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Marine Debris Program Partnership “Fishing for Energy” Announces Grant Awards to Collect and Dispose of Fishing Gear in U.S. Ports
JULY 20, 2020 — On July 13, a Marine Debris Program (MDP) partner, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), announced 14 grants totaling $121,700 to prevent the accumulation of derelict fishing gear, or fishing gear that is lost, abandoned, or discarded in the marine environment, in port communities in U.S. coastal waters.
These grants were awarded as part of the Fishing for Energy Program, a partnership between MDP, NFWF, and private sector partners Covanta and Schnitzer Steel.
The 14 grants will support ports to install collection bins at convenient and strategic locations, providing fishing communities a free way to dispose of old or unused fishing gear. It is anticipated that these grants will annually prevent more than 200,000 pounds of fishing gear from potentially entering the coastal waters of Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and Washington.
MDP has partnered through the Fishing for Energy Programs since 2008 to promote proper gear disposal and this year marks the inaugural round of a new model in which the Program now provides small financial awards directly to grantees to meet their disposal costs, and to potentially renew these awards as needed.
For more information, please contact Steve.Morrison@noaa.gov.