NEFSC Maine Field Station (MFS)

In 2000 NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service established the Maine Field Station in Orono, ME to have more direct involvement in the conservation of the living marine resources in Maine, particularly Atlantic salmon. Our Northeast Atlantic Salmon Team (NEST) consists of employees from both the Northeast Fisheries Science Center and the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office (GARFO). NEST works to promote the recovery and future sustainability of Atlantic salmon and other diadromous fish and their associated ecosystems. In addition to our Field Station, staff are seasonally stationed at the Little Falls Research Station operated by the Maine Atlantic Salmon Commission in Cherryfield, Maine. NEST is part of a larger effort to protect and recover Atlantic salmon in New England. NOAA Fisheries Service shares jurisdiction of Atlantic salmon with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) at the federal level. Within Maine, NOAA Fisheries Service primarily focuses on fish in the estuarine and marine environment, while the Maine Atlantic Salmon Commission and USFWS focuses on the freshwater life stages. NOAA Fisheries Service also works closely with other federal agencies (particularly the U.S. Geological Survey), the University of Maine System and a wide range of state, academic, public and private partners.