The Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation (CFRF) is a non-profit, private foundation dedicated to conducting research and education that assists in the achievement of sustainable fisheries through the generation and communication of better biological and environmental data and effective technologies.
The CFRF’s work is for the benefit of individuals and businesses dependent on commercial fishing, consumers of seafood, and the public good.
Overview of Position:
The qualified applicant will also support research related to developing a southern New England spider crab fishery and lead the management of CFRF equipment. The expected sea time is 1 to 8 days per month. The individual will also assist in other CFRF research initiatives at the direction of the Executive Director.
Timeframe and Compensation:
The position will last for one year, beginning in June 2023. The research biologist will maintain an average of 35 hours of work/week, will receive compensation at a rate of $50,000 – $53,000/year, depending on qualifications, and benefits of paid holiday and vacation time, life insurance, health insurance, and compensation time for work at-sea. There will be an opportunity to extend this position, depending on funding availability and performance.
Scope of Work: The qualified applicant will work directly under the Research Biologists responsible for several initiatives at CFRF. The first two are ventless trap and otter trawl fishery monitoring surveys to collect data on the distribution, abundance and composition of fish and invertebrate species in wind farm development and reference areas. The qualified applicant will be key to the completion of these surveys by leading sampling on one of the vessels conducting the ventless trap survey and assisting in at-sea and onshore components of the otter trawl survey. The third initiative is related to exploring the feasibility and market potential of a common spider crab fishery in Southern New England. The work will be done under the direction of a Research Biologist and will include the creation of a data assessment report and processing trials. Lastly, the individual will lead the tracking and inventory of CFRF’s high value and safety equipment. Examples of specific duties may include:
- Fishery Monitoring Surveys
- Lead ventless trap survey trips
- Assist with sampling and coordination of the CFRF component of a trawl-based survey
- Assist in survey trips using other gear types
- Identification and characterization of fish and invertebrates
- Collection of oceanographic data
- Spider Crab
- Data assessment
- Literature review
- Exploration of fishery independent and dependent datasets
- Fishermen interviews
- Processing Trials
- Procurement of spider crabs from local fishermen
- Transport of spider crabs to processing facility
- Assist with trials as directed
- Potentially work with University of Rhode Island food scientist on product development
- Assist with reporting writing
- Equipment management
- Tracking the status and location of safety and high value (>$500) equipment
- Ensuring needed equipment maintenance and inspection occurs
- Assisting staff with logistics of equipment repair
- Purging obsolete supplies
Minimum Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s Degree in biology or related field.
- Experience (>2 years) working with commercial fishermen on cooperative research projects
- Experience (>2 years) working at-sea on scientific surveys
- Knowledge of and ability to identify fish and invertebrates found in waters off the coast of Southern New England
- Proficiency in data summarization and analysis program (Excel, R, or other statistical software)
- Demonstrated excellence in organization
- Experience with digital data sharing techniques, such as Dropbox and Google Drive
- Valid Driver’s License
- Ability to lift >50 lbs.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Master’s Degree in fisheries science or related field
- Experience (>1 year) leading at-sea scientific surveys on commercial fishing vessels
- A United States Coast Guard approved safety at-sea training certification
- Training in protected species identification and handling within the past 5 years
- Experience with ventless trap surveys
- Experience with equipment management
- Experience writing research proposals and technical reports
