You will be a member of a highly motivated and committed team of observers who are based at port offices throughout England, delivering important scientific work required under UK legislation.
Your main duties will be to record the numbers of fish and shellfish which are retained and discarded onboard English registered fishing vessels during normal commercial fishing operations. Access to fishing vessels is on a voluntary basis and you will be required to negotiate access with vessel operators. You will also be required to undertake biological sampling of fish and shellfish landings at various ports in England. You will work regularly at sea on commercial fishing vessels, sailing from various ports to schedules determined by the fishing boat skippers (typically 50-80 days at sea per year with scope for more), and with shore-based industry sectors, such as fish markets and merchants. This work will require significant travel and regular lone working during unsocial hours, at weekends and at short notice. A flexible approach to working is essential. Additional payments are made for work undertaken at sea and during unsociable hours.
A comprehensive training program will be provided. Once competent, and sampling effectively without supervision, the successful applicant will be expected to provide training for new staff. During your training period you will be required to pass an ENG1 medical and complete basic sea safety training.
Job description
Your main duties and responsibilities will include, but are not limited to:
- Establishing and maintaining good relations with the fishing industry
- Negotiating access to sample fishing vessels
- Planning and undertaking regular sampling trips (duration 1 to 8 days) onboard commercial fishing vessels, sailing from ports across England
- Carrying out catch sampling at sea, during normal commercial practice, to estimate quantities of discarded and retained catch
- Planning and undertaking detailed biological sampling of fish/shellfish landings at fishing ports across England
- Obtaining otoliths and scales from fish samples
- Adhering to and promoting safety measures in the field and office
- Entering data into databases, data checking and QC and timely delivery of data to end users
- Participate in other projects as required e.g., fishing gear technology
- Assisting in fisheries surveys aboard commercial fishing vessels and research vessels where necessary
- Contributing to production of reports
In addition, Cefas (Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science) reserves the right to ask staff to take on additional duties and responsibilities which are commensurate with their grade. Team Leaders and management will have a discussion with staff to explain the changes that are to be made. A new job description will be issued if required.
Person Specification
Applicants should be highly motivated, target driven individuals with good communications skills, both verbal and written. A keen interest in collecting good fisheries data is essential as the job can be challenging at times. As this role must work around the fishing industry, both onshore and at sea, applicants must be willing to work unsociable hours and weekends. You will be required to travel across England and Wales on a weekly basis using a pool van.
The following are essential criteria required for this role and you must be able to demonstrate your skills and experience in the following areas:
- Knowledge of the UK fishing industry
- Experience of working at sea, in different sea conditions, ideally on commercial fishing vessels
- Willingness and ability to work flexibly at unsociable hours, in challenging weather and environmental conditions, and without supervision
- Ability to conduct physical and precise scientific fieldwork at sea and on land with good attention to detail
- Knowledge and a keen awareness of health and safety, with specific experience of safety at sea and vessel safety
- Ability to follow protocols and procedures to consistently and accurately record numerical and other data
- Ability to identify different fish species found in UK waters
- Self-motivated and self-reliant with a keenness to meet targets
- Good IT skills, experience of data entry into databases and undertaking data quality assurance checks
- Academic qualifications required are a degree in a scientific subject and/or relevant experience of working within the fishing industry
Licenses
Full driving license (valid for driving in the UK)
Technical skills
We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:
- Experience of working at sea (Lead technical skill)
- Ability to identify UK fish species of commercial importance
- Ability to demonstrate an understanding of representative sampling and subsampling techniques
- Knowledge of fishing vessels and/or gear types
We only ask for evidence of these technical skills on your application form:
- Experience of working at sea (Lead technical skill)
Closing date: November 20, 2023
