NOAA ponders moving lab away from Woods Hole

Emily Yehle, E&E reporter
Published: Monday, January 4, 2016

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is considering moving its Northeast fisheries lab away from Woods Hole, sparking concern in the Massachusetts community that has grown around the facility over the past 130 years.

The Falmouth Enterprise first reported on Dec. 23 that NOAA was “exploring the possibility” of relocating the Northeast Fisheries Science Center.

But NOAA officials emphasize that such a move would be far in the future — and may not happen at all.

Paul Doremus, the deputy assistant administrator for operations at NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service, said the agency is conducting a study, to be competed this spring, that “will evaluate all of our options for upgrading the Woods Hole complex.” Such studies are routine and consider numerous options, he said.

“At this point, NOAA has not made a decision to relocate the laboratory and will only pursue a recapitalization option after extensive analysis and consultations with the Administration and Congress,” Doremus said in a statement. But he also added that the condition of the Woods Hole facility is making research “increasingly difficult.”

“Fisheries will continue to work with NOAA and the Department of Commerce to ensure they have everything they need to evaluate our options, including information on potential community impacts, costs and benefits to our mission, and the ability for our Agency to continue to do our scientific work in the Woods Hole area,” Doremus said.

Moving the fisheries lab would spark controversy, thanks to its contribution to the area’s economy and scientific community. The current facility was built in the 1960s and sits on the water, down the street from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, which collaborates with the lab. NOAA also works with the Marine Biological Laboratory, a nonprofit affiliate of the University of Chicago located on the same street.

Space is one of the lab’s challenges, according to The Falmouth Enterprise. William Karp, the science and research director of the Northeast Fisheries Science Center, told the paper that the facility was not built to hold as many employees as it does today.

NOAA also has other fisheries laboratories in the Northeast that it may one day want to consolidate. For example, a cluster of trailers makes up a lab in Narragansett, R.I. Other satellite locations are in New Jersey, Connecticut and Maine.

CREDIT: EENews.net