Our Field Team
FISHBIO supports a team of highly experienced technicians and fabricators that make all aspects of our field work possible. Our field staff are proficient in fabricating and deploying sampling equipment as well as collecting data to monitor fish populations and their habitats. This includes installing and maintaining fish-counting weirs, rotary screw traps, fyke traps, and custom PIT tag antennas. Our team also deploys and troubleshoots a variety of imaging technologies, including the Vaki Riverwatcher, ARIS sonar camera, Spolt Spy, and custom cameras.
Our field crews are trained in California fish species identification, handling of sensitive species, such as Chinook salmon and steelhead, and both implanting PIT tags and attaching external tags for mark-recapture studies. Technicians are also experienced in small watercraft operation, boat and backpack electrofishing surveys, seining surveys, redd surveys to document spawning activity, and snorkel surveys to conduct visual estimates of fish populations. Out team regularly performs fish rescues, removals, and relocations.
We routinely record water quality and other environmental data during our field work, and maintain and download HOBO U-22 water temperature data loggers to update long-term temperature databases. Our technicians also enter field data into databases and perform Quality Assurance/Quality Control, conduct analyses of fish stomach contents and scale samples, and keep our Fish Lab running. Our team has demonstrated the ability to work safely in a variety of challenging field conditions, including remote locations and active construction sites.
