Why Study Aquaculture?

Opportunities Edited by: Dr. Ewen McLean Biotechnology Laboratory, Aalborg University, Sohngaardsholmsvej 57, DK-9000 Aalborg, Denmark

Aquaculture Career

Production methods in aquaculture are as assorted as the number of species cultured and include every variation between single operator, single pond production units, to involvement of multinational corporations in intensive rearing operations. During the last decade, harvests from global aquaculture have grown at 12% per annum. This industry, therefore, represents the fastest-growing component of the world food supply. Today, aquaculture, in all its variant forms, accounts for around 30% of total seafood wealth. It is manifest that the business will continue to increase at a dramatic rate well into the next millennium. As with other businesses, industry expansion has led to increased employment opportunities within the sector. The range of vocations on offer has also diversified over the last two decades, due to the development, and increasing involvement of, support and service industries. This, in turn, has broadened the type and level of vocational training necessary to service the various sectors, such that occupations within the aquaculture industry may be supported by secondary through to university level training. 

Career openings in the aquaculture sector include those directly related with production, as seen, for example, with general operatives responsible for inventory feeding, harvesting, site cleaning and general maintenance, through to hatchery and farm managers who possess significant management and operational experience. Often, smaller facilities may be maintained by a single entrepreneur, responsible for all aspects of production. Many such units exist in Europe and elsewhere. A more recent trend has been the development of larger companies specialised in the management and operation of several aquaculture sites, as seen in Europe, the Americas and South and East Asia. This maturation process, which has impacted global fish, crustacean, shellfish and macrophyte production, has been accompanied by a subtle shift in the number and type of appointments offered within the industry. Frequently, such groups retain several highly trained specialists who are responsible for servicing all production holdings of the company. For example, M.Sc. and doctoral level employees may be involved in broodstock and genetic improvement programmes, nutritional management and similar operations. Within larger companies, veterinarians may be engaged in the organisation and oversight of disease management and diagnostic programmes and in Europe, significant activity has recently been seen in the hiring of individuals trained in logistics and project management. The larger commercial groups, together with their hatchery staff and farm managers, may retain the services of specialised personnel for heavy equipment handling, boating and seining operations, diving, net management and procurement functions for all their site holdings, together with financial advisers and similar, involved in accessing EU and similar funds for aquaculture-related enterprises. Opportunities are increasingly in evidence for highly trained aquacultural engineers, particularly to support recirculation-based operations; be these hatchery or on-growing based.

Clearly aquaculture is a multi-disciplinary business (Figure 1) and the industry trend is towards a higher level of sophistication allowing for improved efficiency in production and hence profitability. Latterly, the industry has experienced a certain level of horizontal, and to a lesser extent, vertical integration too. This organisational restructuring, particularly as it relates to processing, has broadened vocational opportunities in the industry even further. There exists an established tradition for European salmonid and oyster culture operators to undertake a certain degree of primary processing and end product marketing. Indeed, certain producers place a high degree of reliance upon local markets for income generation. However, the recent past has witnessed a certain level of refinement in the integration process, such that the complexity of producer-founded processing, marketing and exporting has increased. This trend, which is global, multi-species and multi-product in scope, has brought with it enhanced possibilities for employment, at the production and/or co-operative level, for those with skills in seafood processing, marketing, export, logistics, business economics and production management. Nevertheless, the vast majority of aquaculture product is delivered to the specialised processing sector for final preparation prior to marketing

The seafood processing sector provides a wide variety of vocational opportunities for individuals possessing all levels of academic training in aquaculture-related fields. In the processing sector proper, staff requirements are diverse, ranging from those employed to work processing lines, through to personnel officers, plant managers, quality control specialists and product development scientists. As exemplified by the salmon business, there has been significant activity in end product diversification, with traditional fresh, chilled, frozen and smoked commodities being supplemented by marinated, terrine and mousse products. This development has also had the effect of strengthening the industry. Associated with the processing sector of commerce are all those components which, together, form the product, or retail chain viz. marketing, packaging, transportation, storage, accountancy, public relations specialists etc.. With respect to the latter there is an increasing need for personnel who retain an in-depth knowledge of aquaculture production systems to support buying, export, marketing and product quality decisions. Product promotion is also undertaken on behalf of the aquaculture industry by co-operatives or associations and herein lie other vocational opportunities demanding of various levels of academic achievement in aquaculture and related specialisations.

