Southeast Fisheries Science Center Facilities
Facilities that are home to our science programs throughout the Southeast Region. We also have researchers, port agents, fisheries observers, and other staff stationed throughout the region.
Beaufort
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NOAA’s Beaufort facility was founded in 1899 as part of the United States Fish Commission. It is the second oldest federal marine laboratory, after Woods Hole. The site was recognized as important for marine science research as early as the 1850’s. Of the seven sea turtle species recognized worldwide, North Carolina provides foraging, overwintering, reproductive, and/or migratory habitat for four of these, with a fifth species occasionally visiting. The biodiversity of marine mammals, 34 species from nine families, is higher than reported for other regions and ranges from tropical delphinids to pagophilic seals, estuarine resident bottlenose dolphins to migratory humpback and right whales.
The first continuous marine science program was established by Johns Hopkins University in 1880, using a building in the town of Beaufort, North Carolina. The U.S. Commission of Fish and Fisheries, one of NOAA’s predecessor agencies, similarly established a lab in downtown Beaufort until Pivers Island was purchased for $400 in 1901. Construction of permanent facilities on the island started later the same year. The facility is operated by NOAA’s National Ocean Service and houses other NOAA staff including those from the science center.
101 Pivers Island Rd, Beaufort, North Carolina 28516
Phone: (252) 728-3595
Galveston
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In 1929, a U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service fisheries field station was established in Galveston, Texas on Offatts Bayou. The field station originally focused on oyster research. In 1931, the laboratory became one of four field stations to do shrimp research in the Gulf of Mexico. The present facility was established in 1950 at the historic Fort Crockett in Galveston, as a Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, later NOAA Fisheries, facility. It was renovated in 2008 and contains more than 70,000 square feet of offices and laboratories in 10 buildings with a 130,000-gallon seawater system. Research space is shared with NOAA’s Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary and the Texas Marine Mammal Stranding Network.
4700 Avenue U, Galveston, Texas 77551
Phone: (409) 766-3500
Miami
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NOAA’s Southeast Fisheries Science Center's Miami facility is located on Virginia Key, 3 miles east of Miami and north of Key Biscayne, Florida. The Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, one of NOAA’s predecessor agencies, established the facility in 1965 as the Tropical Atlantic Biological Laboratory. It was built on 5 acres given to the federal government by Dade County (now Miami-Dade County) for marine research. The facility provides 46,300 square feet of working space with offices, research laboratories, a library. At one time, the facility even housed a hyperbaric chamber. A small boat dock was located behind the facility on a tidal inlet that opened to Bear Cut, connecting Biscayne Bay with the Atlantic Ocean. Over the years the boat dock was reclaimed by nature and is now a saltwater pond lined with red mangroves. The pond is occasionally visited by an endangered American crocodile. This location is ideal for research being conducted in or near Biscayne Bay and a quick hub to the Florida Keys.
75 Virginia Beach Drive, Miami, Florida, 33149
Phone: (305) 361-4200
Pascagoula
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The facility in Pascagoula was established in 1950 under the Department of Interior as a Bureau of Commercial Fisheries field station. In 1970, the laboratory was transferred to NOAA Fisheries. In 2009 the building was rebuilt following Hurricane Katrina. The facility achieved a Gold rating in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Rating System, making it the first environmentally “green” facility in the city. It is also the home port of the NOAA Ships Gordon Gunter, Oregon II, and Pisces, which conduct scientific surveys of the health and abundance of fishery resources and marine mammals in the Gulf of Mexico and at times U.S. south Atlantic.
3209 Frederic St, Pascagoula, Mississippi 39567
Phone: (228) 762-1892
Panama City
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The Panama City facility was originally established in 1966 as the Eastern Gulf Marine Laboratory of the U.S. Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife, one of NOAA’s predecessor agencies. With the donation of 11 acres of land from the Panama City Chamber of Commerce, construction of a new building with direct access to St. Andrews Bay was completed in 1972. It’s goal was to support research needs in benthic studies of invertebrate populations, artificial reefs, fishing gear selectivity, sea turtle conservation, and non-indigenous species.
3500 Delwood Beach Rd, Panama City, Florida 32408
Phone: (850) 234-6541