Background:
Little Port Walter Marine Research Station (LPW) is the oldest continuously operated fisheries research field station in Alaska. The experimental Chinook salmon hatchery, the anadromous fish counting weir on Sashin Creek, and its close proximity to the ocean environments of the Gulf of Alaska are the principal assets of the station. Operated and maintained by the Auke Bay Laboratories Ecosystem Monitoring and Assessment program, scientists from many different institutions visit the station to conduct research on aquaculture, genetics, groundfish research, and ocean ecology of Chinook salmon. Chinook salmon originating in Little Port Walter contribute to the understanding of the ecosystems in Southeast Alaska and other parts of the North Pacific Ocean where they reside during their life cycle.
AFSC Auke Bay Lab requires support at LPW in collecting and processing samples, and analyzing data in support of ongoing fisheries research projects. The tasks will involve sampling, tagging, spawning, and processing fish; husbandry support for aquaculture research, data collection, data entry, data analysis, and project reporting.
Responsibilities
Duties of the Fisheries Field Technician will include:
- Serve as coordinator for field work, which includes 90% of work on vessel surveys and research field stations.
- Coordinate and assist in fish collection, sampling, coded wire tagging, and spawning activities.
- Coordinate and assist with fish husbandry work including maintenance of equipment.
- Coordinate and assist in daily environmental data collection.
- Record any deviation from scientific protocols.
- Coordinate and participate in all staging and de-staging of field work, including the installation, conversion, and removal of NOAA’s research salmon weir on Sashin Creek over the course of the work season.
- Coordinate and participate in maintenance required for the safe, daily operation of NOAA’s research salmon weir on Sashin Creek.
- Coordinate and assist in all cleaning, assembly, disassembly, and dissemination of all related elements to research projects, including data, samples, supplies and equipment.
- Assist in data entry into spreadsheets and databases and literature review.
- Assist in the preparation of reports and manuscripts related to climate change on, genetics, growth, condition, migration, and survival of salmonids and other commercially important species.
- Provide a written report on all data collected, all data entry and analyses, and locations of data files.
Qualifications
The Fisheries Field Technician selected should meet the following Minimum required qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree, or higher, from an accredited college or university with a major directly related in a field of study: fisheries, aquaculture, genetics, biology, natural science, or mathematics.
- An additional three (3) years of experience in related field.
— OR —
- A combination of such totaling seven (7) years combined education and experience. A higher education Degree in science may be substituted for experience.
Additional required qualifications of the Fisheries Field Technician include:
- Experience in salmon husbandry techniques
- Experience entering data into databases
- Experience working in remote Alaska areas
- Experience working for extended hours in adverse environmental conditions
- Experience working on or operating powered small boats in Alaska waters
- Experience safely operating power tools necessary for fieldwork
- Due to the physical nature of fieldwork the individual must be able to lift and move items up to 20 kg without assistance
