{{Short description|Office of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration}} {{Redirect|NMFS|the survey conducted in the United States since the 1960s|National Mortality Followback Survey}} {{Use American English|date=March 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2026}} {{Infobox government agency | agency_name = National Marine Fisheries Service | logo = NOAA Fisheries logo vertical.png | logo_width = 140px | logo_caption = | picture = | picture_caption = | seal = | seal_width = | seal_caption = | formed = {{Start date and age|1970}} | preceding1 = | dissolved = | superseding = | jurisdiction = [[United States Department of Commerce]] | headquarters = [[Silver Spring, Maryland]], US | coordinates = {{Coordinates|38|59|32.1|N|77|01|50.3|W|}} | employees = 4,200 (2019)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/about-us#who-we-are|title = About Us | NOAA Fisheries|date = 9 June 2021}}</ref> | budget = [[United States dollar|US$]]1.027 billion (2019)<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.corporateservices.noaa.gov/nbo/fy20_bluebook/NOAA-FY20-Congressional-Justification.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2019-11-06 |archive-date=2019-11-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191106190056/https://www.corporateservices.noaa.gov/nbo/fy20_bluebook/NOAA-FY20-Congressional-Justification.pdf }}</ref> | chief1_name = [[Emily Menashes]] | chief1_position = Acting Assistant Administrator for Fisheries | chief2_name = | chief2_position = | parent_agency = [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]] | website = {{URL|https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/|fisheries.noaa.gov}} | footnotes = | chief3_name = | chief3_position = | chief4_name = | chief4_position = | chief5_name = | chief5_position = | chief6_name = | chief6_position = | chief7_name = | chief7_position = | chief8_name = | chief8_position = | chief9_name = | chief9_position = | parent_department = }}
The '''National Marine Fisheries Service''' ('''NMFS'''), informally known as '''NOAA Fisheries''', is a [[United States federal agencies|United States federal agency]] within the [[United States Department of Commerce|U.S. Department of Commerce]]'s [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]] (NOAA) that is responsible for the stewardship of U.S. national [[Marine life|marine]] resources. It conserves and manages [[fisheries]] to promote [[sustainability]] and prevent lost [[economic potential]] associated with [[overfishing]], declining species, and [[Habitat destruction|degraded habitats]].
==History== Founded in 1871 as the U.S. Commission of Fish and Fisheries, the National Marine Fisheries Service is the oldest federal conservation and environmental research agency in the United States.<ref name="Hobart">{{cite news |title=Baird's Legacy: The History and Accomplishments of NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service, 1871 - 1996 |last1=Hobart |first1=W.L. |url=https://siarchives.si.edu/collections/siris_sic_3671 |work=[[Smithsonian Institution Archives]] |date=1995 |access-date=June 1, 2020}}</ref> The commission was formed when President [[Ulysses S. Grant]] named zoologist [[Spencer Fullerton Baird]], [[United States National Museum]] director and assistant secretary of the [[Smithsonian Institution]], the first commissioner of the United States Fish Commission.<ref name="Hobart"/><ref name="Baird-smithsonian">{{cite news |title=Spencer Fullerton Baird, 1823-1887 |url=https://siarchives.si.edu/history/spencer-fullerton-baird |work=[[Smithsonian Institution Archives]] |date=2020 |access-date=June 1, 2020}}</ref><ref name="allard88">{{cite journal |last1=Allard |first1=Dean |year=1988 |title=Spencer Fullerton Baird and the Foundations of American Marine Science |journal=Marine Fisheries Review |volume=50 |issue=4 |pages=124–129 |publisher=International Association of Marine Science Libraries and Information Centers |url=https://siris-sihistory.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?&profile=all&source=~!sichronology&uri=full=3100001~!11756~!0#focus |access-date=1 June 2020}}</ref>
The commission was divided into three research categories: the study of U.S. waters and fish and its biological problems, the study of past and present fishing methods and collection of fish catch and trade statistics, and the introduction and propagation of food fishes throughout the nation.<ref name="Hobart"/> This structure remained through the transition of the commission's placement within the U.S. Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), in 1970.<ref name="Hobart"/>
