Laboratory Information:
Western Fisheries Research Center
6505 NE 65th Street
Seattle, WA 98115
Phone: 206-526-6282
Fax: 206-526-6654
Website: http://wfrc.usgs.gov/
Agency/Department: Dept. of Interior
Region: Far West
Background/History of the Laboratory:
The WFRC originated in 1934 as the Seattle Laboratory
of the Fish Hatchery Disease Service of the U.S.
Bureau of Fisheries. The institution first received national notoriety in 1939, when a Newsweek article
described Dr. Frederick F. Fish (the first Director) and his "fish hospital." In 1950, the
institution was renamed
the Western Fish Disease Laboratory, and the parent agency had evolved into the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service. For the next two decades, the laboratory developed a national and international reputation
for
excellence in fish disease research, primarily serving hatchery managers.
In the 1970s, conservation legislation broadened the Center's mission, and it became the National Fishery
Research Center. Field stations were added in Alaska, in Nevada, on the Columbia River, and in upper Puget
Sound. As conservation emphasis broadened beyond hatcheries, Center capabilities evolved to encompass
fish health in general (viral and bacterial diseases, stress, and epizootiology) molecular genetics,
and fish
ecology. These fields of research have now become highly relevant to adaptive management of populations
and ecosystems.
In 1993, Congress established the National Biological Survey (later, "Service") by combining
research
scientists from seven Department of Interior bureaus. The Center was called the Northwest Biological
Science
Center, and its mission was broadened to further emphasize ecology and population biology. By this time,
the
Alaska Field Station had grown into a separate science center in its own right.
Most recently, in 1996, changes in Congress resulted in the elimination of the National Biological Service
as a
separate bureau of the DOI. The capability of the agency was downsized and,
on October 1, 1996, the
personnel and programs of the NBS were established as a new division within the US Geological Survey¿the
Biological Resources Division. Meanwhile, natural resource issues in the West, particularly the decline
of
salmon and expanded ESA listings for a variety of fish and other aquatic species, became more critical
than
ever.
Mission of the Laboratory:
The Western Fisheries Research Center will carry out research and provide technical
assistance to support the
best possible stewardship of the Nation's natural resources, emphasizing fish populations and aquatic
ecosystems of the West.
