For more information, please follow this link: https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/washington/jobs/3647705/spawning-ground-surveyor-scientific-technician-2-two-openings-non-perm-106

Salary– $2,957.00 – $3,821.00 Monthly

Our Spawning Ground Surveyor, 

• Identifies, records, and monitors salmonid redds and carcass recovery (live/dead fish counts) within selected stream reaches. 
• Conducts stream surveys on foot and/or by raft, pontoon/drift boat, or by jet powered river sled.
• Performs biological collection of dead fish (carcasses) includes identification of mark status (adipose/dorsal fin), scale sampling (age/origin), coded wire tags recovery (CWT; stock composition), fork length identifying opercle punch, t-tags or jaw tags, DNA tissue samples, or collects any other biological samples, as needed.
• Maintains accurate and timely field records is important to meet management needs. 
• Keeps supervisor informed daily on the status of work projects and/or any emerging issues, which may include other WDFW programs such as Enforcement, Habitat, and Wildlife.
• Maintains regular and professional contact and continue positive relationships with landowners to gain access to surveyed reaches through private property.
• Performs commercial monitoring or sampling. 
• May participate in the commercial gillnet fishery sampling landed catch and/or commercial on-board monitoring within Willapa Bay and/or Grays Harbor.
• Performs routine maintenance of assigned field gear, fleet vehicles, agency watercrafts and/or equipment as assigned. 
• Checks all equipment to ensure it is maintained, properly stored, accounted for, and meets safety requirements daily.

WORKING CONDITIONS: 

• Work Setting, including hazards:   
  1. Work is primarily in the field. This environment is outdoors and can be physically demanding. During recreational fishery monitoring and commercial monitoring, duties are conducted at the dock, boat launch, gillnet vessel, or fish house. Work includes standing, walking, bending, negotiating boat ramps or slippery surfaces, boarding vessels, and lifting, handling, and manipulating fish up to 40 lbs.
  2. During spawning ground surveys, work involves considerable driving and hiking to remote areas on private and public timberlands. Fieldwork may be conducted in inclement weather, varying stream flows, and can be strenuous. 
  3. Work includes walking along streams on slick boulders, wading riffles, or maneuvering watercraft requires moderate strength and agility, lifting equipment up to and/or greater than 40 pounds may be required. Commercial on-board monitoring involves boarding gillnet vessels in the early morning hours and in wet conditions.
  4. All work includes wet/slippery environment, potential loud noise, close quarters, and potential repetitive work for long periods of time. Trail locations to and from stream reaches may be as equally physically challenging. Must be able to negotiate water in emergency situations.
• Schedule:   
  1. The hours of work are 24/7 (non-scheduled); weekend, holiday, and evening work may be required. Work hours can vary due to inclement weather, river conditions, access, stream flow patterns, fish densities, and length of daylight hours.
  2. Field sampling start and end times usually fall outside of the normal 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM work schedule. Hours over 40 per week accrues as compensation time.  
• Travel Requirements: 
  1. Travel requirements are within Willapa Bay basin (Pacific County) from duty station to assigned ports for recreational or commercial monitoring or to freshwater river systems for spawning ground surveys. Travel time will fluctuate daily depending on field site location.
• Tools and Equipment: 
  1. Waders, wading boots, wading jacket, iPad, serrated knife, CWT Wand, wading staff, life jacket, and sunglasses. These items will be provided by WDFW.
• Customer Interactions:
  1. Interacts with the public (recreational or commercial anglers or landowners) regarding current fishery status and regulatory actions. 

Qualifications

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

OR

Note: College course work involving major study in biology, zoology, fisheries, chemistry, natural sciences, or closely allied field will substitute, year for year, for experience, provided the course work includes at least six semester or nine quarter hours of natural science classes.

Licenses: 

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS: 

• Knowledge of salmonid species, their spawning behavior, general life histories, fishery management methods, spawning ground survey methodologies, and familiarity with the geography of the Willapa Bay basin.
• Background in elementary biology, in-the-field salmonid identification, and spawning ground survey methodologies is needed.
• Understand basic field sampling techniques, procedures, and sample rates.
• Experience in MS Office.

Ability to: 

• Communicate effectively both verbally and in writing. is essential. Verbal skills will be employed in communicating ideas in technical discussions with other biologists over the phone and in person. 
• Work with ArcGIS to create maps.
• Navigate with primitive maps and a GPS to find survey locations.