Coastal Recreational Crab Harvest Sampling Technician – Scientific Technician – Perm

The Coastal Recreational Crab Harvest Sampling Technician will help monitor recreational crabbing effort and harvest and support ongoing larval crab monitoring efforts.

This is a dynamic position where your workday can take place dockside, on piers, along beaches, at boat launches, around marinas, at jetties, and occasionally in the office!

What to Expect:

• Conduct crabber interviews at assigned boat ramps, WDFW access sites, public beaches, or on docks.
• Observe and count crabbers, crab gear, empty boat trailers, and vehicles from parking lots, beaches, and along docks.
• Collect biological crab data including species, sex, shell hardness, length, number of missing legs, and weight.
• Record daily effort, harvest, and biological data following established methodologies using tablets or paper forms.
• Monitor and sample Dungeness crab megalopae light traps.
• Sync data to database at the end of each sampling day.
• Perform Quality Assurance/Control (QA/QC) on their own data.

Working Conditions:

Work Setting, including hazards:

• Work will occur in an office, dockside, beaches, and shipboard, in all types of weather and ocean conditions.
• Spend long periods of time sitting, standing, bending, and walking along boat ramps, docks, and slippery surfaces.
• This position may involve working in or near water, including tasks that require navigating, negotiating, and performing duties related to water environments.
• Office-based work will require work at a computer for prolonged periods, as well as utilizing scanners and copiers.

Schedule:

• Non-scheduled, 24/7, typically working 8 to 10 hours per day.
• Weekends, holidays, and occasional long hours are required.

Travel Requirements: Drive a state vehicle on freeways, rural roads, and coastal beaches throughout the Washington coastal area for field work.

Tools and Equipment: Laptop, tablet, 4x4 pickup truck, personal protective wear, cell phone, personal locator beacon (PLB), Personal Floatation Device (PFD), binoculars, and various shellfish and fishery sampling/monitoring equipment.

Customer Interactions: Readily interact with the public while working in the field, including recreational and commercial crab and clam fisherman.

Qualifications:

Required Qualifications:

• Graduation from high school or GED, including one year of high school science AND two years of experience as a Scientific Technician 1.
• Graduation from high school or GED, including one year of high school science AND two years of laboratory or field experience as an assistant to a biologist, chemist, or zoologist.

Certifications/Licenses:

• Valid Driver’s License.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Ability to handle and identify Washington coast crab species.
• Knowledge of commercial and recreational crab fishing methods and gear.
• Experience with fisheries creel methodology.
• Experience with using Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft Windows.

The Department of Fish and Wildlife is an equal opportunity employer.

We strive to create a working environment that includes and respects cultural, racial, ethnic, sexual orientation and gender identity diversity.