===U.S. Fish Commission placement within NOAA=== Initially the commission investigated the reasons for an apparent decline in fish stocks along the shores of southern New England and recommended regulatory measures.<ref name="Carlos Carter1999">{{cite book |title=Surveying the Record: North American Scientific Exploration to 1930 |author=Edward Carlos Carter |year=1999 |publisher=American Philosophical Society |isbn=978-0-87169-231-3 |pages=122–125 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FWf3dBUONasC&q=122 |access-date=9 July 2020}}</ref> The commission also conducted broad, scientific surveys and collections of marine species from scientific research vessels, initially in Northeast Atlantic coastal and deep-sea waters and then in the Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic, the Gulf of Mexico, and off the coasts of Mexico, Texas, Florida, and Cuba.<ref name="Carlos Carter1999"/><ref name="McEachran2013">{{cite book |title=Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico, Vol. 1: Myxiniformes to Gasterosteiformes |last=McEachran |first=John |year=2013 |publisher=University of Texas Press |location=Austin, Texas |isbn=978-0-292-75705-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jZtrYzge92YC&pg=PP23 |access-date=1 June 2020}}</ref> The commission's scientists collected marine invertebrate and fish species,<ref name="Allard99">{{cite book |title=A Pioneering Oceanic Exploration |author=Allard, Dean C. |year=1999 |publisher=American Philosophical Society |isbn=978-0-87169-231-3 |pages=125–127 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FWf3dBUONasC&q=Fish+Hawk%2C+a+U.S.+Fish+Commission+research+vessel&pg=PA126 |access-date=1 June 2020}}</ref> made hydrographic surveys, and studied fish populations.<ref name="Priede">{{cite book |title=Deep-Sea Fishes: Biology, Diversity, Ecology and Fisheries |last=Priede |first=Imants, G. |year=2017 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |page=39 |isbn=978-1-316-03345-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fBcwDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA39 |access-date=1 June 2020}}</ref>
In 1903, the U.S. Fish Commission was reorganized and named the Bureau of Fisheries.<ref name="albatross">{{cite news |title=The Albatross: Interior science room [B] |url=https://siarchives.si.edu/collections/siris_sic_12103 |work=[[Smithsonian Institution Archives]] |date=2020 |access-date=June 1, 2020}}</ref> In 1939, the Bureau of Fisheries and its functions were transferred to the [[United States Department of the Interior]].<ref name="us1953">{{cite book |title=United States Code |author=United States |year=1953 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |page=6934 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4JWcAAAAMAAJ |access-date=2 June 2020}}</ref> The Bureau of Fisheries merged with the Bureau of Biological Survey in 1940 to become the Fish and Wildlife Service, still under the U.S. Department of the Interior.<ref name="ammoland">{{cite news |title=Boone and Crockett Club: Aurelia Skipwith is the Right Choice to Lead USFWS |url=https://www.ammoland.com/2018/10/boone-and-crockett-club-skipwith-the-right-choice/#ixzz6OEZI2700 |work=Ammoland |date=October 26, 2018 |access-date=June 2, 2020}}</ref><ref name="US1940">{{cite book |title=United States Code |author=United States |year=1953 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |page=6927 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4JWcAAAAMAAJ |access-date=2 June 2020}}</ref> In 1956, the Fish and Wildlife Service underwent a reorganization and became the [[United States Fish and Wildlife Service]]. The 1956 reorganization established two components of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: The Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, which focused primarily on commercial fisheries, whales, seals, and sea lions; and the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife, which focused on migratory birds, game management, wildlife refuges, sport fisheries, and sea mammals, excluding those managed under the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries.<ref name="commerical">{{cite news |title=Commercial Fisheries Review |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qjZJAQAAIAAJ |publisher=National Marine Fisheries Service |date=1956 |pages=81–85 |access-date=June 2, 2020}}</ref>
