Alaska Fisheries Science Center

The Auke Bay Laboratories is headquartered at the Ted Stevens Marine Research Institute. This "green" facility includes 66,000 square feet of office space and 33,000 square feet of lab space. It is located at Lena Point, north of Juneau, Alaska. Other facilities include: Auke Bay Marine Station – Auke Bay, Juneau AK, the Auke Creek Research Station – Auke Creek, Juneau, AK, Juneau Subport and Dock – downtown Juneau, AK, Little Port Walter Marine Station – on southern Baranof Island and Pribilof Island facilities – Bering Sea, Alaska.

The 25,000 square foot Kodiak Laboratory is part of the Kodiak Fisheries Research Center owned by the Kodiak Island Borough. The Center was designed with state-of-the-art seawater and necropsy labs and is home to a multi-agency marine research facility. Resource Assessment and Conservation Engineering scientists for both Shellfish and Groundfish Assessment Programs conduct field and laboratory research on the abundance and distribution of marine invertebrate and fish populations, their life history, population dynamics, habitats, ecological interactions, and impacts of human activities such as bycatch, discard mortality, and habitat alteration. Scientists also provide information necessary to conserve, protect, and manage economically important Alaskan shellfish resources, including king, Tanner, and snow crabs, for the benefit of the nation. NOAA Fisheries W.F. Thompson Memorial Library (1800 sq ft) is housed here.

The Alaska Fisheries Science Center's Fisheries Behavioral Ecology Program is located at the Oregon State University's Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport, Oregon. The Hatfield Marine Science Center was created to serve the scientific needs of various organizations and government agencies and includes the Oregon State University building constructed in 1965 and the NOAA facilities which were completed in 1981. NOAA and Oregon State University staff at the Hatfield Center are currently located in two federal government-owned buildings which are managed by the Northwest Fisheries Science Center. The Fisheries Behavioral Ecology Program conducts laboratory research on the behavioral responses of commercially important marine fish to environmental factors that are critical to controlling distribution and survival from egg to adult. Research also focuses on defining the factors which affect post-capture survival and mortality of fish that are caught as bycatch. The experimental laboratories consist of more than 17,000 cubic feet of tank space housed in more than 18,000 square feet of wet laboratory space supplied with 500 gallons per minute of high quality seawater, 200 gallons per minute of which can be chilled to 3° C. Species of current interest include walleye pollock, sablefish, and Pacific halibut.

The Little Port Walter research station is the primary field research facility of the Auke Bay Laboratory. It is located 110 miles south of Juneau, Alaska, near the southeastern tip of Baranof Island. The station is the oldest year-round biological research station in Alaska and has been host to a wide variety of fisheries research projects since 1934. The station is on U.S. Forest Service land in the Tongass National Forest and is accessible only by boat or seaplane. Personnel stationed at the station range from a mid-winter low of two to a summertime high of 25 to 30 researchers and support staff, depending on the requirements of the various experiments underway.

Located 12 miles from downtown Juneau, Auke Creek Research Station is operated by the Auke Bay Laboratories Salmon Ocean Ecology study program on a cooperative basis with University of Alaska Fairbanks, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, and the University of Alaska Southeast. The long time series of observations on the seven anadromous fish species made at the Station’s counting weir is not available elsewhere in Alaska. First hand evidence of changes in fish populations in response to climate change is provided by the biological and environmental information generated at this Station. Its information is also used by ADF&G to guide harvest management decisions on commercial and recreational fisheries in the region. An experimental hatchery located near the mouth of the stream provides insights into the genetic basis for many aspects of the behavior of anadromous fish species, and it has been used to train three generations of graduate students in genetics and salmonid biology. The accessibility of the Station by road from the urban area of Juneau makes it a popular scientific educational resource for Juneau Public Schools and the general public.