Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center
The Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The Center administers and conducts scientific research and monitoring programs that support the domestic and international conservation and management of living marine resources across the Pacific Islands Region. More...
News and Highlights
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November 3, 2017
Why are the numbers of Hawaiian monk seals decreasing in certain locations while they stay stable in others? What drives their population trends? Is it changes in plankton abundance, prey availability, predators, or something else? Using an ecosystem model, NOAA scientists at the Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center explored the importance of many factors that influence growth and mortality of monk seals at two different locations, Laysan Island and French Frigate Shoals, in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. More... -
October 31, 2017
On September 1, 2009, a blue marlin that was 12.2 feet long and weighed 1,245 pounds was caught by fishermen off the coast of Honolulu. More... -
October 30, 2017
A future of healthy, clean, biodiverse, and productive oceans with sustainable resource use requires us to translate our current understanding of marine ecosystems in a way that facilitates effective resource management and policy decision making. The 2-day Symposium will bring together local community members, scientists, and managers to present and discuss scientific research and traditional knowledge that can directly inform management of West Hawaiʻi's marine ecosystem. More... -
October 20, 2017
How many bottomfish are out there in the main Hawaiian Islands? How can local fishers and fisheries scientists work together to help ensure sustainable catches into the future? How can we collect better data to continue to improve the science used for management? These are some of the questions driving the annual Bottomfish Fishery-Independent Survey in the main Hawaiian Islands known as BFISH. More... -
October 19, 2017
On October 13, 2017, the Pacific Islands Regional Office's Marine Mammal Response team responded to five pilot whales that unfortunately stranded and died at Kalapaki Beach, Lihue, Kauai. Personnel from the University of Hawaii (UH), NOAA Fisheries, Hawaii State Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR), and volunteers worked together to conduct a necropsy (post-mortem examination) on all five whales to investigate the cause of stranding. More... -
October 5, 2017
On September 22, NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center released the 1,000th sea turtle rescued and rehabilitated in the Hawaiian Islands. For more than thirty years, NOAA Fisheries' stranding program in Hawaii has been responding to dead or injured sea turtles. This program has collected important information about population threats and impacts while treating injured sea turtles to help support recovery efforts. More... -
September 26, 2017
Can you imagine a 1,200-mile commute? Every year, many green sea turtles (or honu as they are locally known) make the 1,200-mile (1,931-kilometer) round-trip migration from foraging habitats in the main Hawaiian Islands to reproduce and nest at French Frigate Shoals in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands and then swim back again. More...
Research Cruises 
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October 20, 2017Imaged from the Depths: 2017 Main Hawaiian Islands BFISH Bottomfish SurveyOscar Elton Sette Cruise SE 17-07 Area of Operation: Main Hawaiian Islands
Period: October 20, 2017 - November 3, 2017
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July 10, 2017Heading to the High Seas: Six-month mission to survey whales and dolphins in the Hawaiian IslandsOscar Elton Sette Cruise SE 17-06 (Legs I, II & III) and Reuben Lasker Cruise RL 17-05 (Legs I, II & III)
Area of Operation: Main and Northwestern Hawaiian Islands
Period: July 6, 2017 - December 9, 2017
Recent Staff Publications
PIFSC Reports
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February 5, 2018Summary report from the first annual Collaborative Climate Science Workshop 19-21 September 2017, NOAA's Inouye Regional Center Honolulu, HawaiiWoodworth-Jefcoats PA
[2018] Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, PIFSC Administrative Report, H-18-01, 31 p doi:10.7289/V5/AR-PIFSC-H-18-01 -
February 5, 2018The commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands fishing community profile:2017 updateAyers AL
[2018] U.S. Dept. of Commerce, NOAA Technical Memorandum NOAA-TM-NMFS-PIFSC-66, 57 p. doi:10.7289/V5/TM-PIFSC-66 -
January 31, 2018Applying national community social vulnerability indicators to fishing communities in the Pacific Island regionKleiber D, Kotowicz D, Hospital J
[2018] U.S. Dept. of Commerce, NOAA Technical Memorandum NOAA-TM-NMFS-PIFSC-65, 63 p. doi:10.7289/V5/TM-PIFSC-65 -
January 23, 2018Age, growth rates, and paleoclimate studies in deep-sea corals of the United StatesProuty NG, Roark EB, Andrews AH, Robinson LF, Hill T, Sherwood O, Williams B, Gilderson T, Fallon S
[2017] In: Hourigan TF, Etnoyer PJ, Cairns SD (eds.). The state of deep-sea coral and sponge ecosystems of the United States. NOAA Technical Memorandum NOAA-TM-NMFS-OHC-4, Silver Spring, MD. 22 p -
December 5, 2017A survey design performance analysis examining linkages between reef fish assemblages and benthic morphologies in the Main Hawaiian IslandsGorospe KD, Acoba TS
[2017] U.S. Dept. of Commerce, NOAA Technical Memorandum NOAA-TM-NMFS-PIFSC-64, 35 p. doi:10.7289/V5/TM-PIFSC-64 -
November 20, 2017Tropical marine fishes and fisheries and climate changeBooth DJ, Feary D, Kobayashi D, Luiz O, Nakamura Y
[2017] In: Phillips BF, Perez-Ramirez M (eds.). Climate change impacts on fisheries and aquaculture: A global analysis. Chichester (UK): John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.; p. 875-896 doi:10.1002/9781119154051.ch26
Journal Articles
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January 25, 2018Estimating drift of directional sonobuoys from acoustic bearingsMiller BS, Wotherspoon S, Rankin S, Calderan S, Leaper R, Keating JL
[2018] Journal of the Acoustical Society of America Express Letters. 143:1. EL25-EL30. doi:10.1121/1.5020621 -
January 12, 2018Familial social structure and socially driven genetic differentiation in Hawaiian short-finned pilot whalesVan Cise AM, Martien KK, Mahaffy SD, Baird RW, Webster DL, Fowler JH, Oleson EM, Morin PA
[2017] Molecular Ecology. 26(23):6730-6741. doi:10.1111/mec.14397 -
January 11, 2018Model recommendations meet management reality: implementation and evaluation of a network-informed vaccination effort for endangered Hawaiian monk sealsRobinson SJ, Barbieri MM, Murphy S, Baker JD, Harting AL, Craft ME, Littnan CL
[2018] Procedings of the Royal Society B. 285:20171899. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2017.1899 -
January 8, 2018Environmental warming and feminization of one of the largest sea turtle populations in the worldJensen MP, Allen CD, Eguchi T, Bell IP, LaCasella EL, Hilton WA, Hof CAM, Dutton PH
[2018] Current Biology. 18:154-159. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2017.11.057 -
January 8, 2018Effects of glyphosate herbicide on the gastrointestinal microflora of Hawaiian green turtles (Chelonia mydas) LinnaeusKittle RP, McDermid KJ, Muehlstein L, Balazs GH
[2018] Marine Pollution Bulletin. 127:170-174. doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2017.11.030 -
December 29, 2017Ecological impacts of the 2015/16 El Nino in the central equatorial PacificBrainard RE, Oliver T, McPhaden MJ, Cohen A, Venegas R, Heenan A, Vargas-Angel B, Rotjan R, Mangubhai S, Flint E, Hunter SA
[2017] In: Explaining extreme events of 2016 from a climate perspective. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. 2018 Jan;99(1 Suppl):S21-S26
