The Log | School News
$3 Million Grant Helps Launch Project to Reduce Fisheries
Bycatch
A new Nicholas School-led initiative to assess the global
impact of fisheries bycatch on declining populations of seabirds,
sea turtles and marine mammals has received a $3 million grant
from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.
“This grant makes it possible for us to work on a scale never
previously possible to develop effective international management
measures and conservation efforts for these protected species,”
said Larry
B. Crowder, Stephen Toth Professor of Marine
Biology.
Crowder, who also serves as director of the new Duke
Center for Marine Conservation, is principal investigator
on the fisheries bycatch project. The project’s ambitious
first objective is to develop a global database of declines
in seabirds, sea turtles and marine mammals, and the impact
fisheries bycatch may have on them.
When completed, it will be the most comprehensive database
of its kind, Crowder said.
“Past assessments have focused on specific regions, species
or fisheries. That’s valuable information, but it’s piecemeal,”
he explained. “We need the global perspective to help us achieve
our second objective: working with major fishing nations,
fishing commissions and conservation groups worldwide to develop
a rational approach to management of these multinational resources.”
Nicholas School researchers who serve as co-principal investigators
on the project are Andrew
J. Read, Rachel Carson Associate Professor of
Marine Conservation Biology; Patrick
N. Halpin, assistant professor of the practice
of landscape ecology; and Rebecca Lewison, research associate
at the Duke Center for Marine Conservation. Carl Safina, cofounder
and president of the Blue Ocean Institute of Cold Springs
Harbor, N.Y., and Wallace J. Nichols MEM ’92, Pacific Ocean
Region director for Blue Ocean, are also co-principal investigators.
The Duke Center for Marine Conservation was established this
year to promote interdisciplinary research, education and
outreach in marine conservation, and to facilitate collaborations
between Nicholas School faculty and the larger research community.
The Moore Foundation was established in 2000 to develop outcomebased
projects that will improve the quality of life for future
generations. It awards grants in four main areas of programmatic
interest: environmental conservation, science, higher education
and projects that benefit the San Francisco Bay area. The
foundation’s headquarters are in San Francisco.
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