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Oregon II supports the programs of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Mississippi Laboratory, conducting fisheries and living marine resource surveys primarily in the Gulf of Mexico, along the Southeast Atlantic Coast, and the Caribbean Sea. Projects include fall and summer groundfish surveys, summer shark longline survey, icthyoplankton/mammals surveys, and reef fish survey. Oregon II also provides annual support to the NMFS, Beaufort (North Carolina) Laboratory's, striped bass survey and tagging effort. Information from these cruises helped to document the dramatic recovery of the striped bass along the U.S. East Coast.

Earlier this year Oregon II entered the port of Havana, Cuba, becoming the first U.S. Government fisheries research vessel permitted to enter the port since the Castro regime came to power in the late 1950s. The ship was in Cuban waters to conduct a cooperative shark survey with NOAA's Cuban counterparts. This project followed closely on the heels of a similar highly-successful shark survey in the coastal waters of Mexico. During the Mexican and Cuban surveys, sharks were tagged and released to help the biologists to determine shark migrational patterns between U.S., Mexican, and Cuban waters. Fisheries managers in these three countries will use these data to better manage this threatened species.

Built in 1967 for the Department of Interior, Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, Oregon II is a versatile fisheries research vessel patterned after North Atlantic distant-water trawlers that were designed specifically for extended cruising range, versatility of operations, habitability, and seaworthiness. In 1970, the ship was transferred to the Department of Commerce/NOAA and home ported at the NMFS Southeast Fisheries Science Center in Pascagoula, Mississippi.

Oregon II is outfitted to function as a double-rigged shrimp trawler, longliner, gillnetter, fish trap hauler or dredger. The ship is equipped with the latest in electronic fish detection equipment and environmental sensors. In June 1998, Oregon II completed a six-month major repair period in which the ship's mission capabilities were upgraded and the service life of the ship was extended by at least six years. These upgrades included the installation of new weight-handling equipment, the refurbishment of the ship's laboratory spaces and living quarters, the replacement of the original main engines with more efficient engines, and the addition of a bow thruster to improve both station-keeping and ship handling capability. Electronic upgrades include a Shipboard Computer System (SCS), Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler and a multi-frequency scientific sounder which enables Oregon II to use state-of-the-art hydroacoustics in addition to the traditional net surveys.
 

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Last Update  March 1, 2001 (cab)