This is an opportunity, to act as the lead technician in carrying out of all aspects of the spot shrimp management plan, including development of annual spot shrimp permits (required in addition to the agency issued limited entry license), scheduling of all biological sampling and communication with all license holders.
In this dynamic role, you will maintain knowledge of current fishery regulations and disseminate new regulations or alert industry to anticipated changes.
The optimal applicants are excited and eager to interact with the public and share WDFW’s fishery regulations and resources.
Duties
Port and at-sea collection of critical Dungeness crab biological data:
- Independently monitor commercial landings for Dungeness crab, pink shrimp, and spot shrimp through regular communication with individual fishers and fish buyers. Determine which vessels are fishing and anticipate when they will land their catch.
- Build positive relationships with commercial fishers and arrange for regular at-sea sampling trips on board commercial vessels to collect key Dungeness crab biological data needed by managers to make important decisions.
- Collect logbooks from vessel captains either at time of landing or soon after. Enter and summarize catch data, biological information and logbook entries into existing databases and spreadsheets.
- Submit timely bi-weekly summaries to fishery managers during the summer Dungeness crab fishery biological and fishery data from the coastal commercial Dungeness crab and shrimp fisheries to meet monthly sampling goals and management priorities.
- Ensure all individual species collected for sampling are done so in a random and unbiased fashion and is accurate and complete. For Dungeness crab, sampling includes collecting sex, length, and very important shell condition information using the subjective shell “flex” test (which requires correctly and consistently differentiate between “slightly” flexible, “moderately” flexible and “very” flexible.)
Carry Out Spot Shrimp Management Plan:
- Each year, before December 1, provide WDFW Licensing Division with new versions of the WDFW Spot Shrimp Permit with any changes made by fishery managers.
- Act as the point-of-contact listed in the permit for the required 24-hour notice of landing and then be present at as many landings as possible to collect biological data.
- Process all spot shrimp biological samples in a timely fashion by collecting length and sex information.
- Collect required logbooks and ensure timely entry of all logbooks in the Access database.
Assist razor clam staff with annual stock assessment work, recreational harvest data, and collecting DOH samples:
- Understand priorities in order to work with other projects as time allows. Communicate and coordinate schedules with other shellfish staff.
- Assist with razor clam stock assessment and the collection of razor clam harvest data including effort, CPUE, and lengths.
- Always follow appropriate safety practices while conducting field sampling, following established methods.
- Visit local schools to educate children about razor clams, crab, and other local wildlife.
Required Qualifications
- Graduation from high school or GED, including one year of high school science, AND four (4) years of experience as a Scientific Technician
OR
- Graduation from high school or GED, including one year of high school science AND four (4) years of laboratory or field experience as an assistant to a health or safety professional, biologist, chemist, or zoologist.
Preferred Qualifications
- At-sea experience on a commercial fishing vessel.
