FISH & HABITAT MONITORING

• Position: Lead Fisheries Technician
• Employer: Anabranch Solutions, LLC
• Location: WA/OR
• Time: April. 2023 – Present

I’ve been interested in stream restoration, especially process based restoration, for a years. It’s a pretty niche field so I was thrilled about finding an opportunity to observe structures first hand while contributing to research on how habitat restoration affects steelhead populations.

Electro-fishing is a technique that uses electricity to stun and capture fish. We conduct mark-recapture surveys by eFishing the same site two days in a row which allows us to use statistics to get a good estimation of the fish population. We record length and weight for each individual. PIT tagging (same concept as microchipping a cat or dog) allows us to keep track of individuals and use statistics to estimate population density and growth rates.

The other main responsibility of this job was assessing stream habitat by recording the major geomorphic units (ie. bars, pools, rapids). This allows look at habitat complexity and the prevalence of different units in response to restoration. Habitat is also analyzed with respect to fish population.

It was super rad to observe geomorphic response to restoration structures, learn where fish hang out, and compare habitat features between the upper and lower reaches in the watershed.