical and practical support for fishing communities across the country.

"With this fourth round of Fisheries Innovation Fund grants, we continue to invest in new technologies that will assist communities dependent on sustainable fisheries to survive and thrive for many years to come," said Jeff Trandahl, executive director and CEO of NFWF. "The 12 grants we announce today will enhance the resilience of fishing communities and the viability of working waterfronts across the nation."

The 12 grants for 2014 total $1.23 million, and will be matched by over $1.39 million in additional support from the grantees. NFWF's Fisheries Innovation Fund is supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Walton Family Foundation, and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.

"We congratulate the 2014 grant recipients and their novel techniques and solutions to improve fisheries management and to support fishing communities across the U.S.," said Eileen Sobeck, Assistant Administrator for NOAA's Fisheries Service. "Many of the projects that the Fisheries Innovation Fund supports originate directly from commercial and sport fishermen to address fishing community challenges and opportunities.  Our public-private partnership with NFWF and the foundations is the ideal solution to support fishermen's initiatives.  We look forward to working with project leaders as they conduct their work to support fisheries sustainability."

The 2014 Fisheries Innovation Fund grants, listed by region, can be found here.

About NFWF

Chartered by Congress in 1984, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) protects and restores the nation's fish, wildlife, plants and habitats. Working with federal, corporate and individual partners, NFWF has funded more than 4,000 organizations and committed more than $2.3 billion to conservation projects. Learn more at www.nfwf.org.

About NOAA

NOAA's mission is to understand and predict changes in the Earth's environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and to conserve and manage our coastal and marine resources. Join us on Facebook, Twitter and our other social media channels at http://www.noaa.gov/socialmedia.

About the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation

The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation believes in bold ideas that create enduring impact in the areas of science, environmental conservation and patient care. Intel co-founder Gordon and his wife Betty established the foundation to create positive change around the world and at home in the San Francisco Bay Area. Our environmental conservation efforts promote sustainability, protect critical ecological systems and align conservation needs with human development. Patient care focuses on eliminating preventable harms and unnecessary healthcare costs through meaningful engagement of patients and their families in a redesigned, supportive healthcare system. Science looks for opportunities to transform–or even create–entire fields by investing in early-stage research, emerging fields and top research scientists. Visit us at Moore.org or follow @MooreEnviro.

About the Walton Family Foundation

The Walton Family Foundation promotes environmental solutions that make economic sense for communities and their natural resources. The foundation works to achieve change that lasts by creating new and unexpected partnerships and bringing conservation, business and community interests to the same table to build long-term solutions to big problems. The foundation divides its environmental giving into two initiatives:

Freshwater Conservation, which works to sustain healthy and resilient communities of both people and wildlife in the Colorado River basin and along the Mississippi River from its headwaters to the delta; and Marine Conservation, which supports initiatives that create economic incentives for sustainable resource management in some of the world's most ecologically rich ocean areas, from Indonesia to Ecuador to the Gulf of Mexico.

Visit the foundation at: www.waltonfamilyfoundation.org.