Alaska Fisheries Science Center

Monitoring the health and sustainability of fish, marine mammals, and their habitats across nearly 1.5 million square miles of water surrounding the state, which produces more than half of the fish caught in the United States, worth $1.8 billion.

Our Location

Alaska has five large marine ecosystems, or ecosystem complexes, each with unique characteristics. The Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Sea are especially resource-rich and support some of the largest and most valuable commercial fisheries in the world, like Alaska pollock, red king crab, and sablefish. The Gulf of Alaska is shaped by deep-sea gullies, islands, and massive inlets that channel in fresh water and nutrients. The Bering Sea’s unique currents and the annual migration of sea ice from the Arctic provide the right conditions to allow fish like Alaska pollock—the largest sustainable fishery in the world—to flourish. Aleutian Islands marine life is diverse with many species that only exist along the island chain’s span of nearly 1,200 miles. The expansive Arctic Ocean is made up of the north Bering Sea along with the Chukchi and Beaufort seas where you can find marine mammals like bowhead and beluga whales, and bearded and ringed seals.

What We Do

We study Alaska’s marine life to ensure the sustainable use of living marine resources in federal waters. We monitor fish and marine mammal populations that have supported Alaska Native communities for centuries and provided food, income, and recreational enjoyment for millions of people around the world. Effectively studying fish and marine mammals also requires researching their habitats and the relationships between predators and prey.  We study Alaska marine ecosystems.

To obtain the best available information scientists use research ships to collect oceanographic and biological samples. We also use airplanes and uncrewed aerial systems to collect data in remote areas.  We work collaboratively with the fishing industry to collect information on how much fish is caught each year in commercial operations and recreationally. We then input collected data into sophisticated models to help predict future fish stock size. Fishery managers use our data to set sustainable catch limits and protect whales, seals, and sea lions in Alaska.

Our Five Primary Divisions

Auke Bay Laboratories 

The headquarters of the Auke Bay Laboratories is the Ted Stevens Marine Research Institute. This division consists of four main programs which conduct scientific research throughout Alaska on commercially marketable species such as rockfish, sablefish, and salmon, and on all aspects of marine ecosystems such as ocean physics and chemistry essential to fish habitats, and the structure and functioning of marine food webs. Information products are provided to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, the NOAA Fisheries Alaska's Regional Office, fishing industries, state and federal regulators, and international treaty bodies.

Fisheries Monitoring and Analysis Division

This division monitors groundfish fishing activities in the United States exclusive economic zone off Alaska. Associated research includes sampling commercial fishery catches, estimating catch and bycatch mortality, and analysis of fishery-dependent data. The division is responsible for training, briefing, debriefing, and overseeing observers who collect catch data onboard fishing vessels and at onshore processing plants, and for quality control/quality assurance of observer data.

Marine Mammal Laboratory 

The laboratory conducts research on marine mammals, primarily off the coasts of Oregon, Washington, and Alaska. Information is provided to various U.S. governmental and international organizations to assist in developing rational and appropriate management regimes for marine resources under NOAA's jurisdiction.

Resource Assessment and Conservation Engineering Division

The division conducts fisheries surveys to measure the distribution and abundance of approximately 40 commercially important fish and crab stocks.    

Resource Ecology and Fisheries Management Division

The division collects data to support management of Northeast Pacific and eastern Bering Sea fish and crab resources. Stock assessments are developed annually and used to set catch quotas. Division scientists also evaluate how fish stocks and user groups might be affected by fisheries management actions.

Offices that Provide Support and Oversight

Alaska Fisheries Science Center Newport Laboratory

The Science Center's Newport Laboratory houses the Fisheries Behavioral Ecology Program, 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.

Alaska Fisheries Science Center Kodiak Laboratory

The Kodiak Laboratory resides in the Kodiak Fisheries Research Center owned by the Kodiak Island Borough. The Kodiak Laboratory within KFRC consolidates NOAA Fisheries and management programs in Kodiak and makes them more accessible to the fishing industry and the public.

Additional Support

Operations, Management and Information Services Division

This office supports the day-to-day administrative and business operations of the Center, including overseeing administrative services, budget formulation and execution, acquisition and grants management, workforce management, communications, safety and environmental compliance, and facilities operations.

Office of Fisheries Information Systems

This office provides technical support and development services for the Center’s IT enterprise.

