CANCELLED! 2003 Ballast Water Technology Demonstration Grants Competition

The Department of Commerce appropriations bill for 2003 included far less funding for the Ballast Water Technology Demonstration program than the $2.25 million we received last year. This situation forces us to modify the Ballast Water Technology Demonstration program this year. The planned Ballast Water Technology Demonstration grants competition for 2003 funding is canceled!

NOAA, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), and the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) are now planning how best to run the program this year, and to transition smoothly into 2004, when we hope the funding picture will improve. One option we are considering is to conduct a grants competition later in 2003, for anticipated funding in 2004. As we figure out the best way to continue the program, our plans will be posted [here].

View guidance and other supplementary materials related to the now-canceled competition

Completed: Sea Grant National Strategic Investments in Aquatic Nuisance Species, Oyster Disease, and Gulf of Mexico Oyster Industry

Sea Grant's National Strategic Investment (NSI) grants competition Aquatic Nuisance Species Research and Outreach is now closed. The NSI program funds research and outreach projects for the prevention and control of introduction and spread of aquatic invasive species. Submitted proposals were peer reviewed, and selections were made in March 2003.

Forty seven aquatic invasive species research proposals were submitted, of which 19 were selected for funding. Of the 26 aquatic invasive species outreach proposals submitted, 11 were selected for funding. Sea Grant expects to provide a total of about $5,600,000 to support aquatic invasive species research and outreach projects over a two-year period (FY2003 and FY2004).

As usual, the overall  quality of the proposals was high, and there were not enough funds available to support all of the proposals found worthy by the evaluation panels. After the  evaluation panels were over, the panelists were asked if they had any general observations on the proposals that future submitters might find useful. Their responses are set down in a short document, “Lessons for Proposers.”
View the Request for Proposals: [HTML] or [PDF]
View the "Lessons for Proposers": [PDF]

Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force
The Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act of 1990 established the Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force, and called for the formation of Regional Panels to deal with aquatic nuisance species issues, including identifying regional research and management priorities.  To date, four Regional Panels have been formed -- the Western Regional Panel, the Great Lakes Panel, the Gulf of Mexico Panel, and the Northeast Regional Panel. Just recently, the Mississippi Interstate Cooperative Resource Association (MICRA) received approval from the Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force to form a Mississippi River Basin Panel. Some of these panels have published information on the priorities they have identified for ballast water and for aquatic nuisance species in general.

Although the Chesapeake Bay region does not yet have a Regional Panel of the Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force, the Chesapeake Bay Program has brought together public and private interests to discuss threats posed to the Chesapeake Bay by aquatic nuisance species, and ballast water in particular.

Sea Grant Research and Outreach Efforts
An update on Sea Grant funded ANS research and outreach projects from 1995 -2000 was recently published by Ohio Sea Grant.

Also available:
listing of Sea Grant ANS projects supported in FY 2001
listing of ballast water technology demonstration projects funded since 1998 by NOAA or the Fish and Wildlife Service

The Sea Grant Nonindigenous Species Site (SGNIS) is a project of the National Sea Grant College Program, produced by the Great Lakes Sea Grant Network. It is a national information center that contains a comprehensive collection of research publications and education materials produced by Sea Grant programs and other research institutions across the country on zebra mussels and other aquatic nuisance species.

To learn more about what Sea Grant and others are doing in this area, visit these sites:

• Visit Sea Grant's National Aquatic Nuisance Species Clearinghouse
• Visit the Nonindigenous Species Program, part of NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory
• Find out what's happening with the Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force, and with the Invasive Species Council
• Visit Exotics in the Chesapeake to find out about available videos and fact sheets from Maryland Sea Grant.
• Visit Smithsonian Environmental Research Center Invasions Biology Laboratory
• West Coast Ballast Water Outreach Project (California Sea Grant)
• Life History and Ecological Requirements of the Zebra Mussel - North American Experience Through 1992
• Aquatic Invasives Research Directory (Smithsonian Environmental Research Center)
• Nonindigenous Aquatic Species (NAS) Information Resources site produced by USGS
• Zebra Mussels and Other Nonindigenous Species (Wisconsin Sea Grant)
• Pacific Northwest Marine Invasive Species Team (Washington and Oregon Sea Grants)
• The Zebra Mussel Page (Wayne State University)

• Add or delete your email address to this distribution list.
• View the archive of previous messages sent to this distribution list.

For more information, please contact Dorn Carlson, NOAA Research program manager for aquatic invasive species, or visit the National Sea Grant Research site.