Research Biologist

Organization Background: The Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation (CFRF) is a non‐profit, private foundation dedicated to conducting research and education that assists in the achievement of sustainable fisheries through the generation and communication of better biological and environmental data and effective technologies. The CFRF’s work is for the benefit of individuals and businesses dependent on commercial fishing, consumers of seafood, and the public good. For more information about the CFRF, please visit www.cfrfoundation.org.

Position:  Full‐Time Research Biologist who supports implementing CFRF’s telemetry and jigging projects.

• Average of 40 hours of work per week
• Salary of $58,000‐$62,000/year and benefits of healthcare, retirement, life insurance, and paid holiday, personal and compensation time.
• One year contract, beginning in April 2024, with the opportunity to extend depending on performance.
• Expectation of two days per week in the CFRF office, at the docks, or at‐sea with remaining work conducted from a home office
  • CFRF office is in the Commercial Fisheries Center of Rhode Island building on the East Farm Campus of the University of Rhode Island (Kingston, RI). Surveys leave from various ports in Rhode Island or New Bedford, Massachusetts.
  • Expected sea time is 3-8 days per month mostly through day trips between April and December.

Scope of Work: The qualified applicant will work directly under the Senior Research Biologist responsible for CFRF’s telemetry and associated ventless trap survey as well as with the Research Biologist leading CFRF’s fish and squid jigging work. The telemetry study seeks to investigate the fine-scale behavior of structure-associated invertebrates and fishes. Support of this work includes participation in trips to maintain and download data from two acoustic arrays and participation in the CFRF’s ventless lobster and crab surveys from which most acoustic tagging will be done. The applicant will also work with a Research Biologist to support projects exploring mechanical jigging as a survey and commercial tool. These projects include a benthic fish survey within and around South Fork Wind Farm, exploring the catch and economics of mechanical jigging around Block Island Wind Farm, and efforts to use Japanese and fishing industry knowledge to further automatic jigging as an additional squid harvest tool.     

Duties and responsibilities:

• Telemetry Study
  • Help organize, maintain, and replace sampling equipment, as necessary
  • Participate in receiver deployment, download, and retrieval trips
• Fishery Monitoring Surveys
  • Lead ventless trap survey trips
    • Identification and characterization of fish and invertebrates
    • Acoustic tagging of target species
  • Participate in benthic jigging survey trips
    • Identification and characterization of fish
    • Collection of oceanographic data
  • Mechanical Jigging Fishery Development
    • Participate in gear set up and at-sea trials
      • Identification and characterization of fish
      • Tracking of effort and cost data
    • Help Collate and communicate results
    • Assist with project reporting
  • Assist in other CFRF research initiatives at the direction of the Executive Director. Examples include, but are not limited to;
    • Support for CFRF’s other research projects, especially related to fisheries monitoring and at-sea work.
    • The development of new projects, including proposal writing

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in biology or related
• Experience (>1 year) working with commercial fishermen on cooperative research projects
• Experience (>0.5 years) working at‐sea
• Knowledge of and ability to identify fish and invertebrates found in waters off the coast of Southern New England
• Proficiency in data summarization
• Demonstrated excellence in organization
• Experience with digital data sharing techniques, such as Dropbox and Google Drive
• Valid Driver’s License
• Ability to lift >50

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s Degree in fisheries science or related field
• Experience (>1 year) leading at‐sea scientific surveys on commercial fishing vessels
• A United States Coast Guard approved safety at-sea training certification
• Training in protected species identification and handling within the past 5 years
• Experience related to telemetry projects
• Experience related to ventless trap surveys
• Experience related to squid or fish jigging