This competition is open only to the following Sea Grant programs in the northeast region - Maine Sea Grant, New Hampshire Sea Grant, MIT Sea Grant, Woods Hole Sea Grant, Connecticut Sea Grant, Rhode Island Sea Grant and New York Sea Grant. Proposals representing collaboration between multiple programs will be prioritized.

The National Sea Grant College Program was enacted by the U.S. Congress in 1966 (amended in 2020, Public Law 116-221) to support leveraged federal and state partnerships that harness the intellectual capacity of the nation’s universities and research institutions to solve problems and generate opportunities in coastal communities.

The National Sea Grant American Lobster Initiative began in 2018, in response to Congressional direction and with the recognition that a cohesive regional lobster program would be beneficial for the Northeast. Since then, the National Sea Grant Office (NSGO) has run competitions resulting in the funding of 40 research projects totaling more than $11.5 million, and awarding an additional $1.6 million in extension funding in the Northeast to transfer the research results to the decision makers and communities served.

Pending federal appropriations in FY2025, consistent with its mission to enhance practical use and conservation in order to create a sustainable economy and environment, the NSGO intends to enhance local oversight and direction of research and extension within the American lobster fishery by funding a regional program that aims to synthesize previous and ongoing research findings, support new and ongoing place-based extension within the region, and continue addressing priority research needs necessary to enhance understanding of and address impacts on the significant, complex and dynamic American lobster fishery. A Gulf of Maine-focused, but regionally-coordinated American lobster program, will ensure that stakeholders across the Northeast region continue to benefit from research and extension supporting American lobster (Homarus americanus) and its fishery. This includes research carried out through the National Sea Grant American Lobster Initiative, state Sea Grant projects and other relevant research, as well as the lessons learned and best practices developed to benefit the sustainability of the fishery and its associated communities and economies.

Given the maturity of existing regional extension programs and research projects, applications should highlight how the proposed scope of work will build on previous National Sea Grant American Lobster Initiative success and address emerging priorities impacting American lobster fishing communities in the region. Applications to this FY2025 Northeast American Lobster Regional Program competition should address the following objectives:

Synthesis of past and ongoing American lobster research, especially that funded through the National Sea Grant American Lobster Initiative, including creation of communication and outreach products to convey and implement relevant findings

Support for new and continuing place-based extension, outreach and education activities

Identification of needs and funding of competitive research following established NSGO competition policies

Provide for competition support and oversight of selected projects

Proposals for the Northeast American Lobster Regional Program should support and coordinate with existing efforts while also seeking new partnerships that continue supporting a framework that facilitates regional coordination among its stakeholders. It is expected that applications will identify shared and complementary goals and strategies to leverage resources across the region and enable coordination among existing efforts. For example, the program should add value to and support relationships with related efforts among state and federal agency partners that advance the above objectives while continuing to fund research and building off the relationships with researchers. 

NOAA intends to use this NOFO to establish a partnership with a grantee to continue the successful activities of the National Sea Grant American Lobster Initiative, with the expectation that subsequent awards for continuing the established work (or new ones as appropriate) may be made on a noncompetitive “institutional” basis, based on satisfactory award performance, and continued relevance to program objectives as long as conditions of performance are met.

All projects must take place within the United States or territories or their respective waterways.

Applicant organizations must complete and maintain three registrations to be eligible to apply for or receive an award. These registrations include SAM.gov, Grants.gov, and eRA Commons. All registrations must be completed prior to the application being submitted. The complete registration process for all three systems can take 4 to 6 weeks, so applicants should begin this activity as soon as possible. If an eligible applicant does not have access to the internet, please contact the Agency Contacts listed in Section VII for submission instructions. NOAA has created a guide to aid applicants format application packages to eRA: Tips and Tricks for Successful eRA Submissions, linked here.

Prior to registering with eRA Commons, applicant organizations must first obtain a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) from SAM.gov, if needed (refer to Section IV. Applications and Submission Information, Section C). Organizations can register with eRA Commons in tandem with completing their full SAM and Grants.gov registrations; however, all registrations must be in place by time of application submission. eRA Commons requires organizations to identify at least one Signing Official (SO) and at least one Program Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) account in order to submit an application.

This document sets out requirements for submitting to NOAA-OAR-SG-2025-29639.