In 1970, [[President of the United States|President]] [[Richard Nixon]] transferred the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries and almost all its functions from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to the Department of Commerce. Simultaneous with its transfer, the office was renamed the National Marine Fisheries Service. It was placed under the control of NOAA, which was created as a component of the Department of Commerce on October 3, 1970, primarily through a reorganization of the [[Environmental Science Services Administration]], which NOAA replaced.<ref name="code95">{{cite book |title=United States Code Containing the General and Permanent Laws of the United States, in Force on January 4, 1995 |year=1995 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |volume=17 |pages=216–217 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O2uDhCK4ZCkC |access-date=2 June 2020}}</ref>
==Fisheries management== NOAA Fisheries regulates commercial and recreational marine fishing in the United States under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA).<ref name="seafoodhealth">{{cite news |title=Sustainability and Fisheries Management |url=https://www.seafoodhealthfacts.org/sustainability-regulations/sustainability-and-fisheries-management |work=Seafood Health Facts |date=2020 |access-date=July 29, 2020}}</ref><ref name="code1801">{{cite news |title=16 U.S. Code § 1801.Findings, purposes and policy |url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/16/1801 |work=Legal Information Institute |access-date=August 11, 2020}}</ref> Established in 1976, the MSA is the primary law governing marine fisheries conservation and management in U.S. federal waters. NOAA Fisheries is responsible for fisheries management of waters in the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone, typically 3–200 miles from land.<ref name="natgeo2019">{{cite news |title=Sustainable fishing |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/sustainable-fishing/ |work=[[National Geographic]] |date=July 31, 2019 |access-date=July 29, 2020}}</ref> NOAA Fisheries manages 461 stocks or stock complexes in 46 fishery management plans, using [[stock assessment]]s to determine their status.<ref name="Nationalfisherman">{{cite news |title=Taking stock: Comfish jobs top 1.25 million; two more fisheries rebuilt |last1=Hathaway |first1=Jessica |url=https://www.nationalfisherman.com/national-international/taking-stock-comfish-jobs-top-1-25-million-two-more-fisheries-rebuilt |work=National Fisherman |date=July 28, 2020 |access-date=August 11, 2020}}</ref> Under the MSA, fisheries management decisions in the United States are made primarily by eight regional fishery management councils. These councils may include representatives from state government agencies, academia, the fishing industry and environmental nonprofits, as well as representatives from NOAA Fisheries.<ref name="wapo">{{cite news |title=The rare Trump appointment that is actually making scientists very happy |last1=Shiffman |first1=David |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/07/13/the-rare-trump-appointment-that-is-actually-making-scientists-very-happy/ |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=July 13, 2017 |access-date=August 11, 2020}}</ref> These councils serve as regulatory advisors that make region-specific recommendations to NOAA Fisheries, who implements the regulations.<ref name="seafoodhealth"/>
The MSA was reauthorized and revised in 2007 to include annual catch limits to end [[overfishing]].<ref name="civilbeat">{{cite news |title=The Future For Fishing: Managing A Lucrative Resource In The Face Of Climate Change |last1=Eagle |first1=Nathan |url=https://www.civilbeat.org/2020/02/the-future-for-fishing-managing-a-lucrative-resource-in-the-face-of-climate-change/ |work=Civil Beat |date=February 27, 2020 |access-date=July 29, 2020}}</ref> Overfishing, which NOAA Fisheries is tasked with preventing, is a major threat to biodiversity, global food security, and the fishing sector.<ref name="Nationalfisherman"/><ref name="Naturejournal">{{cite journal |last1=Schrope |first1=Mark |year=2010 |title=Fisheries: What's the catch? |journal=Nature |volume=465 |issue=7298 |pages=540–542 |publisher=Springer Nature |doi=10.1038/465540a |pmid=20520684 |s2cid=13310246 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
