Discover Careers in Aquaculture

 

 

AQU 212 Principles of Biosecurity

5 week, 1 credit course, begins June 6, 2024!

Biosecurity in aquaculture consists of practices that minimize the risk of introduction and spread of an infectious disease among the animals and/or plants on a farm and the risk that diseased animals or infectious agents will leave a facility and spread to other farms, into the wild, and into other susceptible species. Students will learn the principles of biosecurity, examine biosecurity risks for different production system types, explore examples of biosecurity management, and will develop a simple biosecurity plan.

Course Objectives & Learning Outcomes:
Upon successful completion of this course, the student should be able to:

Demonstrate an understanding of biosecurity issues and consequences
Identify biosecurity hazards in aquaculture operations
Identify critical control points in aquaculture operations
Develop and explain a written biosecurity plan for aquaculture operation

Course Content & Activities:
All lessons will be conducted via Zoom (3 hours of instruction per class) and instructors will provide connection links each week.

 

 

AQU 112 Exploring Careers in Aquaculture

Begins June 21, 2024!

AQU 112 Exploring Careers in Aquaculture offers hands-on, immersive group learning experiences in an accelerated format and includes 2 days of orientation and cohort-building activities and 5 days of career and industry learning experiences. Students who successfully complete the course will receive 3 college credits, for free! Day 1 and Day 7 are delivered asynchronously via Zoom. Day 2 through Day 6 are in-person* career excursions. Transportation and stipends provided.

Course schedule: 

June 21 – Course start via ZOOM
June 24-28 – daily field trips to regional aquaculture industry sites
July 1 – Final Class via ZOOM

 

BIO 112 Marine Biology

January 21 – May 25, 2024

BIO 112 is an asynchronous course offering 4 college credits. Throughout the course, students will discover marine environments and their biotic communities while exploring the natural history of marine organisms.

 

AQU 101 Introduction to Aquaculture & Industry Skills

Registration closed. 

AQU 101 Introduction to Aquaculture and Industry Skills Overview: 

Module A provides learners with an introduction to the basic principles and practices of aquaculture from local, national and international perspectives. Learners will gain a basic understanding of the parameters that contribute to a successful aquafarm, and factors controlling the growth and development of the aquaculture industry. 

Module B which ties in the skills learning and demonstration phase of the course via a 2-day, in-person Aquaculture Career Skills Boot Camp. This immersive skills-learning experience will provide experiential, hands-on training of basic aquaculture skills that are listed within the Maine Aquaculture Association’s Occupational Standards for entry-level aquaculture positions, including but not limited to knot-tying, water safety, boat navigation, trailering, use of basic lab equipment, mooring design etc.

AQU 101 Module A (2 college credits)

Upon successful completion of this course, the student should be able to:

• Gain a historic and global overview of aquaculture
• Demonstrate an understanding of shellfish species farmed globally, nationally and within Maine
• Demonstrate an understanding of marine and freshwater fin fish species farmed globally, nationally and within Maine
• Demonstrate an understanding of aquatic environments, water quality, and water treatment through learning how to use and apply ocean observation platforms
• Identify examples of intensive and extensive aquaculture systems in shellfish, fin fish, and algae sectors
• Evaluate physical, chemical, and biological aspects of aquaculture site and create a site selection plan through learning how to use and apply Google Earth and GIS applications
• Demonstrate an understanding of micro and macro algal species farmed for food, pharmaceuticals, and other uses globally, nationally and within Maine
• Compare and contrast controversial and non-controversial aquaculture lease processes through a gained understanding of social, regulatory, and economic aspects of site selection including distribution, logistics and markets

There will be 2 lessons per week, with the exception of Week 1. All weekly lessons will be conducted via Zoom (2 hours per week class) and instructors will provide connection links each week. The weekly topics are as follows and are subject to change.

Weekly Lineup:

Week 1: Introduction to Aquaculture

Week 2: Culture Systems

Week 3: Site Selection

Week 4: Shellfish

Week 5: Fin Fish

Week 7: Algae

Week 8: Social, Regulatory, and Economic Aspects of Aquaculture

AQU 101L (Module B), 2-day Skills Boot Camp (1 college credit):

Upon successful completion of this course, the student should be able to:

• Demonstrate basic water safety and navigation skills
• Demonstrate boat trailering skills
• Demonstrate basic lab equipment functionality pertaining to aquaculture careers.
• Identify basic knots used in marine careers and effectively demonstrate how to tie each knot.
• Demonstrate the basics of mooring design, construction and deployment.

 

AQU 111 Basic Principles of Aquaculture

AQU 111 is comprised of 4, 1-credit hybrid modules. Each module includes 1 in-person day (4 in-person days total across all modules, resulting in 1 in-person day per month).

The objective of this course is to introduce basic principles of aquaculture. Students are introduced to environmental, social and economic aspects of each of the four sub-sectors, including topics such as site selection, feeding and nutrition, reproduction, breeding, disease and biosecurity, aquaculture systems, and husbandry.

Sub-sector modules in this 4-credit course include: 

AQU 113: ALGAE AQUACULTURE – 1 CH (began October 10, 2023)

AQU 113 introduces students to the basic principles of micro and macro algal aquaculture. Students are introduced to environmental, social, and economic aspects of the sub-sector, including topics such as site selection, feeding and nutrition, reproduction, breeding, disease and biosecurity, aquaculture systems, husbandry and culture systems.

 

AQU 114: SHELLFISH AQUACULTURE – 1 CH (began October 31, 2023)

AQU 114 introduces students to the basic principles of shellfish aquaculture including environmental, social, and economic aspects of the sub-sector, including. Students explore topics such as site selection, feeding and nutrition, reproduction, breeding, disease and biosecurity, aquaculture systems, and husbandry.