The aquafeed industry has become increasingly refined in their research and development activities spurred on by the need for a greater range of species- specific diets, speciality products (pigmented, medicated), broodstock formulations and environmentally sound feeds. This has resulted in greater opportunities within the research and development area, with supportive needs from raw quality purchasing departments for production of least cost dietary formulations. Openings thus exist for personnel with an understanding of the requirements and limitations of the aquafeed industry. A trend in the aquafeed business has been co-opting of associated aquaculture services for buyers, including veterinary assistance. In line with this, the larger companies also employ specialist purchasers, in the chemical supply sense, for antibiotics, vaccines, pigments, vitamin premixes etc. Here too, therefore, exist possibilities for those with specialised training in aquaculture nutrition and economics. While there has been an overall increase in the use of vaccines, with a concomitant reduction in the employment of antibiotics in Europe, Canada and the US, there still exists a need to increase the product portfolio with respect to vaccines and a number of specialist companies continuously seek to improve their product lines with in-house research and development upon new adjuvants, alternative delivery systems, polyvalent vaccines and innovative treatment systems. Potential future markets exist with recently developed feed-based probiotics and immunostimulants expressing high potential. In these companies, there is a high demand for personnel in the R&D sector, sales and back-stopping and specifically for those familiar with fermentors and down-stream processing methods.

In attempts to enhance production efficiency and profitability, aquaculture producers have become increasingly sophisticated in terms of the equipment employed "on-farm". These range from automated grading systems through to piscalators, on-line monitoring procedures, underwater video surveillance and measuring applications, automated feed delivery systems, recirculation configurations, water treatment components and processing and packaging lines. The vast majority of these components are derived from engineering development and supply companies, all of which require back-stopping in sales, service, installation and research and development. Here, too, exist a wide range of vocational opportunities for aquaculture graduates and particularly for those with skills in engineering, marketing and research.

Since the 1980s a number of companies have provided specialist financial services to the aquaculture sector, although this area of specialisation has broadened considerably in the financial service sector. Knowledge of aquaculture production, in its widest sense, is highly beneficial in this area and it is not surprising to find that aquaculture graduates have found a niche in this industry. Also housed in the service sector are companies and consultants who specialise in turn-key operations, designing, site selecting, constructing and backstopping aquaculture facilities. Here lie major opportunities for graduates with proficiency in a wide range of subjects from mechanical to electrical engineering through to hydrologists, surveyors, biologists, economists and others with critical knowledge and experience in aquaculture production.

Within the consultancy domain, a high level of competence in aquaculture and related disciplines is required. Such employment may offer possibilities for recruitment to be engaged, at various levels, to service on-going international projects, of public and/or commercial interest, with respect to a wide variety of aquatic organisms and in the global setting. As well, an aquaculture education may be effectively employed in fields covering institutional and curriculum strengthening, project review and evaluation, environmental impact assessment, extension training, feasibility studies and field trials, proposal structuring, short-course design and execution, facility engineering and construction supervision, risk and facility take-over evaluations, site surveying and selection, topographic analyses and mapping, pond designs etc., with engineering details for water systems and research and facility support building plans, disease management assistance and training etc. Other fields in which consultancy companies may become involved in the aquaculture sense relate to product quality assurance, product development, and advisory roles for the development of HACCP systems for aquaculture processing plants and insurance in meeting EU, FDA and similar requirements as this regards importation restrictions for aquaculture produce.

The heightening of the public and scientific sector's understanding of issues surrounding water and environmental quality, has brought with it increasing attention to the methods employed in the licensing, inspection and monitoring procedures for aquaculture facilities on a global scale. In this respect possibilities exist for employment in the fields of water analyses, site evaluations, environmental impact assessments including disease transmission and soil, fauna and flora conservation. In this sector, which may be county, national or international in scope, lie opportunities for those with an academic training and demonstrated experience in the methods and limitations imposed during aquaculture production. Finally, the academic and public sectors (e.g. Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries etc.) offer career potential in terms of scientific and technical support for the industry. Research may be wide-ranging, and take into consideration new and cleaner technologies for production, better methods for harvesting and processing inventory, new techniques for utilising by- products from the industry or increasing yields and innovations in product development and marketing amongst a hundred others. Engagement in such work may be multi-level in terms of qualification, ranging from secondary through doctoral level.