History of the Charleston Facility
From its beginning in 1941 on the University of Maryland campus as a Bureau of Commercial
Fisheries Laboratory within the US Department of Interior, the Laboratory was recognized
for its unique fisheries technological capabilities. The earliest work of the laboratory
was associated with the use of menhaden for meal, fertilizer, and oil. The "College
Park Technological Laboratory" became well-known in the 40s and 50s for its expertise
in the nutrition field, as well as its lead role in the National Fish Protein Concentrate
(FPC) Program in the 1960s. By 1968, growth of the University created such a demand
for land that all property occupied by the Laboratory was transferred back to the
University, obligating the then US Department of Commerce,
NOAA
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) staff to vacate the campus by June 1978.
During the late sixties the Stratton Commission recommended the formation of
NOAA
which included the formation of the National Marine Fisheries Service by the move
of the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries from USDI to
NOAA
within the United States Department of Commerce.
Numerous options for relocation of the College Park Laboratory were considered before
accepted South Carolina's offer to provide a suitable facility on the Fort Johnson
campus. The South Carolina Wildlife and Marine Resources Department (now the
SCDNR) constructed
a facility to NOAA's specifications, for lease to the US government. With the reorganization
of the National Marine Fisheries Service in 1977, the College Park Technological
Laboratory became one of seven laboratories within the newly created Southeast Fisheries
Science Center, headquartered in Miami, FL. The criteria for selection of the Fort
Johnson site are still viable today: location in the southeast to better serve the
needs of constituents; proximity to the ocean; proximity to coastal resources and
their user communities; proximity to active marine research activities and universities;
access to transportation; and availability of support services and personnel.
The Charleston Laboratory at Fort Johnson was fully occupied by the summer of 1978
and embarked on a series of programs in support of the needs of fisheries managers
and the fishing industry. The common theme was the use of the latest advances in
science technology to resolve complex fisheries issues. Over the years major efforts
have focused on fishery development research such as latent resource nutritional
information development and microconstituents surveys of the fisheries resource,
chemical contaminant studies leading to the development of improved chemical analyses
and toxicologic investigations, seafood safety associated with human pathogens found
in fish and shellfish, marine biotoxins associated with fishery species, and fish
oil test materials. Each of the programs led to the development of significant improvements
in methods of detection, assay systems, and the development of a broad expertise
applied to marine resources. Major
NOAA
and
NMFS
programs such as the National Status and Trends Program, the Model Seafood Surveillance
Program, the National Indicator Study, the Biomedical Test Materials Program, the
Microconstituents Program, and the Seafood Safety Marine Biotoxins Program enabled
the Laboratory to grow and change direction with the needs of the agency.
In the fall of 1997 the
NOAA/NMFS
Charleston Laboratory was legislatively moved to the National Ocean Service, and
in February of 1999 it was formally associated with the National Centers for Coastal
Ocean Science (NCCOS) under NOS
by authorization of Congress. The Charleston Laboratory became the Center for Coastal
Environmental Health and Biomolecular Research, one of four science Centers within
NCCOS. Since the move several of the previously fisheries-industry focused programs
have either been closed or have been redirected to meet the broader objectives of
NOS and NCCOS in the realm of natural and anthropogenic influences on the health
of coastal ecosystems, providing science to serve the coastal management decision-making
process.
History of the Oxford Facility
In 1960 construction of a new laboratory was completed on 11+ acres fronting on the
Tred-Avon River adjacent to the town of Oxford, Maryland. The land was donated to
the Federal Government's Department of Interior, Bureau of Commercial Fisheries,
Fish and Wildlife Service to conduct research in support of an oyster industry that
was experiencing devastating losses in production in both Delaware and Chesapeake
Bays.
Initially three programs were developed, an Ecology Program, an Oyster Culture
Program, and the Oyster Mortality Program. During the first decade program goals
were directed toward oyster research and resulted in development of new standards
to study molluscan diseases, identification of the spore stages of the disease that
was causing the mass mortalities of oysters, and the development of special stains
to aid in the identification of the causative agent.
In 1970 the laboratory was moved from USDI to
NOAA and the basic science learned
in studying diseases of oysters was expanded to study diseases of fish and crustaceans.
Research extended to both inshore and offshore stocks and from biotic to abiotic
causes of disease. A new age of research had begun. The use of electron-microscopy
to identify micro parasites, bacteria, and viruses and the application of immunological
techniques to identify parasites and other pathogens were implemented.
In the 1980s the laboratory came under new
NOAA management with the formation of
the National Marine Fisheries Service, Northeast Fisheries Science Center. There
were efforts to consolidate
NMFS laboratories and potentially move programs to other
locations within
NMFS. In 1987, the State of Maryland offered a solution to keep
the programs at Oxford via a Cooperative Agreement with Maryland Department of Natural
Resources. The State of Maryland agreed to absorb the cost of operating the facility,
while taking the opportunity to house state programs at the facility synergistic
with the federal programs. The agreement has been renewed every 5 years since.
In April, 1995, the Oxford Laboratory was transferred to the
NMFS, Southeast Fisheries
Science Center with administrative responsibilities assigned to the Beaufort Laboratory.
During the following four years a number of significant events occurred. The facility
underwent complete refurbishing by the State of Maryland; an additional 6,800 sq.
ft. of office space was added to the existing laboratory structure with rehabilitation
completed in September, 1998. In 1996 a research vessel, the R/V Laidly, was obtained
from
NOAA Corps to support planned increases in habitat research in the Chesapeake
Bay.
The Oxford Laboratory remained in
NMFS until February, 1999, when it was transferred
to the NOS/CCEHBR and became the sixth research area in the Center designated as
the Pathobiology area of study. This transition was part of the larger reorganization
of the National Ocean Service and formation of the National Centers for Coastal
Ocean Science. A key Laboratory focus continues on molluscan and crustacean health
and disease, using enhanced molecular techniques to address this complex subject.
Learn more about the Oxford Facility