CAREER TALK
Credit: Hudson Valley Fisheries
RAS players address talent shortage
Cultural fit and soft skills rank high, but technical training is a game-changer
BY LYNN FANTOM
When Atlantic Sapphire suffered a second salmon dieoff at its Denmark facility in March, jitters about landbased aquaculture reignited among investors and insurers. At the core of the concern: there is just not enough talent to safeguard the future of so many new RAS ventures.
The industry needs to grow its pool of competence, leaders agree. Otherwise, companies are just locked in a game of musical chairs.
Yet despite the challenges and the skeptics, RAS forerunners are steely eyed in their focus on recruiting motivated people and building strong cultures. From the well-funded Norwegian salmon enterprises to an entrepreneurial pompano start-up in Florida and a steelhead farm in Upstate New York, they are pursuing different approaches, but share a common philosophy.
“Fish welfare always comes first,” says Marianne Naess, commercial director of Nordic Aquafarms. “I think it is very important to build a culture where people are passionate about what they do.”
WORKFORCE CHALLENGES
One reason Geir Myre, global head of aquaculture at insurance giant AXA XL, believes RAS operations face talent challenges is that they resemble “big industrial factories,” having more in common with a major oil platform or a construction project than traditional ocean farming.
People feel more secure with job candidates they can “plug and play,” notes HR generalist Danielle Dorter, who has staffed hard-to-find talent both for start-ups and large organizations in several industries. There’s a preference for people who have done the same job somewhere else, so that they can hit the ground running in the new company.
But that is difficult in RAS. Although fish farming has been around for decades in North America, the new RAS operations are on a different scale and, in key ways, represent an emerging industry—one reliant upon technology and a textbook example of risk concentration. As Atlantic Sapphire knows, a hydrogen sulfide event, or a power outage, can result in massive fish deaths.
This has led Myre to label RAS “very much a loss business for insurers today.”
ADAPTING SKILLS FROM ADJACENT INDUSTRIES
HR professionals often shorthand staffing solutions as “build or buy.” But in RAS, there’s little time to “build” and few places to “buy” people who have held the same roles. An alternative workforce strategy is to look to adjacent industries.
“Candidates might not have the required ‘role experience’ but have the skills that allow them to more quickly upskill toward the skills required for a given role,” says Gartner, a global research and advisory firm.
When Nordic Aquafarms hired a senior vice president of projects in California, Naess chose someone with over 20 years of experience in EPC (Engineering, Procurement, and Construction), a type of construction contracting in which the risk for delivering on time and on budget rests with the contractor.
Naess, who started her career in management consulting, says that staffing from adjacent industries might be right for some positions, but not others. She emphasizes that a broad array of skills will be required for RAS operations. In
both Maine and California, the company will need people at different levels in several areas, including fish production, technical, maintenance, and fishing processing.
With two RAS operations up and running in Norway and Denmark, Nordic Aquafarms installed in its Maine project an experienced production director from Europe. But it was able to find Maine natives with strong aquaculture credentials to lead technology and production areas.
Naess is confident there is ample transferrable aquaculture and marine biology knowledge in Maine and points to hatcheries as an adjacent arena with potential. In California, even before it had permits, Nordic Aquafarms began working with a local community college on an aquaculture program.
Most of the team at steelhead RAS farm Hudson Valley Fisheries in Upstate New York either have fisheries or a marine biology degree, says CEO John Ng. Their background came in handy but the young team—comprised mainly of men and women below 30—learned on the job, he says.
“A number of our staff trained in house. Many were part of our original construction team to help build the tanks. They grew up with us and now they’re part of the actual fish farming operations. That really speaks to how my team is.”
WHAT COMPANIES ARE LOOKING FOR
Having the right people in the right jobs is one way to mitigate risk. Creating a strong ethical compass within an organization also reduces errors and process breakdowns, say risk managers. RAS ventures agree that, first and foremost, they want people who share the company’s values.
Earlier this year, Naess terminated an executive in California after a “trophy” photo surfaced of him with a lion he had shot. “Values are not worth anything unless you act on them,” she says.
Similarly, Kirk Havercroft, CEO of Sustainable Blue in Nova Scotia, wants his staff to represent the company’s mission. As he said during RASTech’s RAS Talk podcast, his team sometimes spends evenings together screening conservation documentaries. “This is not 9 to 5. There are times when we might be grading fish until 10 or 11 at night. You can only do that if you’ve bought into the mission,” he says. “It’s a mindset.”
