Gear Liaison - Protected Species and Fisheries Gear Support

About the role

Lynker Corporation, in strategic partnership with Fisheries Immersed Science Hawaii (FISH) as the FLOAT - the “FISH” and “Lynker” Ocean Alliance Team Joint Venture, is seeking a Gear Liaison to support NOAA NMFS protected species and fisheries gear programs.

Responsibilities

• Work directly with commercial fishermen, vessel operators, gear manufacturers, researchers, and other partners to create, modify, rig, test, and evaluate fishing gear configurations aboard commercial fishing vessels.
• Support projects focused on reducing large whale, sea turtle, and other protected species bycatch in Northwest Atlantic fixed gear fisheries, including trap/pot and gillnet fisheries.
• Evaluate how proposed gear modifications may affect actual fishing operations, including gear deployment, hauling, handling, retrieval, catch retention, gear loss, crew safety, and operational feasibility.
• Translate between technical/scientific protected species objectives and the practical realities of fishing gear use, vessel operations, weather, fishing grounds, port logistics, and crew practices.
• Collect, compile, and help evaluate field observations, gear trial results, vessel feedback, gear performance information, and bycatch mitigation data.
• Support law enforcement inspection and compliance monitoring by providing technical gear expertise, helping interpret gear configurations, and assisting with protected species gear-related questions.
• Assist with review of gear installation, gear marking, weak link use, line configuration, trap/pot setups, gillnet configurations, trawl/TED setups, and other gear features relevant to protected species compliance or bycatch reduction.
• Support entanglement gear analysis in collaboration with regional and science center gear teams, including reviewing recovered gear removed from marine mammals or sea turtles.
• Assist with technical evaluation of recovered entangling gear, including gear type, configuration, line characteristics, knots/splices, markings, attached components, wear patterns, and other features that may inform source identification or entanglement risk analysis.
• Support gear warehouse curation and recordkeeping for recovered gear, including maintaining the chain of information needed for later technical review, research, enforcement coordination, or management use.
• Provide technical input for Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team discussions, including gear feasibility, industry practices, operational constraints, implementation challenges, and potential unintended consequences of proposed measures.
• Support development, assessment, and implementation of gear-related options associated with the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan and other protected species bycatch reduction efforts.
• Review and interpret fishing gear information, field notes, trip reports, gear trial findings, enforcement observations, industry feedback, and protected species interaction information to support technical recommendations.
• Identify practical gear-based mitigation measures that can be tested, refined, or implemented to reduce entanglement and bycatch risk while considering fishery operations.
• Participate in port visits, vessel visits, gear trials, field deployments, dockside demonstrations, industry meetings, Take Reduction Team meetings, and protected species response activities as required.
• Provide on-call or after-hours support when needed for emergency mammal stranding or entanglement events, including gear-related technical support.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree or master’s degree in environmental science, fisheries biology, marine biology, natural resource management, conservation biology, ecology, fisheries science, marine science, or a related field.
• A relevant degree may be substituted by two additional years of relevant experience.
• Hands-on knowledge of commercial fishing gear and fishing operations, especially fixed gear, trap/pot gear, gillnet gear, trawl gear, or other fisheries relevant to Northwest Atlantic protected species interactions.
• Experience working directly with commercial fishermen, vessel operators, gear specialists, port communities, fishing industry organizations, or fisheries field programs.
• Ability to evaluate how gear modifications work in practice, including how changes to lines, weak links, panels, TEDs, markings, buoy systems, traps, nets, rigging, or other components may affect fishing operations.
• Understanding of marine mammal and sea turtle bycatch, entanglement risk, protected species mitigation measures, or take reduction planning.
• Experience participating in fisheries field studies, gear trials, vessel-based work, dockside outreach, gear demonstrations, port sampling, observer programs, or related fisheries operations.
• Ability to interpret fishing gear configurations and explain gear function clearly to scientists, managers, enforcement personnel, and fishermen.
• Ability to communicate credibly and effectively with fishermen and fishing industry partners, including in field, dockside, vessel, and meeting settings.
• Knowledge of one or more relevant statutes or programs, such as the Marine Mammal Protection Act, Endangered Species Act, Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan, or related protected species/fisheries management programs.
• Strong technical judgment, field awareness, attention to gear details, and ability to identify practical implementation issues before they become larger operational problems.

Qualifications

• Preferred qualifications include:
• Experience with Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, or Northwest Atlantic commercial fisheries.
• Hands-on experience with fishing gear design, fabrication, rigging, repair, inspection, marking, modification, or testing.
• Experience with whale entanglement prevention, marine mammal or sea turtle bycatch reduction, recovered gear analysis, gear warehouse curation, or protected species response support.
• Experience supporting NOAA, NMFS, a fishery management council, a state marine fisheries agency, a fisheries science center, law enforcement partners, or a protected species program.
• Experience with trap/pot gear, gillnet gear, bottom trawl gear, Turtle Excluder Devices, weak links, buoy lines, gear marking, ropeless/on-demand systems, or other gear technologies relevant to protected species risk reduction.
• Experience supporting Take Reduction Team activities, protected species rulemaking, gear compliance outreach, or fisheries stakeholder engagement.