Aquaculture Careers - People Working in Aquaculture

Definition of Aquaculture "The farming of aquatic organisms including fish, molluscs, crustaceans and aquatic plants with some sort of intervention in the rearing process to enhance production, such as regular stocking, feeding, protection from predators, etc. Farming also implies individual or corporate ownership of the stock being cultivated" (FAO definition)

What is an Aquaculturist?

Farmers, who breed and grow shellfish, crustaceans, finfish or aquatic plants for profit in controlled or semi-controlled settings are called aquaculturists.  In general, aquaculturists may work on ocean pens off the coast growing marine finfish, or on inland farms where freshwater species can be cultivated in ponds. 

Aquaculturists may be concerned with the raising of aquatic animals and plants for reasons such as production of food, stocking of public water bodies, and for public or home aquaria. 

Entry-level aquaculturists will be concerned with the following tasks:
·        Stocking production units (tanks, ponds)
·        Ensuring adequate nutrition
·        Monitoring water quality
·        Checking for diseases
·        Harvesting animals/plants
·        Equipment maintenance

As Manager of an aquaculture enterprise you will also be concerned with:
·      Planning production schedules
·      Supervising workers
·      Business planning
·      Purchasing feed and equipment
·      Planning harvesting, processing and marketing

Aquaculture Employment Opportunities

Aquaculturists can work in a wide variety of disciplines:
·      Fish Farm Technician
·      Farm Manager/Owner
·      Disease monitoring and diagnostics
·      Consulting
·      Marine Biology
·      Biotechnology
·      Water quality monitoring
·      Feed companies (research, sales, marketing…)
·      Equipment manufacturing (research, sales, marketing…)
·      Local and national government
·      European policy level
·      NGOs
·      Biology conservation
·      Processing
·      Algologists
·      Environmental monitoring
·      Biomedical research
·      Education and Training
·      Fisheries conservation
·      Aquarium
·      Zoo

To be an aquaculturist you should have a general interest in agriculture, since aquaculture is a type of farming, and an interest in the marine sciences. An entry-level position usually requires at the very least a completed second level education, which may then be further supplemented by vocational training programmes during the employment period.  Managers of aquaculture operations often have college degrees, and need to understand water quality, nutrition, business, and economics.  College programmes undertaken may be specific aquaculture courses, or even more commonly general science programmes such as marine biology, zoology, environmental sciences which contain aquaculture components. 

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