Job: Kalama River VSP Monitoring Technician, Dept. of Fish and Wildlife (Kelso, WA) |

Salary- $2,864.00 – $3,701.00 Monthly

Conducts adult VSP monitoring in the Kalama River.

Samples adult salmonids at Kalama Falls Hatchery adult ladder trap 2-5 days per week.
Implements and conducts field data collection to ensure a high-quality dataset.
Examines, enumerates, and identifies to species, run type, and origin all adult salmonids caught in the Kalama Falls Hatchery ladder trap.
Collects biological data (fork length, marks, gender, sexual maturity) and biological samples (scales, DNA tissue) from all or a proportion of fish caught in the trap.
Applies marks and tags into live fish for mark recapture abundance studies.
Scans fish for presence/absence of coded wire tags and passive integrated
transponder tags.
Collects additional data as directed by supervisor, including data to monitor hatchery steelhead programs.
Conducts salmonid spawning ground surveys on lower Columbia River tributaries.
Implements activities to estimate adult abundance including carcass mark-recovery, redd surveys, and live counts.
Identifies and enumerates adult salmonids (live and dead) and redds to species.
Collects biological data (e.g., length, gender, marks/tags, scales, otoliths, and tissue samples) from live and dead salmonids.

Conducts juvenile VSP monitoring in the Kalama River.

Installs, operates, maintains, and removes juvenile out-migrant traps (rotary screw traps on the Kalama River.
Conducts daily trap checks and uses professional judgment to ensure that the timing and frequency of daily trap checks are consistent with river conditions and out-migrant abundance.
Enumerates all target and non-target fish captured to species, life stage, and origin.
Conducts mark-recapture experiments to calculate trap efficiency for juvenile salmonid population estimates includes safety transporting fish in 5-gallon buckets over rough terrain.
Monitors fish health during sampling and ensures fish are released in the best condition possible.
Maintains trap integrity during high flow and heavy debris events.

Implements steelhead broodstock collection and sampling steelhead spawn events for hatchery programs at Kalama Falls Hatchery.

Collects viable steelhead for broodstock.
Administers antibiotics.
Applies passive integrated transponder tags into the dorsal sinus.
Collects biological data (fork length, marks, gender, sexual maturity, coded-wire-tag status, sexual maturity) and biological samples (scales and DNA tissue samples) at both collection and after spawning.
Assists hatchery staff with sorting in holding ponds at Kalama Falls Hatchery.
Scans for PIT tags and ensures PIT tags from spawned fish are accurately translated to a new fish spawn number which enables tracking of individual steelhead through the different stages while at the hatchery (arrival, weekly ripeness checks, spawn, and release (if applicable).
Collects spawn pairing information.
Downloads, deploys, and retrieves temperature data loggers.

MES Weekly