Training and education – From the Archive


Skilled workers are badly needed


Back in 1977 the fi sh farming industry was challenged by problems familiar to those facing today’s operators


F


ISH farming desperately needs skilled workers who understand fi sh physiology and producti on methods but are also prepared to carry out routi ne day-to-day


tasks. This is the basic philosophy behind the


industry’s fi rst specialist training course for fi sh farming operati ves launched at the end of August by the Highlands and Islands Develop- ment Board. The course, backed by a £45,000 HIDB grant, will run for one year and should produce 12 trained fi sh farm workers – rather than highly skilled industry supervisors. In launching the course the Board explained that they were keeping in step with the industry’s real needs. ‘Many farmers expressed the view that there


was a parti cular lack of experience at the husbandry level, where the stockman of fi sh farming works,’ said an HIDB statement. ‘Although they were able to recruit academ-


ically well qualifi ed people, there was sti ll a lack or practi cal experience and the compa- nies and farmers concerned had to train their recruits themselves.’ When the industry began to catch on in Brit- ain the pioneers moved abroad for practi cal experience, visiti ng farms in Denmark, Norway or the USA. This was followed by consultants being


brought to Britain to advise on the spot, especially where successful foreign systems needed adapti ng to the UK conditi ons. Once farms became established, however, a grow- ing demand for staff developed and the lack of all-round reliable stockmen emerged. ‘So far farmers have employed the biological


student, even up to honours graduate level,’ said Mr Bill MacKenzie, the Board’s senior fi sh farming development offi cer. This fi lled the management positi ons but left


a gap at the operati ve stage. Farms, especially developing and expanding ones, need people who can work a routi ne day-to-day shift cover- ing a wide range of responsibiliti es. ‘They need people who can clean tanks,


check oxygen levels, work out water fl ow rates and even mix concrete or handle glass


36


Above: Students on the fi sh management course at Sparsholt, Hampshire. Now Scotland will also get a fi sh farming course


“Once became


farms


established, a lack of all-round reliable


stockmen emerged


”


fi bre. The graduates were certainly capable of handling the specialist physiology questi ons but needed on-the-farm training in the more mundane basic skills.’ Instead of aiming their course at the graduate, the HIDB opened a


route into the industry for school leavers with a reasonable collecti on of ‘O’ level passes, including biology. ‘We interviewed 44 applicants for the fi rst course and selected 12,’ said Mr MacKenzie. ‘Some have three ‘O’ levels and others have fi ve or six. They will receive a basic all-round grounding in the essenti al skills required by the industry. It will be a fairly functi onal course ranging from biology to the engineering skills.’ During the next 12 months the course members will have classroom


lectures at Inverness Technical College, where they will spend a total of 12 weeks. They will get a further week’s instructi on at Sti rling Univer- sity, 21 weeks’ experience on commercial fi sh farms, seven weeks’ training at the Board’s own Moniack hatchery, and a two-week spell with the Scotti sh Marine and Biological Associati on. ‘We tested the course on three young fi sh farmers early in 1977 and


were sati sfi ed with the results,’ said Mr MacKenzie. ‘It already seems that we will take another 12 trainees for 1978-79.’ The Board’s training acti vity is an extension of its interest in the fi sh


farming sector since 1966. During that ti me it has invested £1.6 million, in associati on with £2.2 million from the private sector, in 29 projects farming salmon, rainbow trout, shellfi sh and marine species. In additi on, the Board has spent £500,000 on research and develop-


ment. ‘In the future we will be looking at the need for training for expe-


rienced fi sh farmers,’ added Mr MacKenzie. ‘This could cover such subjects as disease preventi on, nutriti on, marketi ng, processing, basic accountancy and management.’ FF


Aquaculture on the lines of agriculture


FISH farm training in Scotland is beginning to develop along the same lines as agriculture, says Dr Ronald Roberts, director of Sti r- ling University’s unit of aquati c pathobiology. ‘There are three basic areas of need for training in the industry,’


he said. ‘There is the fi sh farmer who, although established, wants to improve a certain aspect of his understanding. ‘There is the apprenti ceship level, which is now being covered by the new course in Inverness, under the guidance of the Highlands and Islands Development Board. ‘And there is the management or supervisory level which is cov-


ered by our own University diploma and MSc courses.’ The University’s diploma course runs for six months and the MSc for one year, both covering all aspects of aquaculture.


www.fishfarmer-magazine.com


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