Sea Grant provides a variety of funding opportunities based on its work in four focus areas: Healthy Coastal Ecosystems, Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture, Resilient Coastal Communities and Economies, and Environmental Literacy and Workforce Development. Funding opportunities include National Strategic Investments, Special Projects, focused opportunities through each of the 34 Sea Grant programs, and more. See below for more information on current and previous funding opportunities. Most funding opportunities require applying through or to one of the 34 Sea Grant programs.
See Inside Sea Grant for forms and additional guidance where applicable. Questions about funding opportunities should be directed to oar.hq.sg.competitions@noaa.gov.
Current National Funding Opportunities
Subject to the availability of funding, Sea Grant anticipates approximately $5,000,000 will be available for research projects and programs that will advance marine finfish juvenile production technologies for aquaculture. The overall goal is to develop and refine reproduction/broodstock, hatchery, and/or nursery strategies enabling the reliable production of sufficient quantities of juvenile marine finfish to supply on-growing operations.
Research funded through this competition must be focused on one or more of the following 19 finfish species:
• Almaco jack, Seriola rivoliana; • Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua; • Black sea bass, Centropristis striata; • California yellowtail, Seriola lalandi; • Cobia, Rachycentron canadum; • Florida pompano, Trachinotus carolinus; • Olive flounder, Paralichthys olivaceus; • Red drum, Sciaenops ocellatus; • Sablefish, Anoplopoma fimbria; • Spotted wolffish, Anarhichas minor; • Striped bass, Morone saxatilis; • White sea bass, Atractoscion nobilis; • California halibut, Paralichthys californicus; • Spotted seatrout, Cynoscion nebulosus; • Greater amberjack, Seriola dumerili; • Southern flounder, Paralichthys lethostigma; • Summer flounder, Paralichthys dentatus; • Tripletail, Lobotes surinamensis; • Steelhead trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss
Strong applications will address program priorities and will integrate research and extension. Proposals are sought that support broad, non-proprietary research to address critical gaps with respect to marine finfish juvenile production technologies; make that information available to U.S. coastal and Great Lakes aquaculture businesses; and include Sea Grant aquaculture extension personnel and also preferably industry stakeholders. These investments are consistent with Sea Grant’s focus area of Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture (SFA) and the Sea Grant Network’s 10-year Aquaculture Vision, both which support NOAA and Department of Commerce aquaculture goals.
All proposals to this competition must be submitted by a Sea Grant program. Other interested entities must submit proposals in partnership with and through a relevant Sea Grant Program.
Read formal announcement on Grants.gov NOAA-OAR-SG-2022-2007054
Informational Webinar October 15, 2021 at 2 pm ET (Review questions and answers from the webinar)
Notices of intent to submit due: November 9, 2021
Full proposals due date: January 27, 2022
Subject to the availability of funding, Sea Grant anticipates approximately $4,000,000 will be available for research projects and programs that will develop and refine early stage propagation strategies (e.g. reproduction, hatchery, and/or nursery strategies) for aquaculture species excluding selected marine finfish species for food. A total of 19 of these species are the focus of the concurrent competition titled, “Marine Finfish Aquaculture: Juvenile Production Technologies,” NOFO number: NOAA-OAR-SG-2022-2007054. Strong applications will address program priorities described below and will integrate research and extension. Proposals are sought that support broad, non-proprietary research to develop and refine early stage propagation strategies, such as reproduction, hatchery, and/or nursery strategies, for aquaculture species; make that information available to U.S. coastal and Great Lakes aquaculture businesses; and include Sea Grant aquaculture extension personnel and also preferably industry stakeholders. These investments are consistent with Sea Grant’s focus area of Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture (SFA) and the Sea Grant Network’s 10-year Aquaculture Vision, both which support NOAA and Department of Commerce aquaculture goals.
All proposals to this competition must be submitted by a Sea Grant program. Other interested entities must submit proposals in partnership with and through a relevant Sea Grant Program.
Read formal announcement on Grants.gov NOAA-OAR-SG-NOAA-OAR-SG-2022-2007053
Informational Webinar October 15, 2021 at 3 pm ET (Review questions and answers from the webinar)
Notices of intent to submit due: November 16, 2021
Full proposals due date: February 3, 2022
Applications must be submitted to the state Sea Grant program by 5:00 pm local time on January 27, 2022. Applicants are strongly encouraged to reach out to the Sea Grant Program in their state one to two months prior to the state application deadline to receive application support and provide notification of an intent to apply. More information at seagrant.noaa.gov/NMFS-SG-Fellowship.
State programs: LOIs should be received via email by the NSGO Fellowship Program Managers (oar.sg.fellows@noaa.gov) by 5:00 pm Eastern Time on Thursday, February 10, 2022. Applications should be submitted through Grants.gov by February 24, 2022 at 11:59 PM ET.
Applications must be submitted to the state Sea Grant program by February 18, 2022. Applicants are strongly encouraged to reach out to the Sea Grant Program in their state one to two months prior to the state application deadline to receive application support and provide notification of an intent to apply. The applicant should allow sufficient time to schedule an interview with the eligible Sea Grant program at the program’s request. More information at seagrant.noaa.gov/knauss.
State programs: LOIs should be received via email by the NSGO Fellowship Program Managers (oar.sg.fellows@noaa.gov) by 5:00 pm Eastern Time on Thursday, March 17, 2022. Full Knauss packages should be submitted through Grants.gov by April 01, 2022 at 11:59 PM ET.
Current State/Local Funding Opportunities
See details on the State Sea Grant Program Funding Opportunities page
Current Regional Funding Opportunities
The South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium is seeking proposals that expand the current South Atlantic Red Snapper Research Program Project 1 with a second funded project, Project 2. The goal of this grant opportunity is to propose a framework for expanding the current Project 1 to augment the data that will be used for management advice of Red Snapper in the South Atlantic. Proposals should improve data collection for the distribution and density, Bayesian modeling, and close-kin mark recapture methods used in Project 1 which strives to generate three independent measures of absolute estimate of abundance by age class with accompanying measures of uncertainty for the entire South Atlantic Red Snapper stock.
Proposals are welcomed from institutions of higher education and the proposal Principal Investigator(s) must be based within a Southeast U.S. state (NC, SC, GA, FL).
Proposal instructions are available in the funding request.
Questions About Previous Project Due: November 2, 2021
Letter of Intent Deadline: November 30, 2021 at 5 pm ET
Full Proposal Deadline: December 15, 2021 at 5 pm ET
Current Student Opportunities
See our pages on student opportunities.
Current Opportunities from Sea Grant Partners
NOAA invites qualified small businesses to submit proposals for research and development of highly innovative technologies that have strong commercial potential and fit within the NOAA mission areas. Topics for this year’s solicitation include 1) Climate Adaptation and Mitigation, 2) Weather-Ready Nation, 3) Healthy Oceans, and 4) Resilient Coastal Communities and Economies. To be eligible to submit a Phase I application, small businesses must submit a required Letter of Intent via this form by December 13, 2021. For more information on this solicitation, visit the NOAA SBIR website or contact the NOAA SBIR Program via email at noaa.sbir@noaa.gov.