Amendment 2 to the Monkfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP) established the Monkfish RSA Program, which sets-aside 500 monkfish DAS annually from the total number of monkfish DAS allocated to limited access monkfish vessels, to address monkfish research priorities identified by the Councils.

NMFS,

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in coordination with the Councils, is soliciting proposals for monkfish research to be conducted under the 2014 Monkfish RSA Program.

DAS will be awarded to successful applicants.Projects funded under an RSA DAS award must enhance understanding of the monkfish fishery resource or contribute to the body of information on which management decisions are made.

NMFS and the Councils will give priority to funding research proposals in the following areas.

The priorities are listed in order of importance.

2014 Monkfish RSA Program Research Needs and Priorities:
1. Research on monkfish life history focusing on:
(a) age and growth, (b) longevity, (c) reproduction, and (d) natural mortality; 2. Migration patterns focusing on:
(a) short- and long-term movements with respect to management areas and off-shelf movements, and, (b) habitat use; 3. Research concerning trophic interactions of monkfish with other species and monkfish cannibalism; 4. Cooperative research surveys to fill in gaps in current survey coverage; 5. Research concerning bycatch and discard mortality focusing on:
(a) Target species (i.e., monkfish or Northeast multispecies), and (b) non-target species (e.g., monkfish or skate); and 6. Trawl and gillnet gear studies focusing on:
(a) Size and/or species selectivity, and, (b) bycatch reduction, including reducing bycatch of and interactions with protected species.