Aquaculture Oyster Technician

This job requires planting, and harvesting oysters through the aquaculture/farming operation. The farming operation season run March through December. farming operations includes nursery production, husbandry activities, and sorting and bagging. These activities are described in more detail below. In addition, routine maintenance and repair of farm equipment will also be required periodically. Nursery Operations: This farm raises 1mm seed purchased from local hatcheries and grows them in upland based upweller tanks that uses a continuous circulation pumping system to bring river water into the tanks. Each tank can contain between 4 to 8 silos. Laborers will be required to assist in the set-up of the tanks, silos and pumping system. Oysters remain in the tanks for approximately 2-3 weeks. During that time farm workers will rinse, hand sieve for size grading, and separate oysters as they grow to reduce the volume of oysters in each silo and to keep the silos clean and free flowing. When the oysters reach a size greater than ¼ inch in size, the oysters are transferred by hand to ¼ inch mesh bags which are placed in bottom grow-out cages. Cages are deployed on the river bottom via boat and crane. Company owner or existing US Citizen farm manager operates boats and cranes. Farm laborers will assist with filling bags, packing cages and guiding cages during deployment. The nursery operation continues until all oysters in the silos have been removed, bagged, and deployed in cages in the river. Husbandry Operations: Husbandry is the process of tending/caring for oysters throughout their lifecycle until they are market size. This is largely a sorting process known as grading where oysters are run through mechanical sorting machines that can separate oysters based on size. At the same time, the oysters are cleaned with river water running through the machine, and chipped to yield a better shape. Husbandry practices also thin the population of oysters in their grow-out container to improve shape, quality, and circulation. Grow-out containers are defouled of natural growth using power washers and wash out hoses before repacked with oysters and redeployed for grow-out. Farm laborers will be responsible for operating power washers to clean cages, emptying cages and bags in the grading machine, refilling cages and reloading the vessel will cages for deployment. Assistance on the boat may be required. See addendum C

Salary : $14