Alaska AOA and Aquaculture Coordination Support Services

About the role

OAI is seeking an applicant to provide support services to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Alaska Region office (AKRO) in Juneau, AK.

Responsibilities

• Support for the identification of an Aquaculture Opportunity Area (AOA) in Alaska and the associated NEPA Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS).
• Providing technical assistance and review on aquaculture ESA section 7 and Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) consultations.
• Public and tribal comment and engagement opportunities for the Alaska AOA process.
• Support for government-led tribal consultation and engagement with Alaska tribal governments and corporations.
• Support internal and cross-agency coordination for the Alaska Aquaculture Opportunity Area (AOA) Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) preparation.
• Compile, synthesize, analyze, and manage data that will inform the creation of the AOA PEIS and Alaska Aquaculture Explorer webtool.
• Work with the RAC and regional and headquarters communications staff to contribute to internal and external outreach and overall AOA process messaging throughout the AOA process.
• Assist with the operation of the Alaska Interagency Working Group and Cooperating Agencies.
• Coordinate with AKR staff to provide assistance in support of their consultations on aquaculture actions.
• Assist in review of other aquaculture-related NEPA documents beyond the AOA PEIS, and provide comments as needed.
• Assist in review of other proposed aquaculture activities and provide comments.
• Participate in meetings with action agencies, applicants or permittees, special interest groups, state officials, and tribal representatives, as necessary.
• Coordinate with the Alaska Fisheries science center and other researchers regarding aquaculture activities in Alaska.
• Provide timely response to data requests and assignments with appropriate attention to detail.
• Attend and/or present aquaculture information at local and regional coordination meetings, participate in staff meetings and annual workshops if scheduled.

Requirements

• Undergraduate degree from an accredited college or university with emphasis on biological science, conservation biology, wildlife management or related fields.
• Knowledge of the Endangered Species Act, Marine Mammal Protection Act, Magnuson Stevens Act, and National Environmental Policy Act.
• General understanding of NEPA in order to review and comment on NEPA analyses.
• Knowledge of the marine aquaculture industry and associated species for culture, gear types.
• Knowledge of marine natural resource management issues, especially marine aquaculture and other ocean uses such as fishing and oil and gas, is strongly desired.
• General understanding of biology of Alaska marine species of cetaceans and pinnipeds.
• Current MS Office and corresponding Google applications skills.
• Computer skills including basic word processing, spreadsheet creation, and manipulation.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.