NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program: Grant for Sustainable Coral Reef Fisheries Management in Hawaii

This funding competition is open to nongovernmental organizations or research institutions with demonstrated expertise in the conservation or restoration of coral reefs in practice or through significant contributions to the body of existing scientific research on coral reefs (see IV.B.4.b. Appendices), coral reef research centers designated by NOAA CRCP under 16 U.S.C. 6411, and regional fishery management councils established under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.).

The purpose of this notice is to solicit financial assistance applications that will support state and national management goals through the creation of Sustainable Coral Reef Fisheries Management Plans (CR-FMPs) across the Hawaiian Islands. The applicant will work closely with partners at the State of Hawaii’s Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR) and NOAA Pacific Island Regional Office (PIRO) to support development of CR-FMPs as part of the State’s Holomua Initiative. The State will lead this process, driven by local, island-based Navigator Teams; this award will focus on providing technical support and creating decision-making tools to aid this process, and to support additional science needs to support future management decisions.

These funds will be utilized specifically to support technical writing needs in Lana‘i, Hawai‘i Island, Kauai, and Oahu CR-FMPs, in coordination with DAR. CR-FMPs will identify specific management actions that will contribute to reaching locally identified sustainable fisheries management targets on each island, as well as developing monitoring and evaluation plans after CR-FMPs are complete. Additional funds will be used to support management driven scientific research that will directly advise the CR-FMPs.

Applications submitted to this funding opportunity should propose work plans over a duration of no more than 36 months (3 years). Each application should not request more than $400,000 per priority, with a maximum of $600,000 in Federal funds. Applications are expected to be submitted by entities with a physical presence and long-term partnerships in Hawaii, and applicants should have demonstrated experience working across multiple partner types, such as government, nonprofit, and universities, and with Hawaiian organizations.

Pending Federal appropriations, NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) expects approximately $600,000 to be available for initiating financial assistance awards for two (2) organizations in Fiscal Year (FY) 2025. As mandated in the Act, recipients are required to match NOAA’s Federal contributions with non-Federal matching contributions at a minimum ratio of 1:1, unless the applicant requests and is granted a waiver to the matching requirement by the agency.

All projects must receive evidence of support (e.g., a letter of support or other indication of collaboration) by appropriate representatives of the State in which the project will be conducted. NOAA CRCP encourages applicants to provide evidence of support with their applications, and requires evidence of support to be confirmed prior to final selection. All proposals will be shared with coral reef management representatives from the appropriate jurisdiction(s) during review and their feedback will be considered prior to final selection. Any projects that do not obtain support are unable to be funded.

Applicant organizations must complete and maintain three registrations to be eligible to apply for or receive an award. These registrations include SAM.gov, Grants.gov, and eRA Commons. All registrations must be completed prior to the application being submitted. The complete registration process for all three systems can take 4 to 6 weeks, so applicants should begin this activity as soon as possible. If an eligible applicant does not have access to the internet, please contact the Agency Contacts listed in Section VII for submission instructions.

Prior to registering with eRA Commons, applicant organizations must first obtain a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) from SAM.gov, if needed (refer to Section IV. Applications and Submission Information, Section C). Organizations can register with eRA Commons in tandem with completing their full SAM and Grants.gov registrations; however, all registrations must be in place by time of application submission. eRA Commons requires organizations to identify at least one Signing Official (SO) and at least one Program Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) account in order to submit an application