General information about sea turtle research at the NMFS Galveston Laboratory

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Galveston Laboratory is located near the Gulf of Mexico on the upper Texas coast. All programs at the laboratory are aimed at providing scientific information for the management of shrimp and finfish fisheries and for the conservation of protected species. Sea turtle research provides information necessary to prevent extinction of the seriously endangered Kemp's Ridley and to understand the behavior and habitat requirements of the five sea turtle species that occur in the Gulf of Mexico. The Laboratory's two divisions, Life Studies and Fishery Ecology, both conduct research on sea turtles.