RESEARCH FACILITIES 



OF THE UNITED STATES FISHERY LABORATORY 



BEAUFORT, NORTH CAROLINA 



By Gerald B. Talbot, Director of fhe Statior^ 



Several much-needed facilities for research have 

 recently been added to the United States Fishery 

 Laboratory at Beaufort, N. C. A new fishery lab- 

 oratory to replace the old wooden structure built 

 in 1901, a radiobiological laboratory, a dormitory, 

 a maintenance building (replacing three small 

 buildings that were in poor condition), an oil and 

 paint warehouse, and a concrete driveway and 

 parking area have been completed. Thus, a con- 

 struction program that was begun in 1949 to mod- 

 ernize this historic marine research center is ended. 



As early as 1860, the Beaufort area was visited 

 by such eminent zoologists as T. N. Gill and Wil- 

 liam Stimpson, who recognized this area as being 

 particularly suitable for marine research. In 

 addition to the ocean and the offshore banks bor- 

 dering it, near the laboratory are several rivers and 

 creeks, large tidal estuaries, and extensive soimds 

 of salt, brackish, and fresh water. Marshes, peat 

 bogs, cypress swamps, and bird rookeries offer 

 varied research possibilities. 



Elliott Coues and H. C. Yarrow, outstanding 

 zoologists of their time, visited the Beaufort area 

 in 1871-72, and further stimulated interest in this 

 locality. They were followed in the next few 

 years by professors and students from the Johns 

 Hopkins University, who maintained a small 

 laboratory in Beaufort for about 10 years before 

 the United States Fish Commission established a 

 biological laboratory here. 



In 1899, the first Government station began 

 operations in a rented building in Beaufort. The 



following year, the Congress authorized construc- 

 tion of a permanent biological station on Fivers 

 Island, across the channel from the town of Beau- 

 fort. The fishery station was opened for research 

 in its new quarters in 1902 and has been in opera- 

 tion since that time. 



The radiobiological laboratory was completed 

 in the spring of 1950. It is a one-story frame 

 structure 77 feet long by 44 feet wide with an 

 adjoining wing 42 feet long and 16 feet wide. The 

 concrete floors are covered with asphalt tile. The 

 building is divided into several laboratory rooms 

 with special equipment for the various phases of 

 research in progress. Frame partitions separate 

 the laboratory rooms, except where protection of 

 instruments and workers from penetrating radia- 

 tion is necessary. In these cases, 17 -inch-thick 

 concrete walls that extend from floor to ceiling 

 provide such protection. 



The salt-water cultiu-e, plankton culture, and 

 general biology laboratories, and the counting 

 room arc located at the front of the building. In 

 the center of the building are a constant-tempera- 

 ture room, a physiology laboratory, and a radio- 

 active-plankton laboratory. At the rear is the 

 biochemistry laboratory, where the more highly 

 radioactive material is stored and handled. To 

 the rear and side of the building is the storage 

 room. The rooms in the radiobiological labora- 

 tory are arranged so as to isolate the areas in which 

 radioactive materials are handled. 



Cover: Aerial view of the United States Fishery Laboratory, Beaufort, N. C, as seen looking due south 



