West Coast Fisheries Observer

Are you looking for a financially rewarding career that offers independence, adventure, and practical experience in field biology? Do you want to play a critical role in the conservation and management of fisheries resources? If so, then Alaskan Observers, Inc. (AOI) has a perfect job for you!

Do you have these Mandatory Qualifications?

U.S Citizenship or Permanent Resident Status

Covid Vaccination and Bivalent Booster

Flu Shot

Completed Bachelor's degree with a major in a natural science such as Fisheries & Wildlife, Biology, Marine Science, Marine Biology, Ecology, etc.

A minimum of 30 credit hours in applicable biological sciences.

At least one course in both math and statistics.

Coursework that emphasized the use of dichotomous (taxonomic) keys.

Start date: Feb or March 2023 West Coast Groundfish Observers live and work aboard commercial fishing vessels operating off the WA and OR coast and gather data essential to the sustainability of fisheries resources. Observers can expect to be sampling at sea on average 15 days/month, gathering fishing effort information, sampling for bycatch composition, and collecting biological data. While at sea, Observers live in extremely tight quarters with commercial fishermen. When not at sea, Observers live in their assigned home-port,

Home ports available are:

Coos Bay, OR

Newport, OR

Port Orford, OR


Brookings, OR


Crescent City, CA


Westport, WA


Fisheries Observing is a challenging and unique position. This is not a 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. job--rather, twelve to fourteen hour days are the rule. Gathering, sorting, and weighing a sample at sea is a physically demanding job, and recording the data gathered requires a biologist's attention to detail. The work is further complicated by the fact that observers and fisherman have different objectives--diplomatic efforts on the observer's part, aimed at securing a mutually agreeable working environment, are often part of the job.