The MSA also requires that overfished stocks be rebuilt within 10 years, except in cases where the life history characteristics of the stock, environmental conditions or management measures under an international agreement dictate otherwise.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Examining the 10-Year Rebuilding Dilemma for U.S. Fish Stocks |journal=[[PLOS One]] |date=November 6, 2014 |first1=Wesley S. |last1=Patrick |first2=Jason |last2=Cope|volume=9 |issue=11 |article-number=e112232 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0112232 |pmid=25375788 |pmc=4223034 |bibcode=2014PLoSO...9k2232P |doi-access=free }}</ref> Fisheries managers use stock assessments to help determine if a stock is overfished, measuring the [[maximum sustainable yield]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hotakainen |first1=Rob |title=As fish move north, 'things are getting weird out there' |url=https://www.eenews.net/special_reports/recipe_for_change/stories/1060479219 |access-date=September 21, 2020 |work=E&E News |publisher=[[Environment & Energy Publishing]] |date=June 4, 2019}}</ref> If a stock is designated as overfished, annual catch limits need to be low enough to allow stocks to rebuild.<ref name="Naturejournal"/> Worldwide, about one-third of fish stocks are being fished at biologically unsustainable levels.<ref name="galapagos">{{cite news |title=260 Chinese boats fish near Galapagos; Ecuador on alert |last1=Torchia |first1=Christopher |last2=Solano |first2=Gonzalo |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/260-chinese-boats-fish-near-galapagos-ecuador-on-alert/2020/07/30/01b0d98e-d29f-11ea-826b-cc394d824e35_story.html |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=July 30, 2020 |access-date=August 11, 2020}}</ref> NOAA Fisheries has been successful at ending overfishing in U.S. waters, and science-based management has resulted in 47 once-overfished U.S. fish stocks being declared rebuilt.<ref name="Nationalfisherman"/><ref name="wapo"/> In July 2020, NOAA Fisheries published a report showing that the number of U.S. fish stocks subject to overfishing was at an all-time low in 2019—93 percent were not subject to overfishing.<ref name="seafoodsource">{{cite news |title=NOAA reports indicate U.S. fisheries sustainable, robust economically |last1=Chase |first1=Chris |url=https://www.seafoodsource.com/news/supply-trade/noaa-reports-indicate-u-s-fisheries-sustainable-robust-economically |work=Seafood Source |date=July 28, 2020 |access-date=July 29, 2020}}</ref><ref name="civilbeat"/>
===Illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing=== NOAA Fisheries works with U.S. government agencies and foreign governments to implement domestic and international policies and plans for addressing illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing in United States waters and internationally.<ref name="USD">{{cite news |title=Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing |url=https://www.state.gov/key-topics-office-of-marine-conservation/illegal-unreported-and-unregulated-fishing/ |work=U.S. Department of State |date=2020 |access-date=July 30, 2020}}</ref><ref name="seafoodsource2">{{cite news |title=U.S. government allocates funds to fight IUU as part of trade agreement |last1=Orlowski |first1=Aaron |url=https://www.seafoodsource.com/news/environment-sustainability/us-government-allocates-funds-to-fight-iuu-as-part-of-trade-agreement |work=Seafood Source |date=February 13, 2020 |access-date=July 29, 2020}}</ref> NOAA Fisheries works with the [[United States Department of State]] to evaluate international fisheries and identify vessels that have engaged in IUU fishing activities.<ref name="USD"/> If a nation is identified to have involvement in IUU fishing, NOAA Fisheries and the Department of State initiate a two-year consultation process to encourage that nation to take necessary measures to address the specific issue.<ref name="USD"/> NOAA Fisheries then determines whether to negatively or positively certify the identified nation in its next biennial report to Congress on international fisheries.<ref name="USD"/> If the nation can provide evidence that it has taken actions that address the IUU issue(s), a positive certification is issued.<ref name="USD"/> A negative certification may result in that nation's fishing vessels losing U.S. port access and potential import restrictions on fish or fish products.<ref name="USD"/>
In 2017, the Seafood Import Monitoring Program was established under NOAA Fisheries to increase transparency and traceability for 13 species of seafood particularly vulnerable to IUU fishing.<ref name="nrdcMay">{{cite news |title=Trump's Plan to Protect U.S. Fishermen Must Go Further |last1=Aylesworth |first1=Sandy |url=https://www.nrdc.org/experts/sandy-aylesworth/trumps-plan-protect-us-fishermen-must-go-further |work=NRDC |date=May 14, 2020 |access-date=July 29, 2020}}</ref> Greater transparency and traceability helps NOAA enforcement agents locate and block IUU seafood imports from entering U.S. markets.<ref name="seafoodsource2"/> The program requires full traceability—that is, documentation from the point of capture to the point of entry.<ref name="seafoodsource2"/><ref name="nrdcMay" />
