Recreational Test Fisher - Scientific Technician - Career Seasonal - Two

Learn more about being a member of Team WDFW!

This is an opportunity to contribute to the conservation of Washington’s salmon and steelhead populations through recreational test fishing.

Envision yourself on rivers and streams, including the Quillayute and Hoh basins, collecting critical biological data that help to understand changing fisheries, inform management decisions and support sustainable recreational fishing for generations to come.

Among the varied range of responsibilities held within this role, the Recreational Test Fisher will,

• Use a variety of fishing methods (bobber, lure, jig, fly) to emulate the recreational fishing fleet.
• Operate single-person pontoon boats and multi-person drift boats and rafts, including trailering, launching, docking, and navigating up to Class IV whitewater.
• Perform minor routine maintenance on the boats, trailers, and test fishing equipment.
• Collect biological data on steelhead catch to obtain stock composition (DNA), age structure (scales), length information and hatchery/natural-origin (mark-status) proportions.
• Ensure data is accurately recorded, summarized, and if necessary uploaded to database.
• Mark landed steelhead with floy tags to gather data on mark-recapture rates of wild steelhead.
• Work collaboratively with private guide boats to help ensure accurate emulation of guided fishery.

• Perform surveys to assess angling effort, count angler vehicles and trailers at multiple, pre-determined river locations accessed by motor vehicle.
• Contact anglers to conduct creel interviews, traveling by foot to contact bank anglers at river access points and monitoring boat ramps for groups of returning boat anglers.
• Sample all steelhead, Coho, and Chinook salmon with electronic coded wire tag (CWT) detection devices.
• Classify, sort, and enumerate marked (adipose fin-clipped) tagged, marked untagged, unmarked tagged, and unmarked untagged fish.
• Retrieve snouts with CWTs from steelhead, Chinook, and Coho salmon to determine stock specific impacts for fisheries modeling.
• Sample recreational steelhead and salmon catch for biological data including DNA, age (scales), fork length, and sex ratios.

Work setting, including hazards:

• Work is primarily conducted in the field and may involve exposure to adverse weather and environmental conditions, loud noise, odors, repetitive hand and finger movements and long periods of sitting, squatting, and walking through vegetation and in uneven terrain in and near streams and rivers to conduct angler interviews.
• Climb in and out of boats, sample salmon from boats, carry, kneel and lift containers of fish (up to 40 lbs.) without assistance.
• Work and stand in confined spaces, encounter fish blood and slime, slippery surfaces, biting and stinging insects, use knives and transport agency staff and equipment in agency vehicles.
• Angling and contacting anglers require driving and hiking to fishing areas or traveling to creel survey locations via state, federal, and county roads. Travel may also include accessing streams on private logging roads throughout the district using a state vehicle.
• Hike up to five (5) miles or boat up to 10 miles along streams over slippery and uneven terrain to reach anglers. Boating may include navigating up to Class IV whitewater.
• This position may involve working in or near water, including tasks…