NOAA NE fisheries chief sent to Gulf

NOAA sent one of its top fisheries science directors to the Gulf to lead its effort to assess, test and report findings about risks posed to fish in the Gulf of Mexico by contaminants from the BP oil spill and clean-up activities. Nancy Thompson, director of NOAA's Northeast Fisheries Science Center, will be in Pascagoula, Miss., to lead NOAA's response team. Thompson will work with Bonnie Ponwith, director at the agency's Southeast Fisheries Science Center, who is leading an intensified effort to monitor and assess the spill's effects on important species in the Gulf of Mexico. Thompson’s arrival will allow Ponwith to focus on both her oil spill duties as well as high-priority regional issues in fisheries management, including leading stock assessments for red snapper stocks and working with the Gulf, Caribbean and South Atlantic fishery management councils. (Source: NOAA, 05/11/10)