Careers & Training
Expansion of aquaculture within Dorset will require the availability of a skilled workforce within the region and this is something that is being addressed locally. At present there are plans by a local education provider to offer courses in aquaculture to students as part of their wider land management education and training programme. There is ongoing dialogue between the education provider and industry to ensure that course content is, and remains, relevant to the needs of the local aquaculture sector.
Seafish
Seafish provides information, support, and guidance on careers and training in the seafood industry. Seafish co-ordinate training for commercial fishermen working on UK-registered fishing vessels. Their onshore training team coordinate the activities of a UK wide community of trainers, Seafood Training Networks and apprenticeship providers.
Seafood Training Academy (Seafish)
The Seafood Training Academy is a collaboration between seafood training networks, training organisations, providers and 
individual trainers. The original Academy was established in 2007. The Academy focuses on the training and learning needs of the onshore sectors of the UK and our growing portfolio of training programmes, qualifications and resources are intended to make available cost effective and high-quality fish and shellfish training throughout the UK.
Kingston Maurward College
Kingston Maurward College (KMC) offers a Foundation Degree in Marine Ecology and Conservation, a City and Guilds Technical Certificate Level 2 (GCSE grade) course (fish health and biology, game and course angling, freshwater sport and fishery management) and a Level 3 (A Level equivalent) will follow next year.
There are also plans by KMC to offer courses in aquaculture to students as part of their wider land management education and training programme. KMC already actively seek extended work placements for students on their courses.
Kingston Maurward CollegeSparsholt College
Sparsholt College are a leader in Fishery and Aquatic studies recognised worldwide for their expertise in providing fishery studies. With their on-site facilities and industry links they can offer the best training for a career working with freshwater fisheries and fish farming, and exotic and ornamental fish.
Sparsholt CollegeSouthern Shellfish Training Centre (SSTC)
The Southern Shellfish Training Centre (SSTC), an SFIA Approved Training Provider, delivers the Bivalve Shellfish Purification Operations Training Course both to Industry and to Environmental Health Officers (EHOs) on behalf of the Food Standards Agency (FSA). The course itself is a one-day (5+hrs) training programme in the biology and technology that underpins bivalve handling and purification in the UK.
This course is suitable for all members of staff working in bivalve purification/depuration and despatch centres and for new industry entrants. Participation in this training doesn’t require any prior knowledge or experience. This course is also open to other industry and food professionals who wish to undertake training on the theory and practise of bivalve purification.
Upon successful completion this course leads to a nationally recognised qualification through a joint award from Seafish and the Royal Environmental Health Institute for Scotland (REHIS). This course has been developed in order to provide industry with access to accredited training for all staff involved in the purification and despatch of bivalve molluscs and meets EC Regulation 852/2004 requirements in this respect.
Seafish and the SSTC continually review and update the purification training programme for EHOs and Industry. In this way, the courses offered help to ensure that EHOs and Industry are aware of any new legislative or regulatory changes whilst at the same time providing guidance to Industry in how production practises can be optimised to increase profitability whilst maintaining food safety standards. Recent changes, such as the potential for Industry to reduce purification times with Local Authority approval and the increased responsibilities of EHOs in the purification system approval, mean that training in shellfish purification continues to be vital to both Industry and EHOs alike.
For further information about training courses in bivalve shellfish purification please contact Martin Syvret on training@aquafishsolutions.com
Martin Syvret
Southern Shellfish Training Centre – an SFIA Approved Training Provider
Carthouse, Whitnage, Tiverton EX16 7DU, Devon
Tel: +44 (0) 7966 461810
Skype: mlqs01
Email: training@aquafishsolutions.com
Dorset Coastal Stories
Dorset Coastal Stories is a series of short films which showcase the opportunities in commercial fishing and aquaculture in Dorset. The four films are all based in Dorset, and follow the stories of local people and their pathways into fishing and aquaculture. These films have been directed and produced by Jo Stewart-Smith from Butterfly Effect Films with photography and videography by Simon Vacher.
Fisheries Observer
Ruth Hicks our fisheries observer, says ‘people are surprised when she says she’s been out on a fishing trawler for a week, but more and more women are coming into the job now’. We follow her working on a fisheries science partnership, with fisherman Mark Cornwell and his crew, out of West Bay, (Bridport) looking at an issue – the discard ban, which could seriously impact the livelihoods of many small fisherman -especially those in mixed fisheries like Mark. It’s a fascinating story and as Liseve, Ruth’s co worker says ‘there’s a lot fishermen can teach us and working together we get the best blend of information and knowledge and sharing’. In this case if, the scientific data proves what the fishermen are saying anecdotally – then there’s a chance for a win all round – including the fish!
The Fisherman Chef with Ashley Stones
This is an inspirational story of how one commercial fisherman affected, like so many, by quotas has found a way to make it work. For several years Ashley lived the dream. He tells us ‘I spent all my weekends and school holidays fishing – I absolutely loved it I couldn’t get enough of it. After college I went into catering but it was the fishing I wanted to do. I decided to jack in my proper job and turn my hobby into a career’. He’s passionate that rod and line fishing is sustainable and describes how quotas rocked his friends and colleagues in the Weymouth bass fleet. He has managed to keep fishing, catching less fish (under quota) but using his entrepreneurial and cheffing skills to add value to the fish he catches.
Young and Fishing with Sam Shuker
Sam Shuker, a 17 year old trainee commercial fisherman takes us out on a scallop boat from Lyme Regis and tells it like it is. He works long hours, determined to get as much experience as he can ready for the day when he is old enough to skipper a boat himself. Despite having all his fisherman tickets, Sam is also going to train to be a commercial diver, so that he can hand dive for scallops. He talks about the importance of the marine reserve for his fishery. He’s seen first-hand the ups and downs his fisherman father has gone through so he knows he’s chosen one of the toughest careers out there. But he loves the sense of freedom fishing brings. He says ‘the opportunities I have – it’s so much more than a job, it’s something I live for. I am determined to fight for it and if I have to rebuild it’.
Aquaculture in Dorset
A short film which showcases the potential aquaculture career opportunities in Dorset, and gives an interesting insight into the somewhat hidden world of aquaculture that’s happening already in and around Portland Port, Dorset.
