[SEMCO] NE Lobster Research Initiative

[Sheri DeRosa]

Call for Proposals: The New England Lobster Research
Initiative



Congress appropriated $3 million to establish a new, cooperative
regional research program--the New England Lobster Research Initiative--to
study the causes and consequences of lobster shell disease. This funding
is jointly managed by NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service, the
University of Rhode Island, and NOAA's Rhode Island Sea Grant College
Program. Our goals are to describe the disease agent and how it works,
and to determine the extent and severity of the disease in New England
waters.



The New England Lobster Research Initiative issues a request for research
proposals. This research program will be competitive and is open to all
universities; state, regional, and/or local agencies; non-governmental
organizations; and privately owned/operated entities around the world.
Each proposal will receive extensive external scientific peer review,
with guidance on final funding decisions made by an external, ad hoc
scientific review panel.



For this research competition, the Rhode
Island Sea Grant web portal, a web-based proposal submission and review
system called
"Webnibus"
will serve as the sole portal for
proposal development, submittal, and review.
An account MUST be created
by the PI before a proposal can be
developed in
Webnibus.



Download the RfP which contains all information about
"Webnibus" at:
http://www.seagrant.gso.uri.edu/fisheries/lobster_initiative/lobster_RfP.pdf



Science Background



Researchers in the Northeast first noticed shell disease in
the 1980s. At that time, the disease appeared as little black spots on
lobsters' shells. But in the past several years, shells have sometimes
become fully infected, with the worst cases rotting the shells entirely.
This new disease is called epizootic shell disease. Research on lobster
health is paramount to understanding the causes and consequences of shell
disease and other diseases affecting the lobster stocks. Several lobster
diseases have been discovered that have occurred concurrently with the
outbreak of the lobster epizootic shell disease in southern New England.
A draft synthesis of shell disease in lobsters in New England has been
created and can serve as background material for those submitting
proposals.



Download the synthesis at the New England Lobster Research Initiative web
site at
http://www.seagrant.gso.uri.edu/fisheries/lobster_initiative/index.html



We invite you to submit a proposal to the Initiative. Contact Rhode
Island Sea Grant at (401) 874-6800 for more information.





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Barry A. Costa-Pierce          Tel:  (401) 874-6800   

Director & Professor            Fax:          789-8340 

Rhode Island Sea Grant College Program   

University of Rhode Island Bay Campus

South Ferry Road

129 Coastal Institute Building

Narragansett, Rhode Island  02882-1197 USA

http://www.uri.edu/cels/favs/bcp.html



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Visit Sea Grant at
http://www.seagrant.gso.uri.edu

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