At pompano farmer Aquaco, a number of staff were on board a year before the start of operations to create a bond between its mission and the team Credit: Aquaco Farms
Q & A with an aquaculture recruiter
Having the right staff in aquaculture operations can make all the difference when it comes to growing fish. We speak with CEO and co-founder of AquacultureTalent, Cristian L. Popa Aved, on the nuances of hiring talent for the aquaculture industry. The recruitment agency has been helping the industry search for the best employee since 2016. A spinoff from DB Partner, a seafood industry-focused staffing and recruitment agency founded in 2007 in Norway, AquacultureTalent today has four offices in Norway, the United States and South America.
What are the top 5 qualities that employers are looking for in candidates?
Being the right fit for a job isn’t just about having the right qualifications and background. From our experience employers are also looking for candidates with the right personality traits. The essential part of the recruitment process starts once the candidate gets into the interview process, where the whole picture changes. Employers are looking for qualities in their new hires that are never listed in the job ad. They want to meet people who are self-directed and responsible. Candidates will bring out those qualities through answers to the job interview questions and also through the questions they ask at the interview. We hire people who understand their own path, who can tell their story in such a way that they make it clear how they followed an interest or passions of theirs to the place they
stand in right now. Other qualities our clients and we look for in successful candidates are the energy, confidence, ambition, patience and intellectual curiosity.
What are the top 5 qualities that candidates are looking for in employers?
Employers should have the ability to bring the best out of their employees. They should have a concrete vision of their careers to inspire confidence in new candidates.
Our candidates have pointed out the following top qualities they always look after in pursuit of a better employer: career development and potential for growth; organization’s culture and work environment; strong leadership; sustainability; and work-life balance.
What are the biggest hiring challenges employers in aquaculture are facing today?
Aquaculture is developing very fast. The demand of talent and competence in this industry is on a global scale. With new technologies, and RAS systems coming along the biggest challenge is to find qualified talent who has the expertise, experience and also passion for this industry. Hiring talent from other industries is much harder for aquaculture because of the specific competencies and expertise needed, such as biology, technical and even engineering. There are also challenges in hiring for management and leadership
levels. Aquaculture management and leadership means more than just managing, coordinating, determining requirements and conducting an examination. As recruiters, collaborating with our clients’ HR team is necessary to attract the best talent.
How has the hiring landscape changed in the last five years? If anything is clear, it’s this: the rapid development of technology has fundamentally shifted the way we live and the way we work. In fact, some companies around the world in this industry are finding themselves being disrupted by this change. The recruiting landscape has both changed dramatically and stayed the same is some ways. While we’ve seen a proliferation of tools and technologies, even new processes and philosophies surrounding the craft of recruitment, we have also struggled through changes in markets and tight talent markets and sought the same purple squirrel candidates. We are challenged with the fact that having the largest pile of resumes and profiles doesn’t mean you have even ONE truly qualified candidate.
Some of the biggest trends in hiring landscape come with the rise (and fall) of “culture fit” and the hunt for the ONE truly qualified candidate.
What changes do you see in aquaculture in the next five years and what are their important implications for workforce skills?
The inability to extract more seafood from the oceans has, and will, drive the need for increases in aquaculture production on global level. Companies around the world are setting the vision for the future of aquaculture with new technologies and innovations.
Collaboration and partnership, innovation and transparency are some key factors for this industry in helping provide a healthy and sustainable protein source what is in high demand.
Talents are the key factor driving this industry, as new technologies and innovations are in place, training and education for the workforce to develop key skills are a must in the future.
UAS Fisheries Technology iPad
Credit: strichfiguren.de / Adobe Stock
RAS players address talent shortage
RAS players say that adjacent fields, such as hatcheries, are among the places where they scout for talent Credit: L’Étang
Aquaco, a new RAS farm that starts harvesting pompano this year, created a bond between its mission and functional leaders by bringing them on board a year before their day-to-day work began. Says CEO Joe Cardenas, a former commercial banker, “I wanted them there as part of the build, from literally ordering the equipment and installing it to then managing it.” He also gave them equity in the company.
Clearly, these new RAS players are pioneering a different approach to risk management. Instead of seeing it as a compliance issue solved by creating rules and enforcing them, they are creating cultures of ownership and belonging.
