A survey was conducted in 2013 by NOAA Fisheries Mississippi Labs and the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies (IMMS) to collect data on angler fishing practices and sea turtle interactions. The survey was conducted as a pilot project from June-September at six different access points that were selected based on prior history of incidental captures and location so that surveys were conducted in all three coastal counties. Participating anglers were asked general questions about fishing practices such as typical fishing times and locations, and type of hook and bait used.

The NOAA, Southeast Fisheries Science Center, Mississippi Laboratories, Harvesting Systems Unit conducts research to develop gear modifications to mitigate bycatch in fisheries. The video library contains underwater and surface video footage obtained during fisheries dependent and fisheries independent conservation engineering research conducted since 1986. The library includes footage of research conducted in commercial and recreational fisheries including: hook and line, longline, trawl, gill net, and pot fisheries.

The Southeast Fisheries Science Center Mississippi Laboratories conducts standardized reef fish video surveys in the Gulf of Mexico since 1992. The survey primarily occurs on the outer continental shelf along topographic features (e.g. reefs, banks and ledges) between Brownsville, TX to the Dry Tortugas, FL, and provides fisheries independent indices of reef fish abundance for use in stock assessments.

In FY2014 and FY2015 the NMFS Advanced Science and Technology Working Group funded the Untrawlable Habitat Strategic Initiative to execute a testbed study designed to evaluate the performance of transitional advanced technologies. This study included a testbed range of acoustic and optical sensors to measure sampling performance and fish reactions to alternative sampling platforms (e.g. stationary, AUV and towed optical systems) in untrawlable habitats (e.g. reef).

The Southeast Fisheries Science Center Mississippi Laboratories conducts standardized fisheries independent resource surveys in the Gulf of Mexico, South Atlantic, and U.S. Caribbean to provide abundance and distribution information to support regional and international stock assessments. Surveys of Marine Protected Areas have been conducted periodically in the Gulf of Mexico since 1978. Information has been provided on reef fish abundance and distribution, life history, bathymetry mapping and habitat characterization.

This dataset represents proposed modifications to mandatory speed restriction areas (50 CFR Part 224.105) established to reduce the threat of vessel collisions with endangered North Atlantic right whales. Since the implementation of speed restrictions in 2008, the distribution of right whales has shifted, resulting in a misalignment between areas of high vessel strike risk and the spatial and temporal bounds of the mandatory speed restriction areas.

Bottom dissolved oxygen (DO) data was extracted from environmental profiles acquired during the Southeast Fisheries Science Center Mississippi Laboratories summer groundfish trawl surveys of the Western and North-central Gulf of Mexico from 1982 to 1998. The data were distributed to hypoxia researchers in near real time and used to generate bottom DO maps as part of the Hypoxia Watch Project (http://www.ncddc.noaa.gov/hypoxia/).

Oceanographic and fisheries data were collected during 1988 through 1991 through a multiagency research project to develop a remote sensing system to provide near real time image products to fishermen in the Northern Gulf of Mexico. The data included surface water temperatures, salinities, and chlorophyll samples acquired by boats and vessels and fish catch information reported by menhaden spotter pilots and vessel captains.

In 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill occurred in the Gulf of Mexico and the Natural Resources Damage Assessment (NRDA) was initiated to determine the extent of damage to the resources and habitat of the area impacted by the spill. The Southeast Fisheries Science Center Mississippi Laboratories has collected standardized data in the Gulf of Mexico since the 1980s through various fisheries resource surveys. These data were provided to the NRDA for inclusion as a baseline dataset on the health of the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem prior to the oil spill.

The Southeast Fisheries Science Center Mississippi Laboratories has conducted standardized bottom longline surveys in the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic since 1995. These surveys provide fisheries independent data for stock assessment purposes for as many species as possible. These surveys are conducted annually in the Gulf of Mexico and/or the South Atlantic.