Lantra Awards
Three aquaculture apprentices scoop prizes
GRIEG Seafood apprentice John MacPherson won the aquaculture learner of the year award at Lantra Scotland’s ALBAS (Awards for Land-based and Aquaculture Skills), announced at a ceremony earlier this month. Runner up was James Dakin, a trainee manager with Scottish Sea Farms from Sandy in Orkney. Dakin, 32, has been doing an apprenticeship through NAFC Marine Centre UHI.
Meanwhile, Dawnfresh apprentice Valentina Romano, 29, from Brechin, won the Higher Education Award at SCQF Level 10. Romano was also one of four winners of the Council for Awards of Royal Agricultural Societies (CARAS) prizes.
MacPherson, 23, from Portree on Skye, has been doing a Modern Apprenticeship in Aquaculture with Grieg Seafood Shetland through Inverness College UHI.
He said: ‘I’d like to thank my employers at Grieg Seafood Shetland and my tutors at Inverness College for all their help and support. To be nominated for an ALBAS award was great but to win it is something else.’
Romano completed her Technical Apprenticeship in Aquaculture Management at trout farmer Dawnfresh through NAFC Marine Centre UHI.
She said: ‘I’m delighted to win these awards, particularly as I’m doing something I love. The aquaculture industry is very rewarding as we work in the most stunning Scottish landscapes and our days are never the same.
‘I love how varied my role is and all the different opportunities for growth and further development offered by my company.’
Also shortlisted in the aquaculture category were Alexandra Couti (Grieg Seafood and NAFC), Calum Elder (SSF and NAFC), David Stewart (Scottish Salmon Company and NAFC), Emma Rochester (Cooke Aquaculture and NAFC), Gari Watson (Dawnfresh and NAFC) and John Stirling (SSC and Inverness College UHI).
The overall winner award went to game and wildlife trainee Charlie Blance, 20, from Methven, Perthshire. She also won the Game and Wildlife industry category and was one of the four CARAS winners.
The awards, which took place at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Dunblane Hydro on March 5, were hosted by farmer and stand-up comedian im Smith, and organised by Lantra Scotland, the sector skills council for the land-based, aquaculture and environmental conservation industries.
Lantra’s Scotland director, Liz Barron-Majerik, said the awards recognise the success of trainees in Scotland’s rural sector, as well as getting employers involved in growing the next generation of talent.
‘The ALBAS showcase the many incredible people who have joined Scotland’s land-based, aquaculture and environmental conservation industries and who are getting their careers underway.
‘I know our judges were very impressed again with the quality of the nominations, so I would like to congratulate all of the finalists, as well as the winners. They were all of a very high standard indeed.’
Among the aquaculture sponsors were Marine Scotland, the Scottish
Aquaculture Innovation Centre, and the Scottish Salmon Company.
The judging panel included agriculture and rural affairs journalist Erika Hay (chair); HR training officer for the Scottish Salmon Company Jennifer Allison; and head of training with the Scottish Salmon Company Lisa Connell, as well as fisheries manager with Stirling Council Fisheries, Scott Mason.
“To be nominated was great but to win it is something else”