Up to $240 million in funding is available for transformational projects that will restore coastal habitat and strengthen community resilience. This funding has been made available through the Biden-Harris Administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act.  Applications are due November 17, 2023. Contact: Jessica Edwards.

Two funding opportunities for fish passage, including one focused on tribes, are now open under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act. 

• Nearly $175 million is available for fish passage projects that will remove dams and other in-stream barriers to reopen migratory pathways and restore access to healthy habitat for fish around the country. Applications are due October 16. 
• Nearly $85 million is available for tribal priority fish passage and capacity building. This funding will support tribes and organizations that represent tribes in building organizational capacity and implementing on-the-ground projects that restore access to healthy habitat for tribally important species. Applications are due November 8. 

Tribes are eligible to apply to both funding opportunities. Contact: Jessica Edwards.

The NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office announced that six new projects have been recommended to receive funding through the Chesapeake Bay Fisheries Research Program. Nearly $1.5 million will support projects that will explore the connections between the effects of climate change on habitat—and fisheries that depend on that habitat. Contact: Bruce Vogt.

NOAA Fisheries has recommended $3.2 million in Great Lakes Restoration Initiative funding to continue ongoing work restoring important habitat for fisheries in the Great Lakes. Through this funding, partners will implement projects that support fisheries, habitats, and communities in Great Lakes ecosystems. Contact: Julie Simmons.

NOAA has recommended approximately $910,000 for one new award and four ongoing projects under the Ruth Gates Coral Restoration Innovation Grants. The projects are enhancing coral resilience and improving the long-term success and efficiency of shallow-water coral reef restoration in an increasingly variable climate. Contact: Dani Weissman.

Listen to NOAA Fisheries’ new podcast about how the restoration of the Klamath watershed, the largest dam removal project in the world, will reopen access to habitat for the threatened and endangered native fish of the area.

Local human impacts combine with global ocean warming to threaten coral reef persistence. New research published in Nature finds that simultaneously reducing land- and sea-based human impacts supports coral reef persistence in our changing climate.

Smalltooth sawfish are an endangered species found in the southeastern United States, primarily in the Florida Everglades. The main threats to smalltooth sawfish include habitat loss due to coastal development and death due to direct and accidental capture in fisheries. Protecting and recovering sawfish populations is a team effort. Learn how to do your part by minimizing bycatch and protecting their important habitats.

NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program and Office of National Marine Sanctuaries are working with Mission: Iconic Reefs partners in the Florida Keys to develop a socioeconomic monitoring program. The program will assess the effects of coral restoration on reef users, human communities, and ecosystem services.