North Coast Area Fish Biologist - Fish & Wildlife Biologist

North Coast Area Fish Biologist - Fish & Wildlife Biologist 3 - Permanent -

Working Title: North Coast Area Fish Biologist

Classification: Fish & Wildlife Biologist 3

Job Status: Full-Time/Permanent

Program: Fish Program – Fish Management Division

Duty Station: Port Angeles, Washington – Clallam County

Telework: Option may be available; candidate must be available to report to duty station as needed.

Overview: In this dynamic role, you will design and oversee stock assessment and fishery management activities focused on anadromous salmonids and inland water fisheries. You will be responsible for fishery management activities for free‑flowing waterways and tributaries of the northern coast of Washington and the Staits of Juan de Fuca.

• Oversee North Coast salmon and steelhead stock assessment activities and associated field work. Plan, direct, and adapt activities of staff for collection of fish monitoring data and coordinate fieldwork logistics within District 16, considering budgets, crew availability, survey reach length, current environmental conditions, weather forecasts, daylight hours, available equipment, priority of work, and landowner relations.
• Collaborate with co‑managers to design and develop pre‑season and in‑season management models, including annual escapement estimates and pre‑season forecasts.
• Maintain run reconstruction and historical databases.
• Assist in development of management plans with other WDFW staff and tribal co‑managers that meet agency conservation objectives while maximizing harvest opportunities.
• Organize and assess in‑season data to estimate general abundance trends and recommend in‑season management actions to Regional and Statewide WDFW leadership staff.
• Conduct fieldwork related to salmon and steelhead stock assessment: conduct salmonid redd surveys and live and dead fish counts by foot, raft or aircraft during all weather conditions and over difficult terrain; snorkel for fish counts, inspect weirs, deploy nets for capture of fish for sampling, snorkels for juvenile coho presence/absence observations; sample carcasses for scales, DNA tissue, otoliths, coded wire tags, and other biological samples;
  
  record sampling results, prepare samples for laboratory analysis, and maintain accurate field records.
• Represent WDFW in discussions and at meetings with comanaging tribes, State, Federal, and County biologists and/or stakeholders: independently attend and participate in meetings that are primarily focused on issues related to fisheries and stock assessment or projects or proposals that may impact one or more life stages of salmonids including char (bull trout, Dolly Varden); serve as regional specialist for monitoring freshwater fisheries;
  
  attend North of Falcon season setting meetings as assigned; represent WDFW as local expert during NOF annual salmon planning process; provide technical support for the District Biologist and Regional Program Manager in policy discussions.
• Supervisor: hire, train and supervise technicians to perform statistically valid redd surveys in watersheds within District 16; independently plan and assign day to day activities of subordinate employees; monitor and evaluate performance of employees and regularly mentor to keep employee skills and work quality as high as possible.
• Reporting: independently write, review, edit, and finalize study protocols and periodic reports describing activities and observations, to be distributed within WDFW and/or to comanaging tribes, federal authorities, and others; contribute to ESA reporting, including encounters, impacts and observations of fish species; write peer‑reviewed manuscript and technical reports summarizing the results of research activities in the region.

Work setting: Approximately 30% field work and 70% office work. Field duties performed in all weather conditions, ranging from dry and hot to extreme cold and snow. Duties include hiking long distances over very difficult terrain, both in and out of moving water, while carrying gear; boating on rivers, streams, lakes, and potentially marine areas, including class III whitewater; flying in fixed‑wing or helicopter…