The Southwest Section is located in Long Beach, California. The office gives legal support to the West Coast Region of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), and the Pacific Fishery Management Council offsite link. In addition, the NOAA Office of General Counsel, Enforcement Section, Southwest, prosecutes violations of the living marine resources statutes under the authority of the Secretary of Commerce. The substantive legal work of the Southwest Section mostly relates to the Endangered Species Act, Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act ("Magnuson Act"), Marine Mammal Protection Act, Tuna Conventions Act, Dolphin Protection Consumer Information Act, the High Seas Fishing Compliance Act, and the Federal Power Act. In recent years the Southwest Section has increasingly focused on recovery of salmon protected under the Endangered Species Act and management of tuna and other pelagic species in the eastern and central pacific. The fishery management councils operate primarily under the Magnuson Act.

Like the other offices of the NOAA Office of General Counsel, the Southwest Section plays an inter-agency and intra-agency coordination role, working to ensure regional and council programs remain consistent with other parts of NOAA and other agencies. In addition to the programmatic statutes listed above, the office also supports both the NMFS West Coast Region and the councils in complying with related administrative laws such as the Administrative Procedure Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, the Regulatory Flexibility Act, the Paperwork Reduction Act, the Federal Advisory Committee Act, Executive Order 12866, etc. In providing advice under these statutes, the Southwest Section coordinates closely with the Department of Commerce's Office of General Counsel.

The Southwest Section has five attorneys, one paralegal, and one administrative support specialist. The Southwest Section is managed by Section Chief Kathryn Kempton and Deputy Section Chief Mary Capdeville.