Fisheries Technician 2- Wild Salmon and Steelhead Program

Description: The incumbent will be assisting the project biologist with monitoring salmon and steelhead in streams and large rivers under the Comparative Survival Study and Wild Salmon and Steelhead programs for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG). The position will be stationed out of Lewiston, Idaho. The individual will be responsible for understanding and leading efforts to trap, handle, and tag ESA-listed juvenile Chinook Salmon and steelhead on large mainstem river traps. The traps are located on the Snake River in Lewiston, Idaho and on the Salmon River in White Bird, Idaho. These trapping and tagging efforts serve to track migration timing and survival of hatchery and wild juvenile Chinook Salmon and steelhead in large rivers. The incumbent will also coordinate and lead efforts for snorkeling in streams, conduct spawning ground surveys for Chinook Salmon, and assist with other projects under IDFG’s Wild Salmon and Steelhead program. Other expected duties include entering and managing quality data, assisting with maintenance and repairs of trapping and sampling equipment, and meeting project goals.

Responsibilities: Lead and participate in survey crews that conduct fishery presence/absence research, recreational/commercial fishing surveys, anadromous fish escapement surveys (carcass, redd, trap/weir, snorkel, etc.), or tag detection and mark recovery surveys. Make standardized observations such as species identification, length, weight, behavior, growth, survival, reproductive condition, fin clips or tags, and/or signs of parasites, diseases or pathogens.

Lead and participate in crews engaged in captive fish rearing activities including spawning, incubating, feeding, sampling, sorting, handling, medicating, anesthetizing, and transporting fish. Crew may also monitor the status of facility systems and equipment, fabricate, construct, and maintain systems. Gather research data and organize information from fish samples or experimental projects.

Lead crew in watershed and stream assessments and habitat surveys. May include stream habitat inventories (channel typing, habitat typing, woody debris, etc.), road inventories, and riparian inventories.

Update database by entering, checking, and/or editing biological or habitat data that has been inputted on field forms, electronic data loggers, and/or desktop computers. Maintain, organize and provide access to databases. Write memoranda and short reports for transfer of data. Produce summaries including corrections. Produce presentation quality tables and graphs of data.

Qualifications: Candidates must present successful completion of a 4-year course of study at an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor’s degree or higher that involved a major in biological science or related field with at least 6 semester hours in fisheries and aquatic subjects and at least 12 semester hours in animal or environmental sciences. An equivalent combination of experience and education can qualify.

**Specialized Experience is experience that equips the applicant with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position and is typically in or related to the work of the position being filled.  To be creditable, Specialized Experience must have been equivalent to at least the next lower level in the normal line of progression for the position being filled.

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