===Seafood commerce and certification=== NOAA Fisheries' Seafood Inspection Program certifies U.S. seafood products for domestic consumption and for export. This voluntary, fee-for-service program's inspection activities include vessel and plant sanitation inspections and seafood product quality evaluations.<ref name="safety">{{cite journal |year=1991 |title=Seafood Surveillance and Control Programs |journal=Seafood Safety |publisher=National Academies Press |url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK235724/ |access-date=30 July 2020}}</ref> After inspecting a company's seafood products, a National Seafood Inspection Program officer issues and signs the certificates required to accompany U.S. seafood exports to countries that require health certification.<ref name="foodexports">{{cite news |title=Food Export Certificates |url=https://www.fda.gov/food/exporting-food-products-united-states/food-export-certificates |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190917074021/https://www.fda.gov/food/exporting-food-products-united-states/food-export-certificates |archive-date=September 17, 2019 |work=Food and Drug Administration |date=June 22, 2020 |access-date=July 29, 2020}}</ref> The program also develops product grade standards, specifications, and international policies, and provides training and education within the industry and for consumers.<ref name="safety"/>
===Fishery observers=== NOAA Fisheries has placed trained [[Fisheries observer|fishery observers]] aboard commercial fishing vessels to collect a variety of data on catch, bycatch, and fishing operations since the 1970s. Fishery observers are trained biologists who collect data on fishing activities onboard commercial vessels in support of science and management programs.<ref name=Brooke>{{cite journal |last1=Brooke |first1=Samantha G. |title=Federal Fishery Observer Programs in the United States: Over 40 Years of Independent Data Collection |journal=Marine Fisheries Review |date=2015 |volume=76 |issue=3 |pages=1–38 |url=https://spo.nmfs.noaa.gov/content/federal-fisheries-observer-programs-united-states-over-40-years-independent-data-collection |doi=10.7755/MFR.76.3.1 |doi-broken-date=9 November 2025 |s2cid=156731239 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> They collect a variety of data including catch, bycatch, fishing effort, biological characteristics, interactions with protected species, and socioeconomic information. This information is used by NOAA Fisheries to perform stock assessments, construct fishery management plan regulations, develop bycatch reduction devices, and identify the need for protective regulations for protected species. Observer programs across the United States are engaging in cross-sector partnerships to explore the potential of electronic monitoring to augment observer programs in a cost-efficient manner.<ref name=Brooke/>
==Law enforcement== The NMFS also serves as a federal law enforcement agency, working closely with state enforcement agencies, the [[United States Coast Guard]], and foreign enforcement authorities. The [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement]] is based in [[Silver Spring, Maryland]].{{Citation needed|date=July 2019}}
==Regulations== The NMFS regulatory program is one of the most active in the federal government, with hundreds of regulations published annually in the ''[[Federal Register]]''. Most regulations are published to conserve marine fisheries under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act; other regulations are published under the Marine Mammal Protection Act and Endangered Species Act. The NMFS also regulates fisheries pursuant to decisions of "regional fishery management organizations" (RFMOs)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tuna-org.org/|title=Tuna-org|website=www.tuna-org.org}}</ref>(RFMOs) and other RFMOs to which the U.S. is a party, such as the [[Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.iattc.org/|title=Inter-American-Tropical-Tuna-Commission|website=www.iattc.org}}</ref> the [[International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas]], the [[Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wcpfc.int/|title=Home - WCPFC|website=www.wcpfc.int}}</ref> the [[Agreement on the International Dolphin Conservation Program]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/ia/intlagree/aidcp.htm|title=International Affairs - NOAA Fisheries|first=NOAA|last=Fisheries|date=25 May 2018|website=www.nmfs.noaa.gov}}</ref> the [[International Pacific Halibut Commission]], etc.
