The Mississippi Laboratory was established in 1950 under the Department of Interior as a Bureau of Commercial Fisheries field station. In 1970, the laboratory was transferred to the Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service. The Pascagoula Laboratory was recently rebuilt in November of 2009.
The Mississippi Laboratories consist of two branches:
Resource Surveys
Harvesting and Engineering (including staff at Stennis Space Center)
The Mississippi Laboratories research activities are in response to resource management, environmental, and utilization needs and are by design inherently responsive to various legislative and fishing industry needs throughout the southeast region. We are 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.
Seafood Sampling by NOAA in Response to the BP/Gulf Oil Spill