THE FINE ART OF ASSESSING TALENT
Selecting the best people starts with carefully crafted job descriptions. In addition to the competencies or “hard skills” related to each role, HR expert Dorter suggests including three or four “soft skills” or personality traits. “They make or break success,” she adds.
To cultivate these traits in the workplace, those behaviors should then be reinforced at every stage of the employee lifecycle, including performance evaluations and merit planning.
Common traits that RAS leaders rank high include learning agility, personal discipline, and teamwork.
HR head Cristina Espejo told RAS Talk listeners that Atlantic Sapphire values a highly structured mindset and the ability to work under stress, noting that people with those traits are the ones who will find a solution when an alarm goes off.
“What matters is you are prepared with an open mind, you’re curious and willing to learn and accept what is brand new,” says Havercroft. He advises that candidates come in with a degree of humility so that they can learn a new system.
Naess echoes that, saying “There is room for humor and not taking yourself too seriously all the time, although you take your work seriously.”
But how does an HR recruiter find out if a candidate really has these traits? Dorter recommends behavioral interviewing that utilizes questions like “Describe a time when [you had to solve a problem under stress]” or “Give me an example of [how a structured approach governs how you work.]” (See Q&A with an aquaculture recruiter on page 14.)
ONBOARDING TO BOOST PRODUCTIVITY EARLY
To get new employees up to speed as quickly as possible, Sustainable Blue has introduced an internal training syllabus specific to its building, system, and processes. Everyone has to take it and pass an exam afterwards. “We’ve had real success with it,” says CEO Havercroft, adding “It was the piece of the puzzle we were missing.”
Similarly, at Maryland’s Horn Point Hatchery, which deploys state-of-the-art automation, a basic manual backs up what interns learn on the job. Initiation includes a two-week intensive rotation among five divisions so that employees see the big picture. Then they can use the manual for reference.
Says Julie Trommater, who oversees the algae lab, Horn Point interns have gone on to start oyster farms, run hatcheries, and work in biofuel. Maybe they will seize opportunities in RAS, too.
Ruisseau Bar
HELP WANTED:
Divers in demand
Having enough divers in aquaculture will reduce the pressure on the current crop of divers and make it safer for everyone. Seafood farmers can do something to help expand the talent pool, writes Kelly Korol.
Ounique set of skills and desire to work in a position most people may not want. As a result, there is a huge demand for divers in the global aquaculture market.
Divers have always been in short supply and the major reason is that it is a skilled trade that doesn’t get much exposure. High-school students leaning towards the trades are exposed to opportunities in electrical, plumbing, mechanics and welding but rarely consider diving as a lucrative career. Prospective divers usually stumble into diving as a career by word of mouth; some were inspired by the occasional television clip; while others are scuba divers who see it as a chance to get paid doing what they love. Then they do their research, find a dive school and if they can afford the gear and tuition, they give it a try.
The other thing that creates demand for new divers is turnover. Many divers graduate from school and go into aquaculture diving only to hang up their fins after a year or two and move on to another career. No doubt, diving as an occupation has a high attrition rate. Some hardy souls stay on and work their way up to supervisory positions, still diving and taking on responsibility for the dive team. Either way, this creates a constant demand for fresh divers to come into the industry and give it a go. With expansion of the aquaculture industry in all sectors, the demand for divers is outpacing the rate dive schools can produce graduates.
The dive industry has pretty well vanquished decompression sickness through education; however, the pressure to get the job done at all costs has caused some divers to push the limits as seen by a couple of recent major decompression sickness incidents on the east coast of Canada. The root cause of these incidents is the shortage of divers and the pressure to push the divers past their limits.
Divers have always been in short supply because diving as a career does not get much exposure
ne of the more specialized jobs on the aquaculture site is the diver. Divers are required on most aquaculture sites for maintenance, repair and inspection on virtually everything under the surface, where the product is. Divers are the “eyes and hands” of the site manager in maintaining the security, health and welfare of the stock from the underwater perspective. Unfortunately, divers are in short supply as they require a
THE ATLANTIC VETERINARY COLLEGE
Although, there has been a concerted effort to reduce the need for divers on the aquaculture site, there will always be a need for a skilled set of eyes and hands in rigging and maintenance work on a water-based site. The solution is to get more divers into the industry. Like it or not, aquaculture will always need divers and should therefore consider cultivating a stronger workforce in this area. Aquaculture companies need to get the word out to the youth coming through our high schools that diving is an exciting, well-paid career and overall very safe. At career fairs and public events aquaculture companies should emphasize the role of divers as part of the site team and recruit for these positions as well as the other site-specific careers. The skills needed to be a diver are one part training, one part work ethic and one part love of the outdoors so it is within the reach of many people. If we all
AQUACULTURE CO-OP
Fleming College’s Aquaculture program is the only one of its kind at the post-graduate level in Ontario. Learn about cold, cool and warm water aquaculture for food production, and for fisheries recreation and conservation.
