The NMFS Laboratory comprises three research branches: Fishery Management, Fishery Ecology, Protected Species

The research mission of the Fishery Management Branch is

To conduct research to assess, manage, maintain and enhance invertebrate and fish stocks in the Gulf of Mexico, and along the southeast coast of the United States, by:

• Analysis of fishery dependent landings and independent catch statistics information
• Evaluation of fishery management plans and regulations, particularly for brown shrimp, white shrimp, pink shrimp, royal red shrimp, rock shrimp, bottom and reef fishes, through inshore and offshore stock assessments
• Evaluation of effects of species movement on fishing activities
• Evaluation of fishery effects from interactions with endangered species and marine mammals
• Development of models to forecast future landings
• Monitoring of industrial activities, such as offshore petroleum platform removal and fishing techniques, which adversely affects fishery stocks

To use research to determine, monitor and describe fishery stock population characteristics, such as species distributions, abundance-at-age, recruitment to fishery and mortality parameters. The accomplishments of this mission is undertaken through four highly integrated programs: shrimp fishery research, fishery observer programs, oil platform ecology, and sea turtle ecology.

The research mission of the Fishery Ecology Branch is to identify and describe relationships between fishery productivity and the coastal environment. Research is conducted on the ecological relationships between these estuarine habitats and the young of fishery species in an attempt to identify the important linkages to fishery productivity. A major goal of the research program is to identify essential habitats and to determine how these habitats function for commercially-important fishes, crabs, and shrimps. Research has focused on wetland habitat types such as salt marshes and seagrass beds.

Habitat restoration and creation has been promoted in the northern Gulf of Mexico as one means of compensating for the high rates of wetland loss in the region. Our research program on functional ecology of habitats has proven valuable in assessing restoration success and providing target levels for habitat restoration activities. Our habitat restoration research is directed at developing design criteria for the creation of marsh and seagrass habitats that function like natural habitats for fishery species. In addition to habitat restoration research, the Fishery Ecology Branch is also actively involved in advising, planning, and implementing habitat restoration projects in Texas, Louisiana, and Georgia.

The research mission of the Protected Species Branch is to recover protected species in cooperation with other US federal and state conservation agencies and the Secretaria de Medio Ambiente Recursos Naturales y Pesca of Mexico (SEMARNAP).

All PSB research is responsive to requirements of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (as reauthorized in 1988), the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, Sea Turtle Recovery Plans, and the NOAA Strategic Plan. Research on endangered and threatened sea turtles, especially the endangered Kemp's ridley (Lepidochelys kempii), focuses on increasing its population in US and Mexican waters. All activities ensure that adequate information is available to NOAA, NMFS and the SEFSC for evaluation of natural and human-caused mortalities in sea turtles and marine mammals, and for assessments of their population status and potential for recovery.