News Extra Recruitment drive
Aquaculture’s new wave drives recruitment campaign
ANEW initiative to recruit young people into the aquaculture industry will ‘light a fire’ and inspire the next generation to find out more about the industry, said rural economy secretary Fergus Ewing. Speaking at the launch last month of ‘A New Wave of Talent’, a series of films highlighting the variety of careers in the sector, Ewing said the aim was to reach out directly to youngsters.
‘We want to get the message across to young people in Scotland that this is a great sector, industry, venture, mission, you name it, it’s all these things, to be involved in.’
He said young people don’t know about the aquaculture industry because they don’t hear the facts from the mainstream media, and the negative message becomes a little ‘pool of misery’.
The films – a joint project between SAIC (the Scottish Aquaculture Innovation Centre), Lantra and Women in Scottish Aquaculture (WiSA) – will ‘help hugely’ in putting a positive message across.
Paraphrasing the Irish poet W.BYeats, Ewing said the purpose of education was not to fill a bucket with facts but to light a fire, and that is what the initiative hoped to achieve.
The minister, a passionate advocate of sustainable fish farming in Scotland, defended the industry against its detractors.
‘Some people say aquaculture makes little contribution to Scotland, but that’s complete nonsense, the opposite is the case…the facts show that aquaculture is making an enormous contribution to Scotland.’
He added:‘In places where we have fish farms, people are being sustained on the edge of Scotland; aquaculture is the industry of the periphery; there aren’t any other options in Scotland that provide a rewarding, in financial and human terms, career like aquaculture.’
At the launch of A New Wave of Talent, at the Engine Shed in Stirling, the seven short films were aired before an audience of industry representatives, students, high school teachers and career advisers, as well as teams from Skills Development Scotland and Developing the Young Workforce.
The videos reflected the wide range of roles in the sector, from farm site positions to cutting edge research, and the campaign is targeted largely at the under 30s, including school leavers, university students, and graduates.
Promoting careers in aquaculture and addressing skills development was one of the key recommendations highlighted in the sector’s 2030 growth strategy, published in 2017.
The total number of Scottish jobs supported by aquaculture is predicted to rise to 18,000 over the next decade.
A sector skills review, published by Highlands and Islands Enterprise in 2018, identified that there were 1,539 students studying aquaculture related courses at higher education level.
However, a significant gap exists in the number of students embarking on a career in the sector, with only 38 per cent of graduates working or undertaking further study – a figure which is not specific to aquaculture.
Mary Fraser, head of skills and talent at SAIC, said: ‘Young people are an essential part of the future success and sustainability of aquaculture in Scotland and, as the people featured in our videos show, it can be both an exciting and rewarding career.
‘The opportunities are wide and varied, ranging from working with seafood producers on fish farms, to exploring innovation and harnessing data to support new supply chain technology.
‘Making decisions about careers can be a daunting prospect for school leavers and graduates, but we hope that this campaign will inspire them to turn their thoughts towards the sector and the potential career paths it can offer.
‘With a new wave of talent, the sector can benefit from new ideas, insight and processes - ultimately helping to future proof aquaculture in Scotland.’
In a panel discussion at the event, the HR directors of the Scottish Salmon Company and Scottish Sea Farms, Debra Nichol Storie and
Tracy Bryant-Shaw respectively, along with Mowi’s learning and development manager, Donald Waring, Dawnfresh farming director Alison Hutchins, and Institute of Aquaculture scientist Sophie Fridman, addressed recruitment challenges in remote areas.
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The facts show that aquaculture is making an enormous contribution to Scotland”
The panel agreed that persuading youngsters that aquaculture is a viable career is one of the major tasks in any recruitment drive.
Hutchins said:‘We get quite a lot of people coming in at an entry level just looking for a job; I would love to see more young people coming in looking for a career in aquaculture.’
The films feature: Kurk Jones, Mowi farm manager; Ivana Russo, BioMar assistant feed formulator; Andrew Richardson, masters student on the SAMS ACES programme;Valentina Romano, assistant farm manager at Dawnfresh; Janis Brivkalns, marine operative at the Scottish Salmon Company; Darren Fleming, maintenance supervisor at BioMar; and Dr Marie Smedley, breeding programme manager at Xelect.
All the films can be viewed on SAIC’sYou Tube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdo3ykvyVbNtCCW3VmDy4Ug
The films have also been created in a social media friendly version which will be put on the SAIC and Lantra Instagram pages, and the campaign will be promoted via the hashtag #bethenewwave..