• Extensive fish husbandry experience in our on-campus hatcheries
• Field trips and seminars on the business of Aquaculture
• A paid, 8-week co-op at an aquaculture enterprise specific to your career interest
Learn more: flemingcollege.ca/programs/aquaculture
Contact: Jon Carter, Program Coordinator jon.carter@flemingcollege.ca 1.866.353.6464 ext. 3215
There’s more to aquaculture than fish
Mowi’s Dr Diane Morrison discusses how corporate culture impacts employees
“Ilike fish”—or animals, fashion, art, numbers. That’s the way a lot of career discussions start. But, genuine work satisfaction results when employees feel they have a personal impact on a company that is doing something meaningful, experts say.
Dr Diane Morrison believes aquaculture is that kind of workplace today. A veterinarian by profession who has always loved animals, she now leads Mowi Canada West as managing director.
“There is so much opportunity for continual improvement in our industry,” she says. She invokes her teams to keep thinking and reading; “to keep looking for answers that will drive industry change.”
Innovation can occur in many areas within aquaculture, not only fish biology and engineering, but also data science, logistics, business administration, and community relations.
In fact, at Mowi, employees are encouraged to contribute in different roles throughout their careers at the company. That attitude toward both lateral and upward movement does not exist everywhere, but is particularly welcome among millennials who have strong ideas and want to test them out.
Young people also bristle at a “command and control” corporate style and are looking for innovative leadership that’s open to their input. How does a leader make that happen? “Mine is a strategic role, and I have a strong
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‘Experiential
respect for the democratic process,” says Morrison. “With my senior team, I see myself as helping set the path and then letting them go. You really need a full team.”
“I love people and thinking about how to motivate them,” she adds.
She herself finds inspiration in a role model, who has since retired. Her teams are likewise inspiring, she says, making special mention of a fish site manager who is “a positive force.” “The joy of working in this industry is the people,” she says.
Ultimately, of course, aquaculture gives people the opportunity to contribute to a higher purpose: to feed the future. Morrison calls on younger people to join the Blue Revolution. “They can forge careers here and make a difference,” she says.
– Lynn Fantom
learning’ not just a buzzword at Fleming
Fleming College’s on-campus hatchery makes ‘experiential learning’ more than a buzzword for students of its Aquaculture Co-op program—it ensures the students get a head start on their career through hands-on training.
Compressed into one year of study starting in September, it is the only Aquaculture program offered as a post-graduate certificate in Ontario. The program is located at Fleming’s Frost Campus in Lindsay, Ontario. It includes an eight-week, paid co-op, and has strong industry connections, which enable students to experience first-hand several aspects of the aquaculture industry.
Aquaculture students at Fleming College spend as many as 12 hours a week at the hatchery on campus
Credit: Fleming College
During first semester, students are introduced to aquaculture fundamentals, with much of the program taking place in the campus hatchery facilities. The focus in second semester is on operational and business practices with numerous field trips and seminars to learn more about the business of aquaculture.
With both a salmonid hatchery and an alternate species hatchery located at the campus, students get an opportunity to practice their skills and gain real-world experience at the same time.
“The Aquaculture program at Fleming is very unique because it offers a lot of hands on learning. The students are actually in the hatchery 12 hours a week,” says program coordinator Jon Carter.
As students progress through the program and gain confidence in their skills, they take on a supervisory role and run the hatchery with faculty oversight.
Employers are noticing the high quality of Fleming Aquaculture graduates.
“Industry is looking for our students all the time. In fact, we have multiple employers from British Columbia, the Yukon, and the Maritimes, as well as local producers in Ontario, seeking our graduates. They are keen to recruit our students,” says Carter. Fleming’s Aquaculture program is currently accepting applications. For more information, visit: flemingcollege.ca/programs/aquaculture. To apply for the program, visit: ontariocolleges.ca.
