307 



exchange, integration, and dissemina- 

 tion of oceanographic products and 

 services in support of NOAA's high 

 priority marine programs. The branch 

 also serves as a center for coordination 

 and collaboration between NOAA 

 and other marine agencies, programs, 

 and institutions. It focuses on ocean 

 data management, ocean modeling, 

 and ocean research. Highest priority 

 has been directed towards the develop- 

 ment ofa system for providing direct 

 access to marine data by a wide var- 

 iety of users. The branch has 10 

 researchers and a budget of $800,000. 



NOAA's Pacific Fisheries Environ- 

 mental Group (PFEG), established in 

 1969, is the only laboratory in the 

 National Marine Fisheries Service 

 (NMFS) that focuses on comprehen- 

 sive assessment and understanding of 

 the fundamental effects of natural envi- 

 ronmental variability on living marine 

 resources. This group concentrates on 

 undersunding how commercial fish 

 populations are affected by natural 

 environmental variations interacting 

 with human activity. The principal 

 research areas include the development 

 of environmenwl index time series, 

 diagnostic studies of marine environ- 

 mental anomalies such as El Niiio, 

 identincation of environmental/ biolog- 

 ical causa! linkages, interregional com- 

 parative studies, and development of 

 environmenul-dependent fishery model- 

 ing methodology. Given the large spa- 

 tial and temporal scales studied, PFEG 

 collaborates extensively with scientists 

 from several nations. PFEG has 15 

 researchers and a budget of $800,000. 



NRL's Marine .Meteorology Divi- 

 sion (M.MO) is a comprehensive at- 

 mospheric research organization with 

 primary focus on global to mesoscale 

 weather prediction The goals of the 

 MMD are to improve the quality of 

 forecasting techniques and the pro- 

 ducts available, to increase the Navy's 

 knowledge of its operational environ- 

 ment, to develop techniques for assess- 

 ing the effects of atmospheric condi- 

 tions on ships and air platforms, and 

 on shipboard, airborne, and land- 

 based naval communications, sensors, 

 and weapon systems. The goal is also 

 to improve techniques for the process- 

 ing, display, and utilization of environ- 

 mental satellite data in support of 

 fleet operations. MMD has a research 

 staffcf S9anda budget of $8 million. 



Fleet Numerical Meteorology and 

 Oceanography Center is the Navy's 

 primary real-time numerical predic- 

 tion center processing regional and 



global-scale oceanographic/ atmos- 

 pheric models and applied products. 

 FNMOC will soon bethe Department 

 of Defense's numerical prediction 

 center. Operating 24 hours a day, 365 

 days a year, FNMOC provides data 

 to the Navy and oceanographic a.uist- 

 ance to DoD. Through various inter- 

 governmental agreements, FNMOC 

 also serves other organizations and 

 interests. It maintains one of the 

 world's most complete global, real- 

 time databases of conventional and 

 remotely sensed oceanographic and 

 atmospheric observations. Some key 

 products include: 



• Global and regional atmospheric 

 analyses and forecasts of meteorolog- 

 ical parameters 



• Global and regional ocean anal- 

 yses and predictions of surface and 

 subsurface temperature fields, fronts 

 and eddies, ocean circulation, sea 

 states, and ice coverage 



• Optimum aircraft path and ship 

 track routing 



• Search and rescue forecasts. 

 FNMOChasastaff of 300and an 



annual budget of about $22 million. 



NOAA's National Weather Service 

 Weather Forecast Office (WFO) re- 

 cently relocated to Monterey to pro- 

 vide comprehensive public weather 

 and flood warning and forecast ser- 

 vices for a 150-mile radius area cen- 

 tered on Monterey Bay. NOAA's 

 WFO provides watches and warnings 

 for the general public for severe local 

 storms and floods, local aviation 

 watches and warnings, terminal fore- 

 casts and domestic aviation enroute 

 forecasts, and marine warnings and 

 forecasts for coastal areas. FWO has 

 a staff of 45 and an annua! budget of 

 about $2.5 million. 



Monterey Bay National Marine 

 Sanctuary OfTice. In October 1992, 

 the Monterey Bay National Marine 

 Sanctuary was dedicated. It is the 

 nation's largest at 5,300 square miles 

 and extends from San Francisco Bay 

 south to Cambria. The sanctuary 

 program's goal is to provide an inte- 

 grated program of resource protection, 

 research, and education to assist in 

 the long-term management. Resource 

 protection efforts involve cooperation 

 with other federal, state, and local 

 agencies in formulating germane pol- 

 icies and procedures. To that end, a 

 broadly based Sanctuary Advisory 

 Council has recently been established. 

 AKo. an education program has also 

 been developed which is directed 

 towards improving public awareness 



of the sanctuary's resources and their 

 wise use. Additionally, a research 

 plan has been developed that focuses 

 on enhancing the knowledge of sanct- 

 uary resources so that improved man- 

 agement decisions can be made. The 

 santuary office has a staff of five and 

 an annual budget of about $600,000. 

 Monterey Marine Resources Lab- 

 oratory of the California Department 

 of Fish and Game has conducted 

 marine research and management 

 activities in the Monterey Bay area 

 since the 1930s. The mission of the 

 laboratory is todocument and manage 

 the living marine resoures and the 

 habitats on which they depend for 

 their ecological value and foe their 

 use and enjoyment by the public. 

 Objectives include: 



• Continued existence of all marine 

 species 



• Recognition ofthe aesthetic, edu- 

 cational, scientific, and non-extractive 

 uses of the area's living marine re- 

 sources 



• Protection of these resources from 

 the effects of pollution and other 

 human activity 



• Management of marine fisheries 

 including reasonable sport fisheries 

 and local commercial fisheries and 

 marine aquaculture in a manner con- 

 sistent with other objectives. 



These objectives are carried out 

 through a program of monitoring of 

 fisheries; documenting the "^lake" of 

 target and non-target fish, seabirds, 

 and mammals in nets; monitoring of 

 sea otter populations; and provision 

 of information for enforcement of 

 pollution control sections ofthe Fish 

 and Game Code. It has a staff of 25 

 and an annual budget of about $1.25 

 million. 



Marine Pollution Studies Labora- 

 tory (MPSL) of the California Depart- 

 ment of Fish and Game is the state's 

 major facility for researching the 

 effects of pollutants on living marine 

 resources and commercial and sport 

 fisheries. This program is spread over 

 four sites in the Monterey Bay area, 

 each focused on different aspects of 

 pollution: 



• Institute of Marine Sciences — 

 evaluation of biochemical toxicology 

 of marine organisms including the 

 detoxification and intoxication mech- 

 anisms of oil spill dispersanis and 

 other pollutants (organochlorine pest- 

 icides) 



• Long Marine Laboratory — or- 

 ganic chemical concentrations in ma- 

 rine biomonitoring organisms, sedi- 



