January 6, 2002 — NOAA's Southeast Fisheries Science Center, with headquarters in Miami, Fla., conducts marine and coastal research, primarily in the areas of biology, ecology, fishing gear use and impacts and socioeconomics. Research is conducted at its five research facilities in Beaufort, N.C.; Miami, Fla.; Panama City, Fla.; Pascagoula, Miss.; and Galveston, Texas. In addition, there are field offices in ports throughout the southeast that collect data on fisheries. There are two primary fishery research vessels — the 170-foot NOAA vessel Oregon II and the 224-foot NOAA vessel Gordon Gunter — both berthed at the SEFSC laboratory in Pascagoula.

SEFSC designs, implements and manages a comprehensive program of basic and applied research for protecting, using and conserving living marine resources in territorial waters of the southeastern United States, Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands. Research efforts focus on fisheries science, marine biology, ecology, genetics, engineering, biochemistry, molecular biology, oceanography, economics, social sciences, as well as the marine and coastal environments (i.e., habitats) needed for the continued productivity of natural stocks of finfish and invertebrates, the recovery of endangered species, and the protection of sea turtles and marine mammals.

All research is conducted in accordance with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, Marine Mammal Protection Act, Endangered Species Act, Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act and the National Coral Reef Conservation Act. SEFSC scientists work closely with academia, industry, state and local organizations and members of the public. It also should be noted that important fish stocks, marine mammals and sea turtles range beyond U.S. territorial waters, and therefore SEFSC conducts research in conjunction with a number of other nations, under the auspices of International Agreements (e.g., Atlantic Tunas Convention Act). Scientific information and research results are provided to a large number of government and industry-related organizations, as well as the public. Research results are used by resource managers to develop, guide and evaluate management actions; provide research directions; guide the development of fisheries technologies (e.g. fishing gear) and inform the public. SEFSC also provides direct support to three federal fishery management councils (i.e., South Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean), two interstate fisheries commissions (i.e., the Atlantic and Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commissions) and the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas.

SEFSC is one of five regional NOAA Fisheries science centers. The SEFSC was established in 1970 in NOAA's newly created NOAA Fisheries. The new organization combined three existing federal marine fishery research laboratories: the Tropical Atlantic Biological Laboratory in Miami, Fla. — which emphasized fishery oceanography; the Exploratory Fishing and Gear Research Base in Pascagoula, Miss. — that had expertise in fishery development; and the Panama City Biological Laboratory — that focused on marine recreational fisheries. Later, two other laboratories were added, namely the Galveston Biological Laboratory — that specialized in shrimp fishery biology and the Beaufort Biological Laboratory — emphasizing estuarine ecology. Since then, these research facilities have acquired additional lines of research, so that today’s SEFSC research falls into three broad categories: sustainable fisheries, protected resources and habitat conservation.

Sustainable Fisheries
A major research effort is directed at determining the distribution, abundance and population trends of living marine resources managed under the MSFCMA and the ATCA. A primary emphasis is on stocks that have been or may be depleted by fishing activities, or are subject to significant impact because of the degradation or loss of habitat through human activities (such as pollution, coastal urbanization and dredge and fill activities). Scientists typically conduct periodic fishery stock assessments to determine the potential of the stocks to sustain themselves with current and anticipated fishing pressures and environmental conditions and with existing and proposed regulatory actions. The primary species groups investigated include the Atlantic highly migratory pelagic species (tuna, swordfish, billfish, etc.), sharks, coastal pelagics (Spanish mackerel, king mackerel, dolphinfish, etc.), menhaden, drum, croaker, reef fish, shrimp and invertebrates (lobster, stone crabs, etc.). In addition, since marine mammals and sea turtles are protected through the MMPA or the ESA, SEFSC research is conducted towards minimizing fishing impacts, such as their inadvertent capture by fishing gears (i.e. bycatch).

A wide spectrum of data are collected and analyzed to create usable information for resource and habitat managers. Fishery dependent data (collected from fishermen or seafood dealers) and fishery independent data (collected from research cruises or by means other than the fishery) are combined and analyzed with biological information (such as life history information on fish age, growth, food, predators and prey) to estimate the current status of stocks and simulate the response of stocks to potential changes in fishing pressure imposed by fishery management regulations.

SEFSC maintains a variety of ongoing data-collection programs. The center oversees an intensive observer program to obtain catch, effort and biological information from vessels operating within the U.S. large-pelagic longline fleet. Scientists maintain an Atlantic-wide cooperative tagging database to provide data on the movements of individual tagged fish. Bottom trawl surveys are conducted annually, particularly in the northern Gulf of Mexico where there is a concentration of bottom-dwelling species of commercial and recreational importance. Ichthyoplankton surveys (i.e., towing of fine-meshed plankton nets to capture tiny immature stages of fish), trap and video surveys (i.e., use of underwater video cameras near traps to record fish behavior), and longline surveys (i.e., setting of miles of line with hooks to sample sharks, tunas, swordfish, and billfishes) are periodically conducted to gather specific types of information. Also, SEFSC personnel are stationed throughout the southeast to collect information on the landings of commercial vessels as they reach the dock or after their catch is sold to onshore facilities. Scientists periodically sample selected fish from commercial and recreational catches to extract biological materials for analysis to determine the size, fecundity, sex, age and other attributes of individuals in the catch. SEFSC also manages a Cooperative Research Program that supports science projects with constituents, states and local governments to address critical fisheries research needs.

Protected Resources
SEFSC scientists assess the status, monitor the health and identify threats to protected and endangered species. Research efforts are largely focused on whales, dolphins, porpoises, sea turtles and fishes of concern, including Nassau grouper and corals. The SEFSC takes special care in managing marine species protected under the ESA and MMPA.

Marine Mammals
All of the marine mammals in the southeast from inshore bottlenose dolphins to giant offshore whales are protected under the MMPA and the ESA. Study methods employed by scientists include: direct observations from vessels, aerial flights and the use of underwater listening and acoustic devices that detect distinct audio sounds of these animals. Much knowledge has been gained in recent years on critically endangered North Atlantic Right whales by using special underwater listening devices deployed from ships to detect whale sounds. The SEFSC also manages an extensive marine mammal-stranding network (a cooperative data collection system that contributes to a database of information on beached or injured marine mammals). Marine mammals stranded on shore are studied to determine the rate and cause of strandings and associated mortalities. Efforts are directed towards saving live animals and biological samples are collected for pathology purposes from dead animals. The information gathered from these animals includes life history data such as age, growth, food habitats, as well as habitat use and recovery characteristics. Much of the information collected is used to assess the abundance, distribution and population trends of marine mammal stocks.

Sea Turtles
SEFSC conducts research on five species of sea turtles that are endangered or threatened: Kemp’s ridley, loggerhead, green, hawksbill and the leatherback sea turtle. These animals are studied to obtain information on population sizes to provide advice to regional, national and international management bodies. Some of the studies include: the sea turtle salvage and stranding network, the cooperative marine turtle tagging program, in-water index abundance studies and stock assessment activities. Another important aspect of sea turtle research is to investigate the bycatch and extensive interaction of sea turtles with various fishing gears used in the southeastern United States, particularly within the trawl fisheries and longline fisheries. This includes the Turtle Excluder Device (TED) — a device inserted in trawl nets to allow turtles to escape safely instead of drowning and the bycatch reduction device (BRD) — a device used to reduce unwanted catches of fish and bottom trash to increase shrimp capture.