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Dr Diane Morrison, Managing Director, Mowi Canada West
Inspiring women tackle the challenges of feeding the future
BY LYNN FANTOM
The setting was a nondescript conference room at the Courtyard Marriott in suburban Connecticut. The PowerPoint presentations, lively coffee breaks, and inevitable problems running video were typical of many conferences. What was striking at the Milford Aquaculture Seminar last January, however, was that 42 percent of the registrants were women.
Women play many roles in aquaculture. They run family farms, negotiate with regulators, lead research teams, and staff corporate jobs. And while they come from different backgrounds—science, business, and international relations, among them—they share a common passion about aquaculture, though that manifests in different ways.
NOAA Science Communications Specialist Kristen Jabanoski likes the optimism that surrounds shellfish aquaculture. “It’s a win-win for people and the environment,” she says.
Julie Trommater, who oversees the highly automated algae lab at Maryland’s Horn Point Laboratory, says, “I know it’s been a good day when I leave covered in mud.”
One quality many women in aquaculture share: they are not shrinking from challenges. Aquaculture North America (ANA) spoke with three leaders who are using science, new ideas, and partnerships to address some of the toughest ones.
DIANE MORRISON
Managing Director, Mowi Canada West
When Dr Diane Morrison was growing up in Scarborough, Ontario, kids played outside from dawn to dusk. But her mother never worried about her daughter’s whereabouts because she could always hear the little girl’s voice, from the middle of a group, calling out ideas of what game to play next.
Upon that innate leadership talent, Morrison built strong skills as she trained as a veterinarian. She learned how to take a wide view, ask a lot of questions, distill information, and then formulate a decision to communicate with authority to the pet owner or farmer she was helping.
Those skills have stood her in good stead as the managing director of Mowi Canada West, responsible for a salmon farming operation of 600 people. Today, she is as likely to be joining First Nation partners for a meeting with Parliament as sitting in jeans leading employees in an exercise about what salmon farming means to them.
At Mowi Canada West, women occupy positions at all levels across operations. At the center of it all, they manage brood stock production, processing plant operations, and remote grow-out sites. But their impact is felt in many ways. For example, for purchasing
systems, Samatha (Sam) Tomkinson initiated the addition of eco-friendly products for offices and sea sites. Says Morrison, “There are so many different avenues. For someone motivated and curious, it’s so wide open.”
Diane Morrison (left) and Chief Roxanne Robinson (right) of the Kitasoo/Xai’Xais First Nation flank Minister of Fisheries Bernadette Jordan in a meeting to discuss the future of BC salmon farming Credit: Kitasoo Band Office
Taught by aquaculture experts in Vancouver, B.C. – one of the world’s most livable cities
CAREER TALK
BRIANA WARNER
CEO, Atlantic Sea Farms
“Delicious” is a word you hear a lot in a conversation with Briana Warner.
When she became chief executive of Atlantic Sea Farms in August 2018, she vaulted forward, quickly taking the Saco, Maine, company in new directions. She multiplied the number of kelp farm suppliers by a factor of eight, ramped up production in the 8,000-foot facility, and developed an array of new products.
One of those, Sea-Chi, a fermented kimchi which recently won a Good Food Award for taste, compelled a New York Times food writer and a friend to finish an entire jar in one sitting. In March, the farm-to-table fastfood chain Sweetgreen sourced kelp from Atlantic Sea Farms to play a starring role in a “Tingly Sweet Potato + Kelp Bowl” created by chef David Chang.
That’s “delicious” in action. Warner’s strategies are also smart. Atlantic Sea Farms guarantees to purchase every blade of kelp grown by the network’s farmers, who tend to be fishermen keen on diversifying their income as waters in the Gulf of Maine warm.
That social mission is what motivates this diplomatturned-entrepreneur, who worked for the US Department of State for six years and later served as economic development director at the Island Institute, a Maine nonprofit.
“Our goal is to help diversify Maine’s coastal economy in the face of climate change. Everything we do is driven toward that goal,” she says.
VALERIE ROBITAILLE
Co-Founder and CEO, XpertSea
Trained in marine biology and geoengineering, Valerie Robitaille saw a problem: shrimp hatcheries were counting larvae by hand. She explored how optics and photonics could help, and driven by that idea, she became a technology entrepreneur.
Co-founded in 2009, Quebec-based XpertSea has today deployed its data platform in more than 400 facilities in 40 countries. Last year in Edinburgh, it won the Aquaculture Award for Technical Innovation.
Robitaille says her creativity comes from her grandmother, who was an artist. But running a company of 50 people has also required perseverance. “It hasn’t always been an easy road,” she says. She attributes her resilience to her mother, who at age 35 left her job as a bank cashier and went back to school to study engineering.
