Federal Funding Opportunity Number NOAA-NMFS-NEFSC-2015-2004064 for the 2015 Mid-Atlantic Research Set-Aside is hereby terminated. No proposals will be accepted for fishing season 2015. Any proposals already submitted will be returned immediately.
The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council voted during their meeting on Tuesday, August 12, 2014 in Washington, D.C. to suspend the Research Set-Aside (RSA) program in 2015 to allow for a thorough review. The Council’s decision followed an extensive discussion of the program’s costs, benefits, enforcement concerns, and consideration of public comments.
The Council will use the one-year suspension of the RSA program to continue its ongoing review and reform of enforceability, monitoring, and other aspects of the program in an effort to improve the program for future success. The Council will conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the program over the next year to determine how the program should be restructured.