In 2007, the NMFS issued regulations to protect endangered whales from fatal [[fishing net|fishing-gear]] entanglements after environmental groups sued to force action on the rules, which were proposed in early 2005. The rules were enacted to specifically protect the [[North Atlantic right whale]], of which about only 350 remain. Marine-gear entanglements and ship strikes are the top human causes of right whale deaths. On July 1, the shipping lanes in and out of Boston Harbor were rotated to avoid an area with a high concentration of the right whales.<ref name=enn>{{cite web|url=http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=13117&ref=rss|title=Federal Agency Agrees to Issue New Rules Protecting Whales from Fishing Gear Entanglement|website=enn.com}}</ref> In the fiscal year 2017, the Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Program of NOAA's NMFS, Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office, Protected Resources Division, carried out the mandates of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) and the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and was charged with protecting the whales, dolphins, porpoises, seals and sea turtles that occur within the greater Atlantic region. This program currently includes marine mammal health and stranding response, large whale disentanglement, and sea turtle stranding and disentanglement. To implement this program, NMFS established several networks of volunteer organizations that it authorizes to respond to stranded marine mammals and sea turtles and entangled large whales and sea turtles. NMFS seeks the submission of proposals addressing Marine Animal Entanglement Response in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/search-grants.html|title=Search Grants - GRANTS.GOV|website=www.grants.gov}}</ref>
===Regional fisheries management councils===
The eight domestic regional fisheries management councils make binding regulations for federal waters off various parts of the U.S. coast:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/sfa/management/councils/|title=Regional Fishery Management Councils|publisher=[[NOAA Fisheries]]}} (with map)</ref> * [[North Pacific Fishery Management Council]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.npfmc.org/|title=North Pacific Fishery Management Council – Managing our Nation's Fisheries off the Coast of Alaska|website=www.npfmc.org}}</ref> (Alaska) * [https://www.pcouncil.org/ Pacific Fishery Management Council]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pcouncil.org/|title=Pacific Fishery Management Council|website=www.pcouncil.org}}</ref> (West Coast) * [[Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wpcouncil.org/|title=Western Pacific Fishery Council — Ecosystem-based management of fisheries in the U.S. Pacific Islands|website=www.wpcouncil.org}}</ref> (Hawaii and Pacific territories) * [http://www.gulfcouncil.org/ Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gulfcouncil.org/|title=Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council|website=Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council}}</ref> * [https://caribbeanfmc.com/ Caribbean Fishery Management Council]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://caribbeanfmc.com/|title=Caribbean Fishery Management Council - Home|website=caribbeanfmc.com}}</ref> (Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands) * [https://www.safmc.net/ South Atlantic Fishery Management Council]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.safmc.net/|title=SAFMC|website=SAFMC}}</ref> * [http://www.mafmc.org/ Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mafmc.org/|title=Home|website=Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council}}</ref> (Upper North Carolina to New York) * [https://www.nefmc.org/ New England Fishery Management Council]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nefmc.org/ |title=Home |website=New England Fishery Management Council}}</ref>
== Science centers ==
The National Marine Fisheries Service operates six fisheries science centers covering marine fisheries conducted by the United States. The science centers correspond roughly to the administrative division of fisheries management into five regions, with the west coast utilizing two fisheries science centers.<ref name=fsc>{{cite web | title = NOAA Fisheries | url = http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/ | access-date = 2 January 2014}}</ref>
The Northeast Fisheries Science Center is headquartered in [[Woods Hole]], Massachusetts. It operates laboratories at five other locations, and an additional marine field station.<ref name=nefsccu>{{cite web | title = NEFSC Contact Us | url = https://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/contactus.html | access-date = 2 January 2014}}</ref> Its primary mission is the management of fisheries on the Northeast [[Continental shelf|shelf]].<ref name=nefscm>{{cite web | title = NEFSC Mission | url = https://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/mission.html | access-date = 2 January 2014}}</ref> However, it also oversees the operation of the [[National Systematics Lab]], in conjunction with the Smithsonian Institution.<ref name=nslhist>{{cite web | title = National Systematics Lab, History | url = http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/nsl/mainpage/history.html | access-date = 2 January 2014}}</ref> The Northeast Fisheries Science Center also operates the [[Woods Hole Science Aquarium]] in conjunction with the [[Marine Biological Laboratory]].