Humility is another of Robitaille’s traits—and this one appears to be genuinely her own. When she describes the culture of caring and respect at XpertSea, she uses “we” to share credit with her three co-founders.
To grow operations, she marshals new team members to work locally, largely in Southeast Asia and South America. The platform they bring to farmers uses artificial intelligence and computer vision to help them save time and make better decisions.
“Around the world, people have dedicated their lives to fish production, but they don’t have enough information,” she says. “We are giving them visibility.”
NOAA names new director for aquaculture
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has appointed Danielle Blacklock as the agency’s new director for the Office of Aquaculture.
She takes over from Michael Rubino, who held the role since 2011. Rubino is now the new senior advisor for seafood strategy at NOAA.
Blacklock will be responsible for providing the strategic vision for developing a strong marine aquaculture industry in the United States. Specifically, she will lead the office’s work on several distinct priority areas including regulation and policy, science, outreach, and international activities in support of US aquaculture, NOAA said in a statement.
Blacklock said her vision for the office is “to help the United States move even more decisively toward becoming a global leader in sustainable seafood production. Wild capture fisheries and farmed seafood are intertwined and both are critical to our nation’s future food supply.”
“I plan to work inclusively and transparently to guide the development of sustainable farms in federal waters, while supporting additional development in state waters and associated land-based facilities,” she said.
Blacklock comes to the position after serving in various roles within NOAA for the past 10 years. Most recently, she was the senior policy advisor for Aquaculture, a role that included a stint at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. She also served as the acting deputy in the Office of Aquaculture for several months.
Blacklock holds a Master’s Degree in Marine Affairs from the University of Washington and a Bachelor’s Degree in Marine Science from the University of Maine.
Valerie Robitaille (left) gets an update in Vietnam from Chelsea Andrews, General Manager Asia-Pacific Credit: XpertSea
Briana Warner has capitalized on her international relations and economic development experience to grow a seaweed venture in Maine Credit: Atlantic Sea Farms
Danielle Blacklock, newly appointed director, Office of Aquaculture at NOAA Credit: NOAA Fisheries
egg sorter that offers: variable egg sizes, speed, accuracy, egg counts, safety and versatility.
Training the next generation
As the world’s population grows, it is more imperative than ever to have a safe, healthy and sustainable source of food for people around the globe. Aquatic species—including fish, shellfish, and plants and algae—are essential to feed this growing population.
The Fisheries & Aquaculture Sciences program at Bellingham Technical College (BTC) is dedicated to educating students about the immense value of these aquatic resources. Experts teach the science and skills needed to help manage and conserve those resources through sustainable farming and harvesting.
BTC’s Fisheries & Aquaculture Sciences program is the only two-year program on the West Coast that provides hands-on training with algae and shellfish. Its multifaceted curriculum teaches algae, finfish and shellfish culturing, and conservation, as well as data collection, entry and analysis. Blending science with hands-on learning in the lab and in the field gives students a strong
foundation for their careers and a deep understanding of aquatic species and their habitats.
Much of this learning takes place at BTC’s Perry Center for Fisheries & Aquaculture Sciences. The award-winning facility features specialized classrooms, wet and dry laboratories and an algae laboratory. The Fisheries & Aquaculture Sciences program operates two hatcheries, allowing students to apply what they’re learning in the classroom and the lab to the real world.
Graduates of the program are eligible for technical positions in the public, non-profit, and private sectors, including: shellfish and finfish commercial farming, tribal and government stock enhancement hatcheries, fisheries conservation and management agencies, fisheries vessel and port sampling, and in emerging industries such as aquaponics and alternate feed production.
For more information about this one-of-a-kind program, contact BTC at 360.752.8345 or admissions@btc.edu
Breeding tomorrow’s aquaculture workforce
BTC’s Fisheries & Aquaculture Sciences program imparts the knowledge needed to help manage and conserve aquatic resources Credit: BTC
Mentors, hands-on learning support veterinary students
Veterinary medicine covers all species, including aquatic food animals. The Atlantic Veterinary College (AVC) is renowned worldwide for its animal health research. Its experts share their knowledge with AVC students through experiential learning opportunities in this field.
Kendall Wyman, AVC Class of 2022, became interested in aquaculture during the final year of her marine biology degree at the University of New Brunswick-Saint John. After finishing that degree, she earned an advanced diploma in sustainable aquaculture from the Fisheries and Marine Institute in St John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, in 2017–2018. She was then accepted into the veterinary medicine program at AVC.
