About the Alaska Fisheries Science Center
The Alaska Fisheries Science Center is the research branch of the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National
Marine Fisheries Service responsible for research on living marine
resources in the coastal oceans off Alaska and off parts of the west
coast of the United States. This region of nearly 3 million square miles
includes the North Pacific Ocean
and the eastern Bering Sea which support
some of the most important commercial fisheries in the world. These waters
are also home to the largest marine mammal populations in the Nation.
The
mission of the Alaska Fisheries Science Center is to plan, develop, and manage
scientific research programs which generate the best scientific data available
for understanding, managing, and conserving the region's living marine resources
and the environmental quality essential for their existence.
With a staff of approximately 400 men and women, the Alaska Fisheries
Science Center conducts field and laboratory research to help conserve and
manage the region's living marine resources in compliance with the Magnuson-Stevens
Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1996, the Marine Mammal Protection
Act of 1972, and the Endangered Species Act of 1973.
Center scientists compile
and analyze broad databases on fishery, oceanography, marine mammal, and environmental
research. These data are used to develop policies and strategies for fisheries
management within the U.S. Exclusive Economic
Zone, monitor and assess the
health of the region's marine mammal populations, and develop the scientific
understanding and predictive methodologies needed to implement NOAA Fisheries'
ecosystem approach to management. In
addition to ongoing survey and assessment activities, the AFSC is engaged in
cutting-edge research on emerging issues such as global warming and the loss
of sea ice in the Bering Sea.
The primary responsibilities of the Center are to provide scientific data
and analysis and technical advice to the NMFS
Alaska Regional Office, North
Pacific Fishery Management Council, state of Alaska, Alaskan coastal
subsistence communities, and U.S. representatives participating in international
fishery and marine mammal negotiations, as well as the fishing industry
and its constituents. The Center also coordinates fisheries and marine mammal
research with other Federal and state agencies, academic institutions, and
foreign nations.
Research programs at the Center are managed and conducted through the Resource
Assessment and Conservation Engineering Division, Resource Ecology
and Fisheries Management Division, National Marine Mammal Laboratory, Fisheries
Monitoring and Analysis Division and Auke Bay Laboratory, in
addition to the new Habitat and
Ecological Processes Program,
a unique cross-cutting program which focuses Center resources on interdisciplinary
research topics. Program objectives are carried out at the AFSC
Directorate in
the NOAA Western Regional Center's Sand Point Facility in Seattle, Washington,
and from facilities in Alaska and
Oregon.
Learn more about NOAA's National
Marine Fisheries Service, including information on
Learn more about NOAA, including information on
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