Our Location
NOAA Fisheries Southeast Regional Office is located in St. Petersburg, Florida.
The Southeast Region covers nearly 20,000 miles of tidal coastline throughout the South Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean. This includes the eight coastal states of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas; the inland watershed states of Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Tennessee; and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
What We Do
NOAA Fisheries Southeast relies on scientists and fishery managers working together to ensure sustainable fishing opportunities, protection for endangered species and marine mammals and the conservation of the habitat needed to support marine life. Our region includes the South Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean.
Sustainable Fisheries
We work to maintain healthy fish stocks important to commercial, recreational, and subsistence fisheries with the goal to increase long-term economic and social benefits to our region.
We work with three regional fishery management councils (Caribbean, Gulf, and South Atlantic) to to conserve and manage marine fishery resources in federal waters from North Carolina through Texas, including Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
With our partners, we manage more than 160 species and 17 fishery management plans.
We also manage the largest recreational fisheries in the country. There are more than 5.7 million recreational anglers in the Southeast. And, about 26% of the Southeast harvest is caught by recreational anglers.
Protected Resources (Marine Mammals, Turtles, Corals, and More)
We are responsible for the conservation, protection, and recovery of marine mammals and endangered and threatened species, including:
The endangered North Atlantic right whale with the only known calving area in Northeast Florida and Georgia.
The endangered smalltooth sawfish with the only known pupping and nursery areas in the shallow bays and estuaries of Southwest Florida.
Sea turtles for which we regulate the use of turtle excluder devices as a technological solution that dramatically reduces incidental catch and drowning of sea turtles in trawl nets.
Corals for which we work with partners to protect and restore the unique coral reef system of the Florida Keys, which is the third largest in the world and includes the only living coral barrier reef in the continental United States, and seven species of corals on the Endangered Species List.
Habitat Conservation
We protect, restore, and create habitats vital to healthy marine life. Our region contains the largest wetland acreage and the largest coral reef track in the contiguous United States, yet it also suffers the largest annual loss of wetlands.
We work with partners to stem this loss through efforts such as the Pelican Island project in Louisiana, which restored 2.7 miles of barrier island and created or protected 640 acres of coastal and essential fish habitat.
We consult on numerous projects that have the potential to impact essential fish habitat.
More Information
Our Leadership
Roy E. Crabtree, Ph.D.
Dr. Crabtree has served as the regional administrator of NOAA Fisheries Service's Southeast Regional Office since January 2003. Previously, Dr. Crabtree was a senior research scientist at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's Florida Marine Research Institute, and the director of the Commission's Division of Marine Fisheries. He has served these state and federal fishery management agencies for over 15 years, after beginning his career as a self-employed fishing guide in the Florida Keys and Everglades National Park.
Andy Strelcheck
Mr. Strelcheck has served as the deputy regional administrator of NOAA Fisheries' Southeast Regional Office since March 2015. He began his career with NOAA in 2004 as a fishery biologist, and from 2008-2015 served as chief of the Limited Access Privilege Programs Data Management Branch. In this capacity, he oversaw analytical work used to support management decisions made by three regional fishery management councils.
Management Team
Directorate Office
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Directorate Office
- Rich Malinowski, Acting Southeast Region Aquaculture Coordinator
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Directorate Office
- Amanda Frick, GIS Coordinator
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Office of Communications
- Kim Amendola, Communications Director
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Office of Communications
- Allison Garrett, Communications/Media Specialist
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Directorate Office
- Noah Silverman, NEPA Coordinator
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Recreational Fisheries
- Sean Meehan, Recreational Fisheries Coordinator
Habitat Conservation Division
Virginia Fay
Habitat Conservation-
Atlantic & Caribbean Branch
- Pace Wilber, Branch Chief
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Gulf of Mexico Branch
- Rusty Swafford, Branch Chief
Operations, Management and Information Division
Lauren Lugo
Operations, Management and Information Services-
Fishing Permits Office
- Carolyn Sramek, Branch Chief
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Information Technology Branch
- Shawn Puyear, Branch Chief
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Management & Budget Branch
- Hal Dawkins, Branch Chief
Protected Resources Division
David Bernhart
Protected Resources-
ESA Interagency Cooperation Branch
- Rachel Sweeney, Branch Chief
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Marine Mammal Branch
- Laura Engelby, Branch Chief
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Sea Turtles & Fisheries Coordination Branch
- Bob Hoffman, Branch Chief
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Office of Protected Resources
- Patrick Opay, Endangered Species Act Section 7 Consultations Coordinator
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Coral Conservation Branch
- Mark Lamb, Branch Chief
Sustainable Fisheries Division
John McGovern, Ph.D.
Sustainable Fisheries-
Caribbean Fisheries Branch
- Bill Arnold, Branch Chief
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Gulf Fisheries Branch
- Susan Gerhart, Branch Chief
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Limited Access Program/Data Management Branch
- Jessica Stephen, Ph.D., Branch Chief
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South Atlantic Branch
- Rick Devictor, Branch Chief
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Regulations/Policy Branch
- Scott Sandorf, Team Lead
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Social Science Branch
- Mike Jepson, Acting Branch Chief
Our History
Located in what is now being called the Innovation District in St. Petersburg, Florida, NOAA Fisheries began leasing their current location in 2005. The brick building with large mirrored windows and the visible remnants of what used to be a smokestack (now an elevator) is nestled in the heart of the marine science corridor, sharing Bayboro Harbor with USF St. Pete and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. In all, the three facilities host office space to more than 1,500 scientists.