In 2019, Wyman participated in the school’s veterinary student research award (VETSRA) program. She worked on a project to evaluate the health and survival of lumpfish (Cyclopterus lumpus) that live with Atlantic salmon in marine cage sites owned by Cooke Aquaculture Inc in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Wyman learned about lumpfish at varying levels of production, working alongside provincial veterinarians, academics, and company employees in the land- and sea-based aspects of lumpfish culture. She analyzed data from 2018 company records and collected prospective samples from a lumpfish hatchery and at three marine cage sites. Her project was cosupervised by Dr Larry Hammell, associate dean, AVC Graduate Studies and Research and a professor and researcher in aquatic animal health; and Dr Nicole O’Brien, a veterinary epidemiologist who works with the provincial government and an adjunct professor at Memorial University of Newfoundland.
The Northern Aquaculture Demonstration Facility at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point serves as both a center for research and a training facility for the next generation of workers in the sector. Located on land leased by the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, the facility is a valuable resource to the industry in the region and around the world, and to potential industry employees.
“The mission of the facility is to grow aquaculture in the northern climate and to educate people about aquaculture in the Midwest area,” says assistant director and research program manager, Greg Fischer.
The facility houses a wide variety of aquaculture systems, including indoor semicommercial recirculating systems with over 10,000 gallons of water in tanks of various sizes. Flow-through cold and heated water capability allows for wide variability in the species that they can grow. Outside of the facility are four half-acre drainable clay ponds and raceways with flow-through cold water. There are experimental tank rearing areas where precise controls over environment, lighting, temperature, turbidity and tank colour can be employed.
a great
for
is a diverse discipline
Wyman says working in aquaculture is a great fit for people like her who are passionate about population medicine and research.
“The aquaculture industry is incredibly diverse—from farming sea plants to shelland finfish—which makes it a great fit for people who enjoy team-based approaches to data collection and analysis, and like to work with a variety of aquatic animal species,” she said.
Now at the halfway mark in her veterinary medicine education, she is looking forward to furthering her knowledge of fish health at AVC.
“AVC has built-in options to deliver fishfocused material to students, taught by some of the most well-known fish veterinarians and researchers in the world.”
This multifaceted system has allowed them to raise Atlantic salmon, walleye, lake sturgeon, lake trout, rainbow trout, brook trout, arctic char, and bait fish species such as fat head minnow.
The facility competes for grants for research projects. However, it also works with private groups interested in specific research and most of these research eventually become public.
Fischer touts the facility’s strong outreach program. They work with schools around the state to attract students who may be interested in pursuing a minor in aquaculture and aquaponics. A regular major program is in the works.
One of the biggest benefits of the facility for students is that the system grows fish at commercial densities, which means their experience is more easily transferable to the workplace. Graduates are often hired to work as technicians at the facility until an appropriate job placement can be found.
“People that work here get that experience, whether it’s a workshop or training or they’re working here as a technician or an intern. It’s really vital, I think, for the industry that they get that training,” says Fischer.
AVC veterinary student Kendall Wyman says aquaculture
that’s
fit
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Helping Alaska’s mariculture development move forward
The University of Alaska Southeast (UAS) in Sitka is helping develop the required manpower for Alaska’s growing aquaculture industry.
The enthusiasm for mariculture development in Alaska that’s been brewing in recent years reached a new high early this year with the state getting—for the first time— its own aquaculture coordinator from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Industry stakeholders in Alaska believe this move will help advance the state’s mariculture development.
“Alaska is currently experiencing a shortage of fisheries technicians and fisheries biologists, a trend predicted to continue into the future. Our classes allow students to study wherever they are—whether in their home or out on a vessel—without disrupting their routines. These studies can lead to careers in aquaculture or fisheries management,” said the University.
The Sitka Campus of UAS has partnered with industry and regulatory agencies to develop programs that can meet the state’s growing need for qualified personnel.
Students can learn in various ways: from classes on university-provided iPads that are pre-loaded (and therefore don’t need Internet connection) with lectures, exams and readings to hands-on classes in Diving and Aquaculture.
