Aquaculture

The fastest growing sector of New Zealand’s seafood industry, it’s an exciting time for Aquaculture with enormous expansion predicted over the next few years.

Aquaculture is the process of farming finfish and shellfish in contained environments. The flagship species in New Zealand are Greenshell™ Mussels, King Salmon and Pacific Oysters.

The farming is both land-based and in the sea close to shore. Methods of farming include rope-culture, trays, sea-cages or on-shore tanks.

The Marlborough Sounds is New Zealand’s biggest mussel and salmon farming area but other important areas include Golden Bay, Coromandel, Stewart Island and the Far North.

New Zealand’s aquaculture production has risen considerably over the past decade and the sector now employs 30% of the total seafood industry workforce. It has the potential to provide many more jobs for regional economies.

You can find out more about New Zealand's aquaculture industry on the Aquaculture New Zealand website.

Could this be a job for you?

Here are some of the types of jobs available in the Aquaculture sector. In some cases there are links to the Career Services descriptions of the jobs.

• Marine farm worker
• Marine farm supervisor
• Marine farm operations manager
• Marine farm skipper
• Aquaculture diver
• Hatchery technician
• Spat collectors

Check out the Aquaculture qualifications Seafood ITO offer or have a look at our videos about the kind of jobs in the Aquaculture sector.