{{Anchor|Northwest Fisheries Science Center}} The NMFS maintains the Northwest and Alaska Fisheries Science Centers, both located in [[Seattle]]. The Alaska Fisheries Science Center is located on the grounds of the now-closed [[Naval Station Puget Sound]]. The Northwest Fisheries Science Center is located adjacent to the [[University of Washington]]. This site is also home to the Northwest and Alaska Fisheries Science Center Library, founded in 1931. As of 2011, this library contained 16,000 books and subscribed to 250 periodicals. Its subject interests include aquatic science, biochemistry, fisheries biology, fisheries management, food science, and marine science.<ref name="AFD">{{cite book |title=American Library Directory |edition=64th |volume=2 |year=2011–2012 |publisher=Information Today, Inc |isbn=978-1-57387-411-3 |pages=2568–2576}}</ref>
The Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center is headquartered in [[Honolulu]], Hawaii, on the campus of the [[University of Hawaii]] at Monoa.<ref name=pifscau>{{cite web | title = Pacific Island Fisheries Science Center About Us| url = http://www.pifsc.noaa.gov/pifsc.php | access-date = 2 January 2014}}</ref> It operates several facilities, including facilities for NOAA ships at [[Ford Island]].
The Southeast Fisheries Science Center is headquartered in [[Miami]], Florida, and monitors marine fisheries in the American Southeast, including [[Puerto Rico]] and the [[US Virgin Islands]]. It additionally operates five labs, some of which operate multiple facilities.<ref name = sefsclab>{{cite web | title = Southeast Fisheries Science Center Labs | url = http://www.sefsc.noaa.gov/labs/ | access-date = 2 January 2014}}</ref>
The Southwest Fisheries Science Center, headquartered in [[La Jolla]], California, monitors and advises fisheries in NOAA's Southwest region. It operates facilities on the campus of the [[Scripps Institution of Oceanography]].<ref name=swfsclajolla>{{cite web | title = La Jolla | url = https://swfsc.noaa.gov/textblock.aspx?id=15936 | access-date = 2 January 2014}}</ref> In 2013, a large facility on La Jolla Shores Drive was built by the architects Gould Evans, replacing an older building that was threatened by [[coastal erosion]].<ref>{{cite web|title=NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center / Gould Evans|url=https://www.archdaily.com/557721/noaa-southwest-fisheries-science-center-gould-evans|website=Arch Daily|date=21 October 2014|access-date=8 October 2017}}</ref> (Although the original architects, 50 years earlier, had been informed that they were building on a "block-glide landslide," they received exemption "from local building code requirements for a preconstruction engineering geology study because it was a U.S. government complex."<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kuhn|first1=Gerald G.|last2=Shepard|first2=Francis P.|title=Sea Cliffs, Beaches, and Coastal Valleys of San Diego County: Some Amazing Histories and Some Horrifying Implications|date=1984|publisher=University of California|chapter=Chapter 8|url=http://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft0h4nb01z&chunk.id=d0e4265&toc.depth=100&brand=ucpress|access-date=8 October 2017}}</ref> A 1979 book on coastal erosion reported that the building was "disastrously located. The 'Tuna Hilton' rests partially on a piece of bluff known as a slump block. Designers say the building is specially articulated so that it should stay intact as the bluff falls from underneath its seaward end."<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kaufman|first1=Wallace|last2=Pilkey|first2=Orrin|title=The Beaches Are Moving: The Drowning of America's Shoreline|date=1979|publisher=Anchor Press|location=Garden City, N.Y.|isbn=0-385-14364-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/beachesaremoving0000kauf/page/55 55]|edition=First|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/beachesaremoving0000kauf/page/55}}</ref>)
