Fisheries and Habitat Ecology Branch

The Fisheries and Habitat Ecology Branch employs a multi-disciplinary approach in evaluating the environmental conditions and mechanisms that affect recruitment, distribution, growth and survival of fisheries on the Northeast continental shelf. Biotic processes such as reproduction, fertilization, development, growth, metabolic rate, trophic relations, and survival are investigated in relation to abiotic factors such as temperature, carbonate chemistry, dissolved oxygen, contaminants and other stressors. The Branch develops methodologies, provides ecological information to managers and stakeholders, and establishes a mechanistic understanding of the dynamics of living marine resources including their susceptibility and resilience to present day and future environmental challenges. Branch expertise includes, but is not limited to, marine chemistry, fisheries biology and physiology.

Northeast Fisheries & Habitat Ecology Research