The Marine Science and Technology Department of the NAFC Marine Centre has recruited over 50 new candidates onto its recently revamped Modern Apprenticeship (MA) in Aquaculture Level 3 programme.
The NAFC Marine Centre says that it is now, by a large margin, the leading national supplier of Aquaculture MA’s to industry.
The current cohort of MA candidates are employed by one of three companies, the Meridian Salmon Group, Hjaltland Seafarms Ltd, and Scottish Seafarms, at marine farm sites across both the Shetland and Orkney production regions.
Ishbel Crawford, Lantra’s Regional Partnership Manager for the Highlands and Islands, said of the developments with the MA in Aquaculture: “In the rapidly developing industry that is aquaculture, in Scotland and across the globe, it is vital that the industry is supported by a highly skilled workforce. The on-the-job training delivered through the Modern Apprenticeship in Aquaculture allows employers to train their staff without losing them for weeks on end to college, and it allows the workers to develop their skills whilst earning at the same time. Aquaculture businesses across the country are picking up on this and, over the past few years, the numbers registered on levels 2 and 3 of the Modern Apprenticeship in Aquaculture have risen from around six in 2009, to around 100 at the moment.”