== Controversies == In 2016, the NMFS caused the death of the L95 killer whale of the critically endangered southern resident population. This population travels along the coast of both the United States and Canada, and Canada does not use barbed satellite tags to track them because the method is invasive, but the NMFS made the unilateral decision to tag southern resident orcas.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/vancouver/article/scientist-blasts-overly-barbaric-orca-tagging-system/|title=Scientist blasts 'overly barbaric' orca tagging system|newspaper=British Columbia |date=14 April 2016}}</ref> The L95 whale died 5 weeks after being shot with a barbed satellite tag and the Canadian necropsy concluded the barb caused a lethal fungal infection.<ref name="king5.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.king5.com/tech/science/environment/satellite-tag-infection-killed-orca/329261131|title=NOAA: Satellite tag infection killed orca|work=KING |access-date=2016-10-11|archive-date=2016-10-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161011141325/http://www.king5.com/tech/science/environment/satellite-tag-infection-killed-orca/329261131}}</ref> Prior to L95's tagging, Center for Whale Research Senior Scientist Ken Balcomb documented tag detachment issues and was assured by the NMFS that these issues were "fixed", but the tag on L95 broke off and pieces of the barb remained in L95 until death.<ref name="king5.com"/> Although Balcomb documented infections where barbs had failed to detach on killer whales and presented his findings to the NMFS,<ref name="king5.com"/> the NMFS denied responsibility, stating: "Our experience with previous occurrences of tag attachment failure has shown no impact to the whale's general health."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nwfsc.noaa.gov/research/divisions/cb/ecosystem/marinemammal/satellite_tagging/faq.cfm#risk|title=Southern Resident killer whale tagging|access-date=15 October 2016}}</ref> Though ocean water could enter the wound and whale skin is not sterile, the NMFS stated the fungal infection may have occurred because the barbed tag was dropped in the ocean and was sterilized with only alcohol, rather than both alcohol and bleach, prior to being aimed again at the orca.{{citation needed|date=September 2020}} Two other members of the southern resident orca population disappeared within weeks of being tagged by the NMFS and are presumed dead, although the cause of death, if dead, is uncertain as the bodies were not recovered.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/orca-tagging-1.3537430|title=Orca satellite tagging halted after dart found in dead whale}}</ref> Wildlife biologist Brad Hanson supervised the NMFS's killer-whale tagging program. He was not removed from his position following the incident.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nwfsc.noaa.gov/research/divisions/cb/ecosystem/marinemammal/satellite_tagging/ |title=Southern Resident killer whale tagging|date=14 May 2021}}</ref>
==See also== {{Portal|United States}} * [[Atlantic Coastal Cooperative Statistics Program]] * [[List of United States federal law enforcement agencies]] * [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement]]
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Wikidata property|P6049}} {{Commons category}} *{{Official website|https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov}} *[http://lib.nwfsc.noaa.gov Northwest and Alaska Fisheries Science Centers Library]
{{Include-NOAA}} {{United States Department of Commerce}} {{ES Government}} {{Authority control}}
[[Category:National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration|Marine Fisheries Service]] [[Category:Fisheries agencies]] [[Category:Government agencies with year of establishment missing]] [[Category:Federal regulatory authorities of the United States|Marine Fisheries]]