This year marks NOAA Fisheries’ 150th anniversary. We’re taking a look back at some of the notable women scientists who made amazing contributions to the Northeast Fisheries Science Center. Here we take a look at how Mary Jane Rathbun became one of the world’s leading experts on crabs and crab taxonomy. One visit to Woods Hole, Massachusetts, in the summer of 1881 and Mary Jane Rathbun was hooked. It was the first time she had ever seen the sea. In that moment, the winds changed and set her on a scientific course—a life-long journey studying crustaceans.

Did you know seals support a healthy marine ecosystem? They provide recreational and tourism opportunities, transfer nutrients, and are a vital part of the ocean food web. There are two main species of seals that breed and forage in the U.S. Northwest Atlantic: harbor seals and gray seals. We research these seal populations to learn more about how many there are, where they live, and what they eat. This helps us understand their role in the ecosystem, and how they might be affected by factors like changing climate conditions.

NOAA Fisheries has selected 13 projects for 2021-2022 awards through the Sea Scallop Research Set-Aside (RSA) Program. The selected projects focus on research priorities identified by the New England Fishery Management Council, which established the Sea Scallop RSA Program in 1999. The council sets priorities, and NOAA Fisheries manages the RSA competition and administers the program.

NOAA’s Northeast Sea Grant Consortium, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Wind Energy Technologies Office and Water Power Technologies Office, and NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center, is offering more than $1 million to support research that will improve understanding of offshore renewable energy interactions with fishing and coastal communities in order to optimize ocean co-use. With a focus on advancing community and economic resilience, the funding opportunity aims to catalyze proactive socio-economic and technology research for offshore renewable energy planning in the Northeast, for the benefit of a variety of stakeholders. Pre-proposals are due May 14.

The 2021 Gulf of Maine Cooperative Bottom Longline Survey conducted aboard the F/V Mary Elizabeth from Scituate, Massachusetts and the F/V Tenacious II from Barnstable, Massachusetts will set sail at the end of April. The survey is operated by our cooperative research branch and will sample 45 stations in the Gulf of Maine. At each sampling location staff and our partners collect data on species abundance and biomass, samples for age and reproductive analyses, videos for classifying bottom type, and environmental measurements (e.g. temperature). Collectively, this information complements other surveys to provide a more complete picture of fisheries resources and ecosystems in the Gulf of Maine region.

Last month we celebrated Women’s History Month. We asked several of our women scientists and staff to share a little about their science journeys and careers, their backgrounds, how they came to the science center, and more. Some offer advice for the next generation of women scientists. Others talk about the importance of mentors, work/life balance, and overcoming obstacles. They're candid, honest and full of sage advice! Read our Women’s History Month series and profiles in our Faces of Northeast Fisheries Science Center series. 

For three days in January, Northeast Fisheries Science Center researchers flew along the Northeast coast looking for gray seals and their pupping colonies. NOAA Fisheries has been conducting regular aerial surveys for pup counts since 2005. Counting gray seal pups in their nurseries is one way researchers are keeping tabs on this population as it reoccupies historic habitats off New England.

Assessment Oversight Panel meetings are a critical step in the management track assessment process. These meetings bring together panel members with partners and stakeholders representing multiple organizations to determine the appropriate level of peer review for each fish stock. Peer reviews are an important step in the scientific process—they ensure the research and data used are of the highest quality. The next Assessment Oversight Panel meeting is scheduled for May 20 and will focus on Georges Bank and Gulf of Maine cod stocks.

In celebration of our 150th Anniversary, we are highlighting some of the people who helped build the foundation of fisheries and marine science. Meet Victor Loosanoff, Russian refugee and shellfish science icon. Victor Loosanoff, our Milford lab’s first permanent biologist and eventual director, pioneered research on commercially important shellfish, especially the Eastern oyster.

Probiotic OY15 was developed at our Milford lab as an environmentally-friendly way of protecting oyster larvae from disease. Research has shown that it can improve survival of eastern oyster larvae by 20-35 percent. Now hatchery trials in the United States and Ireland will find out if it also improves the survival of Pacific oyster larvae.

Our goal this year is to be fully successful with our surveys, while operating safely in a pandemic. I am proud to say that we are off to a good start. Our North Atlantic Right Whale aerial surveys have flown 135 hours since January 14, and had 114 right whale sightings. Our spring Bottom Trawl Survey on the NOAA Ship Henry Bigelow has completed Leg 1 and Leg 2 departs on or about April 10. Our Gulf of Maine Bottom Longline Survey and Coastal Shark Bottom Longline Survey both on commercial fishing vessels are scheduled to start late April/early May. All surveys are being conducted under protocols designed to minimize the risk of COVID-19.  Every year, and particularly this year, our surveys require hard-work and dedication from science center staff, NOAA/OMAO airplane pilots, NOAA/OMAO and commercial vessel captains and crews, and numerous other people in supporting roles. Thank you for getting the work done and for working to keep people safe. 

Jon Hare - Center Director