Hatchery Member - Creek National Fish Hatchery

Hatchery Support Member - Spring Creek National Fish Hatchery

American Conservation Experience, a nonprofit Conservation Corps, in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), is seeking ONE Hatchery Support Member to contribute to fish hatchery operations and provide supplemental field science and public outreach support to projects under the mentorship of Spring Creek National Fish Hatchery Staff.

For more information about ACE, please visit our website.

Start Date: August 2026

Estimated End Date: December 2026

An 18-week minimum commitment is required.

Spring Creek National Fish Hatchery is located at river mile 167 on the Columbia River in Underwood, Washington. It is known as one of the largest anadromous fish production facilities in the Columbia River Basin. The hatchery is a mitigation facility, meaning we make up for habitat losses associated with hydro-electric projects on the Columbia River. The hatchery is a water conservation facility.

Water is reused through a complex series of biological filters that enhance water quality while minimizing the need for a large fresh water supply. The hatchery is mechanically complex and requires the use of numerous pumps, filters, and motor control centers to enhance operations.

For more information about Spring Creek National Fish Hatchery, please visit the FWS website.

The mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is to work with others to conserve, protect, and enhance fish, wildlife, plants, and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. This position will help FWS realize the mission at Spring Creek National Fish Hatchery by supporting fish hatchery operations and providing supplemental field science and public outreach support.

The fisheries supplementation support at this hatchery includes spawning, egg incubation care, fish rearing, water quality monitoring, fish disease monitoring and other related duties. There will also be opportunities to provide supplemental assistance for field and hatchery evaluation projects for experience diversification and career exposure. This opportunity is intended for enthusiastic young professionals with a deep interest in advancing their career goals in fisheries conservation.

The member will provide support and assistance under the guidance and direction of FWS staff in the following tasks:

• Fish Production (75%)
  • Feeding fish, cleaning raceways, picking mortality, sampling fish, assisting with spawning activities, assisting with fish releases.
  • Assist USFWS Fish and Wildlife office with electrofishing activities and assist with setting up fish weirs.
  • Fish Rearing:
    Fish feeding, raceway (large tank) cleaning and upkeep, fish transfers, and water quality and fish health monitoring.
  • Fish Spawning:
    Fish sorting, egg extractions, egg fertilizations, and egg monitoring and transfers.
  • Hatchery Evaluation:
    Mass marking and tagging of juveniles, tag retention sampling, adult tag scans, biological sampling of tagged adults.
  • Field biological sampling, including minnow traps, electrofishing, seins, gill nets, and screw trapping.
  • Fish identification and data collection (length, weight, scale samples, tag scans, etc).
  • Abiotic data collection such as substrate sampling and water salinity, turbidity, dissolved oxygen and temperature.
  • Data entry and management.
  • Supporting upkeep of sampling instrumentation used for core position functions.
  • Maintenance duties and forklift use in support of hatchery operations as required.
• Landscaping (20%)
  • Operating mowers and weed whackers (trimmers) to assist in hatchery upkeep.
• Outreach (5%)
  • Assist Information and Education office with Outreach Activities around the area.
  • Public engagement: answering questions from visitors, leading hatchery tours, supporting school visits, supporting school programming, and event preparation and implementation.

This individual placement is meant to facilitate professional development and promotes exposure to land management agencies and networking with professionals. This could include gaining experience in different conservation fields and shadowing different work groups.

Duti…