Projects

NMFS has faced increasing workload demands due to infrastructure development in multiple regions of the US.  This has resulted in additional consultation needs associated with the conservation and recovery of ESA-listed species.  A team of Astor employees are  providing professional and technical services to NMFS, performing analyses and required research to enable consultation under section 7 of the ESA on Federal activities affecting ESA protected species and their designated critical habitats.  Administered through OPR, Astor employees support NOAA’s West Coast Region (WCR) and Alaska Region in this capacity.  

The Environmental Chemistry Program of the NWFSC has conducted research on NOAA trust resources, focusing on developing state-of-the-art analytical methods to generate high quality data needed to understand the effects of human and environmental factors on the health and ecology of aquatic organisms.  Astor provides assistance in conducting studies on the environmental factors affecting fishery resources, including exposure to pollutants, as it relates to the protection of fish and marine mammals.  This research includes collection of marine mammal tissue, tissue/fluid processing and preparation for marine mammals and their prey, as well as extraction and cleanup of marine organisms for carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios, chemical contaminants, persistent organic pollutants, and other chemical tracers.

The  WCR PRD works to conserve and restore marine resources on the West Coast.  This work is guided by the ESA and Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA).  Astor’s consultation support includes facilitating formal and informal consultations under section 7 of the ESA and reviewing species’ status to determine if listing is warranted.  Astor’s staff also review and draft National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) documents and issue permits.  Work is focused out of the Long Beach Branch of the PRD, which leads regulatory and conservation activities for numerous species of marine mammals, sea turtles, marine fish, and their associated habitats. The area of this responsibility spans the entire U.S. West Coast, requires working in coordination with national, regional, and local authorities of interest. 

The Fish Ecology Division at the NWFSC conducts scientific research on threatened and endangered salmon populations in the Pacific Northwest. Astor provides consulting services to support the Division’s research on Pacific salmon, other finfish, birds, mammals and ecosystems in the Columbia River and Washington Coastal areas. A major objective of this work is to understand movement, survival and behavior of juvenile and adult salmonids in the diversity of habitats they occupy. To address this objective, Astor supports a number of research activities throughout the year in the lower estuary of the Columbia River, which include consulting on the operation and management of a Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT)-tag trawl, an experimental flexible towed PIT-tag antenna array, and stationary PIT interrogation sites installed on flow control structures (pile dikes).  Astor also assists with data analysis, interpretation, and reporting for these studies.