[Federal Register: June 5, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 109)]
[Notices]
[Page 32051-32053]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr05jn08-85]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
MARINE MAMMAL COMMISSION
Availability of Grant Funds for Fiscal Year 2008
AGENCY: Marine Mammal Commission.
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Authority: Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 (1361 et seq.)
SUMMARY: The U.S. Marine Mammal Commission is seeking proposals for
research and related activities that will further the conservation and
management goals of the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Proposals should
be tailored to address either of two focused research topics: (1)
Conservation of Critically Endangered Marine Mammal Species or
Populations and (2) Indirect Effects of Fisheries on Marine Mammals.
DATES: Proposals must be received by 15 July 2008, 5 p.m., EDT.
ADDRESSES: Proposals should be submitted electronically in MSWord,
WordPerfect, or Adobe PDF format to Ms. Mina Innes, Research Program
Officer, at the Marine Mammal Commission, e-mail address:
minnes@mmc.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Inquiries should be directed to Dr.
Robert Gisiner, Scientific Program Director, by mail (4340 East-West
Highway, Room 700, Bethesda, MD 20814), phone (301-504-0087), or e-mail
(bgisiner@mmc.gov). Please also copy e-mail inquiries to Ms. Mina Innes
(minnes@mmc.gov).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: Marine Mammal Commission FY2008 Focused Research Topics.
Purpose: The U.S. Marine Mammal Commission is seeking proposals for
research and related activities that will further the conservation and
management goals of the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Proposals should
be tailored to address either of two focused research topics: (1)
Conservation of Critically Endangered Marine Mammal Species or
Populations and (2) Indirect Effects of Fisheries on Marine Mammals.
Grantees or contractors whose projects involve the taking of marine
mammals will be expected to obtain all necessary permits and
authorizations for their projects before engaging in such activities.
Information on the focused research topics, selection criteria,
required formats for full proposals, the submission process, and the
submission schedule is provided below.
Financial Information: A total of $450,000 has been allocated for
this RFP. Allocation of the total amount between the two focused
research topics will be determined by the nature and quality of
proposals within each topic and the degree to which the selected
proposals contribute to an integrated program of effort within each
research topic as determined during the final review phase.
Duration of Effort: The Commission strongly encourages that
proposals be limited to a single period of effort, usually one year.
Multi-year proposals, not to exceed three years, may be considered, but
only if a strong case can be made for the necessity of a prolonged
effort.
Individual Award Amount: No upper or lower limit has been set for
an individual proposal due to the wide range of potential levels of
effort within each focused research topic. However, it is anticipated
that few if any awards will exceed $50,000 to $100,000, and that most
will range between $30,000 and $50,000, based on the Commission's
[[Page 32052]]
desire to focus on initial phase scoping efforts and to be able to
address a sufficient range of actions and approaches within each area.
Proposers are encouraged to present a budget consistent with the type
and level of effort proposed, rather than on a specific dollar target,
since budget realism, aligned with anticipated scientific and
conservation impact, constitutes the largest share of the review
weighting process.
Indirect Costs: Proposers are encouraged to keep their overhead
costs at or below 10 percent in keeping with the Marine Mammal
Commission's stated policy on indirect costs. This policy is intended
to maximize the impact on science and conservation from the limited
resources available to the Commission for discretionary spending (also
see http://www.mmc.gov/research/).
Focused Research Topics
1. Conservation of Critically Endangered Marine Mammal Species or
Populations
The Commission is requesting proposals for research or other
activities that will promote the conservation of critically endangered
marine mammal species or populations, with a particular focus on those
for which current research efforts are non-existent or underfunded.
Such proposals could include the following:
Collection and analysis of data on critically endangered
marine mammals and/or the threats facing them, with the goal of
informing conservation decisions;
Development and implementation of strategies for
prioritizing and commumcating critical conservation needs to the public
and decision-makers;
Initiation of conservation activities to address the
principal threats facing critically endangered marine mammals.