Planning Officer

The officer is similar to a “Chief of Staff” responsible for program management and development of strategic initiatives, including participating as a member of the Senior Executive Team and overseeing the annual Science Planning and Implementation Processes.

More Information

Our Leadership

Portrait of man smiling

Robert Foy, Ph.D.

Director

Robert (Bob) Foy is the Science and Research Director of the Alaska Fisheries Science Center. Bob joined NOAA Fisheries in 2007 as the Director of the Center's Kodiak Laboratory and Program Manager for the Shellfish Assessment Program. He led the program on assessment, biological, and ecological research of commercial crab species in Alaska. Bob earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of Michigan, a Master in Science in Fisheries and Ph.D. in Oceanography from the University of Alaska.

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Management Team

Auke Bay Laboratories

Dana Hanselman

Director, Auke Bay Laboratories

Angela Doroff

Deputy Director, Auke Bay Laboratories
    • Ecosystem Monitoring and Assessment
      Ed Farley, Program Manager
    • Recruitment, Energetics, and Coastal Assessment Program
      Robert Suryan, Program Manager

Directorate Office

Office of Fisheries Information Services Division

Chris Melary

Division Director, Office of Fisheries Information Systems

Fisheries Monitoring & Analysis Division

Jennifer Ferdinand

Division Director, Fisheries Monitoring and Analysis Division

Lisa Thompson

Deputy Director, Fisheries Monitoring and Analysis Division
    • Observer Services Training
      Brian Mason, Program Manager
    • Information and Monitoring Technologies
      Jennifer Ferdinand, Division Director, Fisheries Monitoring and Analysis Division

Marine Mammal Laboratory

John Bengtson

Division Director, Marine Mammal Laboratory

Nancy Friday

Deputy Director, Marine Mammal Laboratory
    • Cetacean Assessment and Ecology Program
      Robyn Angliss, Program Manager
    • California Current Ecosystems Program
      Sharon Melin, Research Biologist, Program Manager
    • Alaska Ecosystems Program
      Thomas Gelatt, Research Biologist, Program Manager

Operations, Management and Information Services Division

Tracy Sims

Director

Resource Assessment and Conservation Engineering

Lyle Britt

Division Director, Resource Assessment and Conservation Engineering Division
    • Fisheries Behavioral Ecology Program, Newport Laboratory
      Thomas Hurst, Program Manager, Newport Laboratory Director
    • Shellfish Assessment Program, Kodiak Laboratory
      Mike Litzow, Program Manager, Kodiak Laboratory Director

Resource Ecology and Fisheries Management

Ron Felthoven

Division Director

Stephani Zador

Deputy Director, Resource Ecology and Fisheries Management

Other Locations

Auke Bay Laboratories

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.

Kodiak Laboratory

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.

Newport Laboratory

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.

Little Port Walter Research Station

NOAA’s Little Port Walter Research Station (LPW) was established in 1934 and is the oldest year-round biological field station in Alaska. LPW is located on the southeastern side of Baranof Island, approximately 115 miles south of Juneau, Alaska, in a pristine and biologically strategic location on U.S. Forest Service land in the Tongass National Forest. Over the last 90 years, LPW has served scientists studying the ecology and evolution of Pacific salmonids, the effects of hatchery practices on genetic and life history diversity of salmon, rockfish behavior, coral growth rates, age and growth studies of groundfish, and the ecology of other marine organisms. This research has also included numerous government and stakeholder collaborators, university professors and graduate students, and interns from across the United States. Activities at LPW have contributed to several hundred publications, reports, and documents that improve our scientific understanding of marine resources important to Alaska and the nation. LPW’s Chinook salmon research also contributes to salmon management under the Pacific Salmon Treaty, specifically for stock assessment and the estimation of harvest rates for Southeast Alaska Chinook populations. Scientists at LPW are currently engaged in research that improves our understanding of sustainable aquaculture (salmon, oysters, kelp), salmon ecology and evolution, and transportation and bioaccumulation of chemicals in commercial fish stocks. LPW is also contributing to the development of transformative approaches to rapidly assess critical life history stages and energetic responses of marine fishes to climate change.

Auke Creek Research Station

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.

Advanced Technologies

NOAA Fisheries is a leader in the use of advanced technologies. Our scientists use a variety of technologies to study the marine environment and the species that call it home. 

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