The Southwest Fisheries Science Center (SWFSC) is the research arm of NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service in the southwest region of the United States. Center scientists conduct marine biological, economic and oceanographic research, observations and monitoring on living marine resources and their environment throughout the Pacific Ocean and in the Southern Ocean off Antarctica. The mission of the SWFSC is to generate the scientific information necessary for the conservation and management of the region's living marine resources including marine and anadromous fish, marine mammal, marine turtle and invertebrate populations, to ensure that they remain at healthy and sustainable levels.