The at-risk species or populations may occur in domestic, foreign,
or international waters. The Commission is not likely to fund proposals
to continue ongoing conservation programs but will consider proposals
to provide seed money or start-up funds to initiate new efforts, with
the goal of creating self-sustaining conservation efforts that do not
duplicate pre-existing efforts. Priority will be given to proposals
based on the degree of endangerment to the species or population, the
usefulness and relevance of the research in addressing a threat and
promoting conservation, and the extent to which other funding sources
are or are not available. Proposals should reflect a thorough knowledge
of ongoing research and conservation efforts and should clearly
indicate both the importance of the proposed work and the limitations
imposed by current funding levels or opportunities.
2. InDirect Effects of Fisheries on Marine Mammals
Commercial, recreational, and subsistence fisheries have the
potential to affect marine mammals and other predators directly through
bycatch and indirectly by altering the availability of prey resources
(e.g., exploitative or interference competition). The Marine Mammal
Protection Act establishes a comprehensive framework for managing
bycatch of marine mammals, but the indirect effects of fishing are
poorly understood and largely unmanaged. Despite growing emphasis on
ecosystem-based fisheries management, much of the research effort to
date has been limited to the indirect effects of fishing on non-target
fish stocks with little attention paid to the effects on higher-
trophic-level predators. Indirect effects of fisheries can be complex,
and research programs to investigate those effects have been slow to
develop.
The Commission is requesting proposals for studies that seek to
describe quantitatively the indirect effects of fishing on marine
mammals or to develop approaches for mitigating those effects.
Proposals may include, but are not limited to, the following
approaches:
Comparative experiments between fished and unfished areas
to assess the potential impact of fisheries on marine mammals;
Development and performance testing of conceptual fishery
management approaches that explicitly consider indirect effects of
fishing on marine mammals;
Ecosystem dynamics modeling studies that investigate the
functional relationships between marine mammal predators, their prey,
and fisheries in appropriate spatial/temporal context (i.e., including
consideration of spatial and temporal overlap between predators, prey,
and fisheries);
Field validation of such modeling studies.
Methodological approaches and data requirements for such projects
are described on pages 41-44 of Chapter 3, ``Indirect Fisheries
Interactions,'' in J.E. Reynolds III et al. ``Marine Mammal Research:
Conservation Beyond Crisis'' (The Johns Hopkins University Press,
Baltimore, MD). Proposers may find this reference helpful in organizing
their proposed efforts, although adherence to the referenced guidance
is not required. Proposals will be considered both for small stocks and
fisheries as well as for larger marine mammal populations or large-
scale fisheries.
Proposals on other aspects of indirect fishery effects on marine
mammals will be considered, but priority will be given to proposals
that address critical gaps in current understanding of indirect fishery
effects. In all cases, proposals should indicate a thorough knowledge
of relevant topics and should describe explicitly how the proposed work
will build upon, but not duplicate, previous efforts. The Commission
will consider proposals for workshops or reviews of historical data as
well as original research projects.
Selection criteria: Proposals will be evaluated using the normal
consultative process of the Marine Mammal Commission with its Committee
of Scientific Advisors on Marine Mammals and the Commission staff. The
following factors will be considered.
Relevance to the focused research topic as described in
this statement and to the overall mission of the Marine Mammal
Commission as described on the Commission's Web site (http://
www.mmc.gov/aboutmmc/) (40 points).
Scientific and conservation merit of the proposed approach
and anticipated end products (30 points).
Qualifications of the proposal team (15 points).
Realism of the proposed budget (15 points).
Commission staff will compile reviewer recommendations and forward
the ranked recommendations to the Commissioners for final review. The
Commissioners will make the final funding determination based on their
assessment of the combination of projects that will most effectively
promote the conservation and management goals of the Marine Mammal
Protection Act within the funds allocated for this funding opportunity.
Proposal Format
The proposal body must not exceed eight pages (single-sided, or
four pages double-sided) using 12 point font, exclusive of cover page,
budget page(s), curriculum vitae, and supporting materials.
Cover Page: The cover page shall include the following
information, in any format:
[cir] Title: The full title of the proposal. A shorter, running
title is optional.
[cir] Research Topic: List the RFP topic to which the proposal is
addressed (1) Critically Endangered Species or (2) Indirect Effects of
Fisheries. Listing of topic subheadings (items indicated by bullets
under each topic) is optional.
[[Page 32053]]
[cir] Keywords (optional): a list of three to six keywords,
indicating species, regions, research methods, or disciplinary areas of
effort.
