Kodiak Laboratory Collaborative Objectives
The Kodiak Fisheries Research Center (KFRC) was designed to provide a
multi-agency marine research facility that would foster marine fishery
research as well as serve as a resource for providing educational
opportunities to the Kodiak community. The KFRC was made
possible through the community’s long history of
interest in fishery research. The $19.4 million-research facility is owned by the
Kodiak Island Borough and leased to NMFS, the
Alaska Department of
Fish and Game (ADF&G), and the University of
Alaska. The Kodiak
Fisheries Research Center was conceived as a means of providing
much-needed office and laboratory space for fisheries research in Kodiak
within a common location, thereby facilitating interaction among
researchers.
The Kodiak Laboratory consolidates NMFS research and management
programs in Kodiak and makes them more accessible to the fishing
industry and the public. At the NMFS level, the
Kodiak Fisheries Research Center houses portions of five programs. The
AFSC’s Shellfish Assessment Program is the largest research program at the new facility. The
AFSC’s Resource Assessment and Conservation Engineering Division
(RACE) has a groundfish program at the Kodiak Laboratory. The AFSC’s Kodiak field office of the
North Pacific Groundfish Observer Program debriefs observers upon their
return from fishing vessel trips to gather information on the species
and size composition of the catch and to ensure that data were properly
collected and recorded. The AFSC’s National Marine Mammal Laboratory (NMML)
conducts specialized biological research on Steller sea lions, large
whales, and killer whales. In addition,
the Alaska Regional Office of the Sustainable Fisheries Division
disseminates information concerning regulations, openings, closures, and
the progress of fisheries. The new Kodiak facility also meets
needs for a base of operations for field research, expanding management
and observer coordination in groundfish fisheries and timely cooperation
with the ADF&G on shellfish surveys and fishery management
decision-making.
The Kodiak Fisheries Research Center is on approximately seven acres in close proximity to the
Fisheries Industrial Technology Center on Near Island.
The facility consists of three buildings: a pump house, housing for visiting researchers and students, and the
main building. The main building has offices, traditional laboratories, a state-of -the art
seawater lab, a necropsy lab, and special purpose areas for
the general public, including an aquarium, interpretive center,
and conference rooms. The building also houses an extensive museum collection containing the most common
species of crabs, shrimps, marine snails, bivalves, and a variety of fishes. The
W.F. Thompson Library Memorial Library (1,800 sq ft)
maintains about 6,500 bound volumes,
75 current periodicals, and 2,600 government documents on marine biology and
fisheries. The KFRC, designed
by ECI/Hyer-NBBJ Associated Architects in concert with five additional
specialized firms, received the Honor Award for Excellence in Architecture by the Alaska and Pacific
Northwest Chapters of the American Institute of Architects.
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