Bycatch Reduction Engineering Program Funding

The Bycatch Reduction Engineering Program provides funding to support applied management projects and activities to reduce bycatch. Bycatch reduction is a top priority for NOAA Fisheries, as outlined in our National Bycatch Reduction Strategy. Bycatch contributes to overfishing, threatens endangered and threatened species and protected marine mammals, and can close fisheries, significantly impacting U.S. economic growth. Through this program, we support the development and testing of fishing gears that minimize bycatch and habitat impacts. 

There are four high-priority areas for the Fiscal Year 2025:

• Researching new technology
• Encouraging technology adoption
• Reducing post-release mortality
• Conducting international research

This program no longer encourages or requires DEIA, EEJ or Underserved Community components. These elements should be removed from applications prior to submission. For applications already submitted, these components will be disregarded. The selection process, including evaluations and scores, will be based on the remaining evaluation criteria.