[cir] Principal Investigator: Please list only one (corresponding)
principal investigator even if your proposal team consists of two or
more co-equal investigators and institutions (also see instructions for
Curricula Vitae, below).
[cir] PI Contact Information: Address, phone, and e-mail for the
principal investigator.
[cir] Financial Point of Contact: The individual (with or without
institutional affiliation, as appropriate) who will be responsible for
contractual and fiscal matters. This may or may not be the same
individual and institution listed as principal investigator.
[cir] Financial Point of Contact Information: address, phone, and
e-mail for the financial point of contact.
Body of Proposal
[cir] Abstract (optional): Provide an abstract of the proposal
summarizing the problem or question to be addressed, the methods to be
used to address the problem or question, possible outcomes of the work,
and the utility of the research for advancing science and management
related to marine mammals. Please limit the abstract to approximately
200 words.
[cir] Introduction, Background, or Problem Statement: Provide a
review of past related effort by the research team or others. Indicate
knowledge gaps, shortfalls of prior efforts, or challenges to further
progress and describe how the proposed effort will address these
issues.
[cir] Goals and Objectives: Provide statements of both the general
or broad goal of the proposed research and the specific objectives that
will be addressed within the scope of this proposal to make progress
toward the broader, general goal.
[cir] Methods: Provide a detailed description of the methods of the
investigation so that the reviewer can understand how you will address
each of the specific objectives. If you are not conducting original
research but are developing a workshop, review panel or other activity,
describe the nature of the activity, the planned agenda or working
format, likely attendees/participants, and
[cir] Tentative dates and location of the planned activity.
[cir] Anticipated Outcomes: Describe the short-term outcomes and
those anticipated to occur within the scope of effort and time span of
the proposed project (e.g., completion of a workshop report, one or
more peer-reviewed journal articles, an equipment prototype, and
report).
[cir] Research and Management Utility (Long-Term Outcome): Describe
the anticipated long-term utility of the project and its implications
for future research, management, or conservation activities.
Budget and Time Line: Although there is no specified
format for the budget, this section should provide sufficient detail to
inform the reviewer of expenses or costs by general category (salary,
equipment, supplies, travel, publication, overhead, miscellaneous) and
by sub-tasks within the proposed effort, as appropriate. Include
information on other sources of funding for the project, if applicable.
For multi-year or multi-stage projects, include a time table for
completion of each phase as a means of gauging progress toward
completion of the full proposed effort.
Curricula Vitae, Research Team Qualifications: Provide a
curriculum vitae or short biography of no more than two pages for all
key members of the proposal team (those individuals whose unique
background and experience are essential to completion of the project),
including their experience or expertise related to the subject
proposal. Although there can only be one principal investigator (see
Title Page guidance), multiple co-investigators can be designated in
this portion of the proposal, if desired.
Supporting Materials: Supporting materials such as recent
publications, short descriptions of relevant work in progress or
recently completed, organization charts or time lines will be accepted,
but should be limited to information absolutely essential to
understanding the significance, approach and context of the proposed
work. The presence or absence of supporting materials will not be a
consideration in proposal evaluations. It is highly recommended that
supporting materials be limited to fewer than 20 to 30 pages or 5 Mb;
the more material provided, the less likely it is to be used by the
reviewers in developing their evaluations.
Submission process: Proposals should be submitted electronically in
MSWord, WordPerfect, or Adobe PDF format to Ms. Mina Innes, Research
Program Officer, at the Marine Mammal Commission, e-mail address
minnes@mmc.gov.
Timing of Submission and Review Process
15 July 2008; 5 p.m. EDT Full proposals due to the Marine Mammal
Commission.
11 August 2008; 5 p.m. EDT Successful applicants informed of final
Decisions.
Proposals received after the due date and time listed above will
not, under any circumstances, be forwarded for review.
Inquiries: Inquiries should be directed to Dr. Robert Gisiner,
Scientific Program Director, by mail (4340 East-West Highway, Room 700,
Bethesda, MD 20814), phone (301-504-0087) or e-mail
(bgisiner@minc.gov). Please also copy e-mail inquiries to Ms. Mina
Innes (minnes@mmc.gov).
Dated: May 29, 2008.
Timothy J. Ragen,
Executive Director.
[FR Doc. E8-12459 Filed 6-4-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6820-31-M