Bill Pinnix, Supervisory Fish Biologist – U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service – Arcata
Bill has been studying fish and their habitats in the Humboldt Bay area since 1993. His early career pursuits included marine fish ecology and the importance of marine zooplankton to fish populations. Bill graduated from Humboldt State University in 1995, and moved to Seattle to work on his Master’s degree at the University of Washington (UW) School of Fisheries.
At UW Bill worked with the Joint Institute for the Study of Atmosphere and Ocean / Pacific Northwest Climate Impacts Group to understand climatic forcing mechanisms of the nearshore marine environment and the resulting impacts to marine survival of coho salmon to improve Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s coho salmon harvest forecast model. Following completion of his Master of Science degree from UW, Bill moved to Newport Oregon to work as a faculty research assistant to research climate forcing mechanisms on early life history of sablefish, looking closely at otoliths to try and find a ‘climate signal’. Bill served a brief stint with the National Marine Fisheries Service working with zooplankton before moving back to Eureka to work for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in late 2001. Bill’s duties with The Service began with monitoring juvenile fishes, involved work with rotary screw traps and acoustic and radio telemetry, and currently serves as the lead of the Monitoring and Assessment division of the Fish and Aquatic Conservation Program at the Arcata Fish and Wildlife Service. Bill serves on multiple technical advisory committees and is especially proud of his work with the Pacific Marine and Estuarine Partnership. Bill loves to be outdoors with his wife Jenny and puppies Frankie and Beans, and when conditions allow can be found recreating on or in the ocean.
2024 Science Symposium Presentation
Day one of the Trinity River Restoration Program Science Symposium covered Fish Populations. Listen in as Bill Pinnix, Supervisory Fish Biologist – U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service – Arcata presents, “Status and trends of juvenile and adult Chinook salmon in the Trinity River.”