Requests for Proposals II

History

Announced in 2016, RFP II focused on funding one Center of Excellence grant for a collaborative effort between researchers, managers, fishing stakeholders, and a non-profit that addressed RA discipline 5. The PMT refined the goal to prioritize activities contributing to marine fisheries management in order to complement RFP I and target limited program resources. The three RFP objectives are to:

  • Improve the pace, scope, and efficacy of observations needed to assess abundance and distribution of early life history stages for Florida’s marine fisheries.
  • Enhance and integrate oceanographic observations (including real- or near-real time) with biological, chemical, and acoustic measurements aimed at assessing and predicting fisheries productivity.
  • Assess, evaluate, improve, and apply existing ecosystem models that synthesize and integrate collected and historical data to inform stock assessments and improve response to future environmental disasters.

A single Center of Excellence (SHELF) was chosen to conduct research with a potential for long-term funding to allow for iterative progress with independent science reviews occurring every three years to provide feedback and help steer future research.

Research Projects

Spawning Habitat & Early-Life Linkages to Fisheries (SHELF) 2016-2018

P.I.: Dr. Ernst Peebles, University of South Florida

Co-Investigators: Dr. Steve Murawski, Dr. Chris Stallings & Dr. Mya Breitbart, University of South Florida; Dr. Kevin Boswell, Florida International University; Dr. James Locascio, Mote Marine Laboratory; Dr. David Chagaris, University of Florida

Publications

2023

Breitbart, M., M. Kerr, M.J. Schram, I. Williams, G. Koziol, E. Peebles, C.D. Stallings, 2023. Evaluation of DNA metabarcoding for identifying fish eggs: a case study on the West Florida Shelf. PeerJ. DOI: 10.77/peerj.15016.

2022

Vecchio, J.L. and E.B. Peebles, 2022, Lifetime-scale ontogenetic movement and diets of red grouper inferred using a combination of instantaneous and archival methods. Environmental Biology of Fishes. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-022-01210-2

2021

Vecchio, J.L., J.L Ostroff, E.B. Peebles, 2021. Isotopic characterization of lifetime movement by two demersal fishes from the northeastern Gulf of Mexico. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 657: 161-172. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps13525

2020

Nguyen, B.V.V., 2020. Investigation of Retention Versus Export of Planktonic Fish Eggs in the Northeastern Gulf of Mexico. M.S. thesis, University of South Florida.

Vecchio, J.L., E.B. Peebles, 2020. Spawning origins and ontogenetic movements for demersal fishes: An approach using eye-lens stable isotopes. Estuarine, Coastal, and Shelf Science, 246. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2020.107047.