LITHUANIA
Ĺ iluteË™ Agricultural School is the ďŹ rst institution in Lithuania to offer a specialisation in aquaculture
Programme to create aquaculture entrepreneurs With the new specialisation in aquaculture, the Ĺ iluteË™ Agricultural School hopes that graduates from the programmed will be encouraged to take the plunge and establish their own ďŹ sh farms to supply domestic and export markets.
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n 2014, the Šilut˙e Agricultural School launched a modulebased vocational training programme for workers in the aquaculture industry comprising 90 credits. The programme was the outcome of a EUR2.87m European Cohesion Fund project, which created a sector-specific fisheries practical training centre, unique not only to Lithuania but also to the Baltic region. The programme provided the skills necessary to work in aquaculture enterprises and to establish farms specialising in the cultivation of warm-water and cold-water fish using closed recirculating systems or ponds. It comprises introductory modules on the labour market, fish breeding, fish biology, feeds, fish feeding, feeding methods and equipment, recirculation system design, structures, energy supply, recirculating system hardware, its control and maintenance, fish harvesting equipment, its control and maintenance, artificial fish breeding, and fish egg incubation technologies. The competencies acquired enable graduates to work in hatcheries and fish farms where they can be made responsible for everything from breeding the fish to harvesting products for sale.
Skills taught qualify students for many different jobs Besides the basic mandatory competences, the programme offers
Algimantas Abromatis, director of the Šilut˙e Agriculture School
students the opportunity to acquire some additional skills. Among them is recreational fishing, primary fish processing and maritime navigation. The programme is not only an attractive option for young people, but also relevant for the entire region since Šilut˙e is situated in the lower reaches of the Nemunas River where the potential for the development of fisheries is excellent. Moreover, Lithuania has a coastline on the Baltic Sea and fishing is an important industry for the country. However, the volumes of fish caught in Lithuania satisfy only a small percentage of the country’s demand for fish. With the new programme the Šilut˙e Agricultural School intends to educate students to become aquaculture specialists, to increase the popularity of fisheries, and to enable and
encourage young people to start businesses that meet the fish and seafood needs of the country. The practical training centre at the school is equipped with two model and two production-type systems for harvesting warm-water fish and cold-water fish (their expected annual output is 10 tonnes of fish each). The centre cultivates European catfish, sturgeons, trouts, and peleds. The centre also has a vessel for training inland waters navigation and recreational fishing, a vehicle for the transport of live fish, and a fish incubator. In addition, it operates a modern primary fish processing unit where students learn processing skills such as descaling, skin removal, filleting, chilling, refrigerating, glazing, salting, smoking, vacuum-packing, storing
and realizing the fish they have caught or harvested.
Number of applications to join exceeds expectations A total of 115 students have already graduated from the programme. The majority of them have jobs related to their qualification or have started their own businesses. Currently, the centre has 78 students. The number of first-year students accepted in 2017 was double the number that the school had expected. This suggests that aquaculture has become an attractive field of study, and if everything proceeds as planned, the country’s market may soon be supplied with larger quantities of locally farmed fresh fish.
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