N.O.A.A. continued from page 59
commercial fishing fleet, U.S. Coast Guard Station Yaquina Bay, and ocean research activities. The NOAA fleet, they said, would not only enhance such research efforts, but would help attract additional marine science ventures, putting Newport’s already considerable marine science profile on a rising tide. The South Beach peninsula where the NOAA MOC-P facility is located is also home to one of the nation’s premier marine research facilities at HMSC, as well as the Oregon Coast Aquarium. Local, state and federal officials believe it could help transform South Beach into an international hub for research and development on ocean health – a key component in climate change. The fleet itself provides floating, mobile platforms for marine science research, collecting data essential to protecting marine mammals, coral reefs and historic shipwrecks, managing commercial marine fish stocks, understanding climate processes, and nautical charting. They also deploy and maintain buoys that gather oceanographic weather information and other data. Their activities also support existing NOAA facilities located at HMSC. The Newport Research Station at HMSC is the only ocean port research facility for NOAA’s Seattle-based Northwest Fisheries
Photo by: Terry Dillman
62
Science Center. Located in the heart of Oregon’s groundfish, salmon and other fisheries, the vessels offer support for the 70 scientists and staff who conduct marine science research throughout the Pacific coast region. Capt. Rick Brown, a retired NOAA Corps officer and current program manager at NWFSC at HMSC, says their work depends on those NOAA ships “to support a variety of fisheries and ecosystem-based cruises.” During the field season (spring, summer, autumn – roughly April through October or November), the vessels are almost always out at sea, conducting essential ocean research, fisheries surveys and seafloor mapping. When home, they are highly visible from
many viewpoints, standing out at the facility’s central location in Yaquina Bay that allows them quick, easy access to the ocean, from where they an fan out in any direction for exploration purposes. Former Gov. Ted Kulongoski called the homeport’s construction in Newport “a landmark event for this state,” noting that the ensuing research and development that could evolve from it “will not only put Newport on the map, it will put Oregon on the map.” Folks from Newport, Lincoln County, and throughout Oregon agree, and are going full steam ahead in welcoming NOAA’s considerable presence and personnel to the community.