Our current website URL http://www.nwfsc.noaa.gov has changed to https://www.nwfsc.noaa.gov. Please note and change your bookmark to our new, encrypted URL to ensure that you are connecting to an official NOAA website and visits to our site are secure and confidential.
The NWFSC is one of six regional science centers for NOAA Fisheries. Our work supports the conservation and management of living marine resources and their habitats in the Northeast Pacific Ocean and beyond.
Our research assists resources managers in making sound decisions that build sustainable fisheries, recover endangered and threatened species, sustain healthy ecosystems, and reduce risks to human health.
We are part of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), which is also referred to as NOAA Fisheries and is a branch of the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration in the Department of Commerce. NOAA Fisheries has its headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, and has a Regional Office and a Science Center in each of six regions - Northwest, Northeast, Pacific Islands, Southwest, Southeast (including the U.S. Caribbean), and Alaska. The Regional Offices provide management and policy leadership. The Science Centers (such as NWFSC) conduct research and provide the scientific advice on which policy is based.