Fisheries Disaster Support Services

NOTE: We are recruiting for this position prospectively, contingent upon award of contract.

Ocean Associates Inc. (OAI) is seeking an applicant to provide Fisheries Disaster Support Services to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), NOAA Fisheries – Alaska Region. OAI is a Virginia corporation established in 2003 that provides consulting and technical services to the U.S. government, non-governmental organizations, international organizations, and the private sector. We specialize in scientific program and project management, strategic planning, professional and technical services, and stakeholder engagement, supporting government contracts.

Background

The Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA) contains provision (Section 312(a)) that allows requests from states, tribes, and other government entities to request the Secretary of Commerce to declare a fishery disaster exists, which makes these entities eligible for congressional funding to help ameliorate the impact of the disaster. Under these provisions, the Department of Commerce, working through NOAA Fisheries, is required to evaluate each fishery disaster and make a determination if a disaster exists. Evaluation is based primarily on data submitted by the requesting state or tribe and a request must meet specific requirements under the MSA to receive a determination that a fishery disaster exists. For example, there must be commercial fishery economic impacts and declines in fishery access or biomass resulting from specific allowable causes due to the fishery disaster event.

Each Region of NOAA Fisheries is responsible for the initial evaluation of any fishery disaster requests received from their region and the Region also serves as the main point of contact for the requesting entity. All evaluations must follow the new requirements of the amended section 312(a) of the MSA. The lead Alaska Region staff person with support from this position is required to review the submitted requests for completeness, contact the requestors to resolve any information deficiencies, and once complete information is received, finish the evaluation by the timelines in the MSA. Once the evaluation is complete, the lead staff person with support from this position is responsible for writing and submitting a formal decision memo for review and clearance at the region and by headquarters staff for a decision by the Secretary of Commerce.

Tasks

• Provide program management support to the Regional Fishery Disaster Assistance Lead (Lead).
• Upon receipt of a request from the Lead, review the request and contact any requesting entity staff leads identified in the request and provide regional contact information to such staff.
• During the time between initial receipt of a request and the final decision and funding of the request, serve as the point of contact and answer any questions from the requestors, if the employee cannot answer a specific question, they will contact the Lead for further assistance.
• Review the request and compare the information provided with the required information listed in MSA section 312(a). If any required information is missing or incomplete, notify the requestor’s staff contact about the missing/incomplete information and request the missing/incomplete information be provided or updated as appropriate. Inform the Lead via email of any such deficiencies.
• Upon receipt of a complete package of information from the requesting entity, evaluate the request based on the methodology contained in the Policy Guidance from the Headquarters office. Notify the Lead when commencing review of a complete package.
• Once the evaluation is complete, draft a decision memo using agreed upon templates for initial review by the Lead, and then make any edits requested by the Lead.
• Once a final Memo is drafted, the Lead will submit the Memo through the appropriate clearance process with Headquarters and the Region; be the initial point of contact for any questions from staff during the clearance process, working with the Lead as appropriate.
• Develop an annotated template for Alaska fishery disaster requests that is shareable with requesters.
• Maintain and update a database of Alaska fishery disasters to be used to track multi-year disasters, including grant tracking. Provide an annual report on fishery disasters that are pending, approved, and develop spend plans for leadership.
• Create and maintain a file management system specific to AK disasters that spans the life of the disaster from declaration to grant close out.

Start Date: To be determined upon award of contract.

Location: Remote, but will be expected to coordinate between HQ (Eastern Time) and Alaska (Alaska Time). The Alaska Region office hours are from 0800-1800 Monday-Friday.

Salary and Benefits: This is a full-time position with benefits. Salary, commensurate with experience, between $35.00 – $55.00 per hour.

Requirements

Applicants must have the following minimum requirements:

• Program planning and management in a team environment.
• Review and evaluation of basic quantitative data, such as population size data, and basic economic data.
• Policy analysis and the ability to evaluate specific data and information against required standards.
• Experience with salmon management including, analysis of data or management reports, is preferred.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Established skills with spreadsheets and word processing software.
• Ability to follow established procedures to accomplish specific tasks.
• Current MS Office skills
• Current Google Office Suite Skills
• Skills with online seminar software such as Google, Webex