Electronic Monitoring (EM) Specialist

A.I.S., Inc. (AIS) is a national scientific services firm supporting maritime activities requiring certification of compliance with environmental regulations as well as collecting data for use by Federal, State, Municipal, and other government agencies along the US coastline. AIS is looking for a Electronic Monitoring (EM) Specialist to support the NOAA Northwest Fisheries Science Center (NWFSC) Fisheries Observation Science (FOS) Electronic Monitoring program. This position is contingent on AIS being awarded the project

Primary Function:

The Electronic Monitoring (EM) Specialist performs EM video and secondary review of West Coast commercial fishing activity, annotating fishing events, identifying species, and estimating catch and discard lengths and weights in order to produce verifiable, high-resolution catch, effort, and discard data supporting stock assessment and sustainable fisheries management. The position also supports NWFSC’s Machine Learning Assisted Scientific Electronic Monitoring (ML EM) pilot for West Coast fixed gear fisheries and serves as a liaison for coordination with NOAA staff, EM third-party providers, and the ML EM pilot contractor.

Duties/Responsibilities:

• Perform EM secondary video review to verify annotated fishing events and estimated catch.
• Conduct quality control (QA/QC) to ensure the accuracy of data reported by primary third-party reviewers; provide feedback on primary reviewer performance.
• Review EM video footage to accurately notate fishing events, determine species identification, and estimate lengths and/or weights of observed catch and discards.
• Develop Vessel Monitoring Plans (VMPs) for the ML EM pilot program and serve as dedicated support staff for ML EM pilot implementation.
• Communicate and coordinate with EM third-party providers and the ML EM pilot contractor.

Compensation: Candidates will be paid an hourly rate to be negotiated, and total compensation will vary depending on candidates’ depth of experience. This is a full–time position. AIS benefits package includes health and dental insurance, vacation, sick and holiday benefits.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree and/or equivalent experience in fisheries or a related field (minimum two (2) years of relevant experience).
• Must be able to submit to and pass a NOAA background check (may take 60–90 days) and be suitable for public trust classification.
• Clear written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to work independently, meet deliverable deadlines, and accurately manage, annotate, and process data and video.
• Must be able to work in the U.S. and use Government-furnished IT equipment.
• Willing to complete required NOAA/DOC training upon award (NOAA IT Security; Sexual Assault/Sexual Harassment Prevention and Response; Records Management 101).

Preferred Qualifications:

• Prior experience reviewing electronic monitoring (EM) video.
• Prior experience working as an observer on commercial fishing vessels off the West Coast.
• Demonstrated experience identifying Pacific fishes.
• Demonstrated use of a dichotomous key to determine identification of fish and invertebrate species.
• Training in the scientific method and basic statistical methods, as demonstrated by completion of at least 20 undergraduate-level credits in the sciences.
• Familiarity with West Coast fixed gear fisheries.
• Experience with machine learning-assisted electronic monitoring.

Travel:

• Estimated travel: minimal (onboarding/training).

Location:

• Newport, OR