1. Mark Jessop – Full Projects List – NOAA Fisheries (2006 – 2008)
Mark Jessop
Staff Research Associate
Mr. Jessop was a staff research associate for two and a half years at the Southwest Fisheries Science
Center, in Santa Cruz, California. As a member of the salmon population analysis team, Mr. Jessop was
involved with several projects assessing salmonid population trends along the central California coast.
Mr. Jessop was an assistant project manager for a Dual Frequency Identification Sonar (DIDSON) project.
The goal of the project was to assess the feasibility of using DIDSON technology to monitor escapements
of small populations of ESA listed of coho salmon and steelhead. Mr. Jessop was involved sonar
deployments and testing in Scott Creek and Big Creek, California. Responsibilities included protocol
design, budgeting, project implementation, equipment operation and data analysis. Mr. Jessop also
developed a decision support tool for increasing the accuracy of DIDSON escapement counts and was the
co-author of two publications associated with this project.
Another project that Mr. Jessop played a key role in was a long-term study of the population dynamics of
steelhead in an undisturbed coastal watershed. The mark/recapture study involved the tagging and
tracking of over 7000 juvenile steelhead with both mobile and fixed location passive integrated
transponder (PIT) tag readers. Mr. Jessop installed and maintained three fixed (PIT tag) detection arrays,
and designed and constructed the custom mobile backpack mounted PIT tag readers used in the study.
Additional responsibilities included protocol design, project implementation, electrofishing, implanting
tags, equipment operation and data analysis.
Finally, Mr. Jessop lead multiple field crews on a study to document the distribution of coho salmon at
the southern extent of their natural range. Tasks included collaborating with senior scientists on protocol
design and project implementation, gaining permission to access private lands, snorkel surveys, and
providing juvenile salmonid identification training to all NOAA seasonal staff and the Santa Cruz water
department. Mr. Jessop also deigned a database to track survey results and property access permissions.