LEARNING ON THE GO
Most Fisheries Technology courses can be taken online, at the student’s own pace, either in an online “hybrid” format with the student tuning in locally or from anywhere there is an Internet connection, or on the pre-loaded iPads. The iPads are loaned to the student by UAS. They contain all lectures, videos, readings, FAQs, and even the exams, which
can be taken remotely without proctoring services. “These ‘off-the-grid’ courses allow the student to complete an entire course at his or her own pace,” said the University.
The iPad course offerings include:
• Introduction to Fisheries of Alaska, Alaska Salmon Culture I
• Alaska Salmon Culture II
• Oceanography
• Fish Biology
• Fisheries Management
• Law and Economics
• Fisheries Management Techniques
To see a list of upcoming courses visit: http://www.uas. alaska.edu/career_ed/fisheries/classes.html
UAS programs include the Fisheries Technology Occupational Endorsements, Certificates and the Associate of Applied Science (A.A.S.) in Fisheries Management and/or Aquaculture. Completion of the programs can lead to employment opportunities in a wide range of potential careers, including fish technicians or culturists, fisheries management assistants, fisheries observers, fish research technicians, fish and wildlife surveyors, habitat restoration technicians, natural resource technicians, stream surveyors, weir technicians or commercial fishers. UAS Fisheries Technology faculty and staff are available to discuss job availability, career paths, or educational next steps. They can be reached at (907) 747-7777 or 1(800)-478-6653.
HANDS-ON, INTENSIVE LEARNING
UAS also offers Semester Intensives for hands-on learning in both diving and aquaculture.
As part of the Dive Semester, students will have the opportunity to work with UAS faculty and become accomplished research divers. They will learn everything from basic dive skills to underwater rescue procedures and underwater data collection techniques. They will become familiar with local fish and invertebrate species while participating in new and ongoing marine-related research projects, as well as develop skills critical to underwater fieldwork such as basic skiff handling and small engine maintenance techniques.
The program offers students the opportunity to earn certifications as open water divers, dry suit divers, advanced open water divers, research divers, AAUS scientific divers, and DAN 1st Aid/ CPR and O2 providers, along with gaining experience in cold-water research and fieldwork.
Visit http://divesemester.alaska.edu/ for more information.
A field-based program called The Alaska Aquaculture Semester is available for students interested in aquaculture.
Sitka has developed a reputation as a stronghold for salmon aquaculture within the state and has many opportunities for mariculture development as well. There are three Pacific Salmon hatcheries in the region: the Sheldon Jackson Hatchery, which works in partnership with the Sitka Sound Science Center; the Northern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association of Sitka, which runs Medvejie Hatchery; and the Sawmill Creek Hatchery.
Students in the Alaska Aquaculture Semester will have the opportunity to work with UAS faculty and with local industry partners to learn in the classroom and in the field about aquaculture. Part of the course work are the ins and outs of Alaskan salmon culture and the associated fisheries, seaweed and shellfish mariculture, skiff handling, small engine maintenance techniques, cold-water survival and everything in between. Students will visit remote sites via floatplane or boat and get to experience a side of Alaskan fisheries few people get to see. Contact Angie Bowers at (907) 747-7742 or abowers4@alaska.edu for more information.
For registration or any question, call (907) 747-7777 or 1(800)-478-6653.
Students at the University of Alaska Southeast receive training for a rewarding career in fisheries
Most Fisheries Technology courses can be taken online, at the student’s own pace
AQUACULTURE EDUCATION DIRECTORY
Fleming College www.flemingcollege.ca/programs/aquaculture 1-866-353-6464 ext. 3215 Jon.carter@flemingcollege.ca
Bellingham Technical College www.btc.edu 306-752-8325 admissions@btc.edu
University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Northern Aquaculture Demonstration Facility aquaculture.uwsp.edu 715-779-3461
Atlantic Veterinary College www.upei.ca/avc 902-566-0882 avc@upei.ca
604-989-0045 lfs.aquaculture@ubc.ca 248 – 2357 Main Mall, H. R. MacMillan Building The University of British Columbia Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T 1Z4 Facebook: www.facebook.com/ubcLFS Twitter: @ubcLFS
Henry Aquaculture Consult Inc Faculty of Land and Food Systems aqua.landfood.ubc.ca
University of Alaska Southeast – Sitka Campus UAS Fisheries Technology Program fishtechalaska.com 1-800-478-6653 ext. 7717 sitka.ssc@alaska.edu 1332 Seward Avenue Sitka, AK 99835 Facebook: www.facebook.com/fishtechUAS/ Twitter: @UASSitka Instagram: uas_fishtech
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