 

AQU 115: RECIRCULATING AQUACULTURE SYSTEMS (RAS) – 1 CH (began December 5, 2023)

AQU 115 introduces students to the basic principles of recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS). Students are introduced to the rationale of using RAS versus flow thru and open water systems; the fundamentals of water chemistry, water quality and measurement; components and design of RAS systems; and production, husbandry and management of RAS operations. 

 

AQU 116: FIN FISH AQUACULTURE – 1 CH (began January 16, 2024) 

AQU 116 will introduce students to the basic principles of finfish aquaculture. Students will be introduced to environmental, social and economic aspects of the sub-sector, including topics such as site selection, feeding and nutrition, reproduction, breeding, disease and biosecurity, aquaculture systems, and husbandry. This will include principles of recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) including the rationale of using RAS vs flow through systems; the fundamentals of water chemistry, water quality and measurement; components and design of RAS systems; and production, husbandry and management of RAS operations.

 

BIO 114 Introduction to Water Quality & Water Chemistry

BIO 114 is a 9-day, 2-credit, free course, that introduces learners to the basic principles of water quality and water chemistry and how they affect open and closed aquaculture systems. Students gained an understanding of the chemical properties of marine and fresh water and the impacts on farmed species when water quality becomes out of balance. Specific water quality parameters covered included pH, salinity, temperature, nutrients, dissolved oxygen, microbes, and pollutants. The hybrid course wraps up with a 2-day skills learning and demonstration experience. Throughout the 9-day course, students will become proficient with tools and instruments commonly used to measure water quality conditions on farm sites and earn 2 FREE college credits!

Course Schedule:

Day 1: Introduction to Water Quality in Aquaculture
Day 2: Temperature
Day 3: Turbidity & Solids
Day 4: Oxygen
Day 5: pH, Alkalinity & Carbon Dioxide
Day 6: Nitrogen, Nitrates, Nitrites & Ammonia
Day 7: Micro Organisms
Day 8 & Day 9 (in-person): Water Quality Maintenance & Measurement

Days 8 and 9 of BIO 114 consists of a 2-day in-person skills demonstrations and practice. Each 8-hour day will entirely consisted of simultaneous instruction and hands-on learning. Basic skills include, but are not limited to, measuring and monitoring temperature, the use of basic lab equipment, assessing levels, etc. Basic water quality management skills are sourced from the desired skills included in the Maine Aquaculture Association’s Occupational Standards for entry-level aquaculture positions.

Upon successful completion of this course, the students are able to:

• Describe the foundational water quality principles in aquaculture
• Explain the relationship between temperature and growth rates
• Demonstrate an understanding of the role of turbidity, light, and total suspended solids in aquaculture
• Demonstrate an understanding of the role of dissolved oxygen and the importance of aeration
• Demonstrate an understanding of the role of pH, alkalinity, and carbon dioxide in aquaculture
• Demonstrate an understanding of the role of nitrogen species in aquaculture
• Demonstrate an understanding of the role of good and bad microorganisms in aquaculture
• Demonstrate an understanding of water quality and chemistry in aquaculture and their role in  animal/plant welfare and influence on the production of Maine’s key species
• Demonstrate basic skills required of entry-level aquaculture positions (including but not limited to use of basic lab equipment, measurements, assessing levels, etc. 

 

 

 

The first Aquaculture Apprenticeship in Maine was established in August 2022! Mandy Everett, an Exploring Careers in Aquaculture student, worked with Nichole Sawyer, WCCC Dean of Workforce & Professional Development and Megan Sorby, Kingfish Maine Operations Manager, to establish a transition into a full-time RAS Technician position. Please contact WCCC Workforce & Professional Development Department workforce@wccc.me.edu or (207) 214-7988 for more information.

 

Maine’s Aquaculture Industry is very diverse.  Maine’s extensive, sparsely developed, 3,500-mile coastline and proximity to the nutrient rich waters of the Gulf of Maine have favored an economy based on marine resources, and strong economic and cultural traditions, connecting working waterfronts to the sea. It incorporates freshwater and marine farming, of fish, shellfish, and aquatic plants.  Marine farming in Maine dates from the late 1960s when the state adopted statutes and regulations for leasing of state-owned areas in coastal waters below the mean low tide mark. Maine has supplied North American markets with seafood for 200 years and has earned a reputation for high quality and sustainably produced or harvested seafood.

According to the Maine Aquaculture Association, in 2018 there were 190 individual aquatic farms in Maine operated by lease holders, and 200 additional leaseholders who had yet to develop their businesses. Maine’s aquaculture sector has a direct economic impact of $73.4 million in output, and $35.7 in labor income. Since 2007, the total economic impact of aquaculture has almost tripled from $50 million to $137 million. In 2016, the industry employed 571 with many jobs related to aquaculture production as full-time, all-year positions. Less than 30% of employment were seasonal (Cole et al. 2017).

In the twentieth century, wild harvests of fish and shellfish have declined because of overharvesting, disruption of marine ecosystems, and most recently from the impacts of climate change (warming waters, ocean acidification and the threat of invasive species). By providing coastal communities the means to farm the sea, we can simultaneously support the sustainable expansion of marine aquaculture, reduce the U.S. seafood trade deficit, improve U.S. food security, increase the resilience of coastal communities, and maintain coastal cultural and economic traditions associated with the working waterfront.

 

You are supported now, and into the future!

 

Maine aquaculture enthusiasts, students, teachers, business owners, communities and innovators are well-supported through programs, partnerships and opportunities. Click on the workforce ecosystem map below to view an ever-growing, ever-connecting chain of available supports and resources! Check back frequently, as we are continually adding and updating learning opportunities and resources!