Seafood School educates students for careers in mariculture

The first class of the SC Commercial Seafood Apprenticeship Program has recently completed

PUBLISHED ON July 1, 2024

COLUIMBIA, S.C. — Graduates of a new month-long internship program on the South Carolina coast hope to find jobs in the commercial fishing and mariculture industries.

The first class of the South Carolina Commercial Seafood Apprenticeship Program recently concluded. The group of six participants met daily in a classroom at the back of a former public school in the fishing village of McClellanville. The program provides room and board, and a $1,000 stipend upon completion of the program.

Participants learned about topics such as safety, sailing and navigation; small engine maintenance; welding; fisheries science; oyster and clam farming; and seafood business and marketing. In addition to periodic, hands-on educational activities throughout the month, they also spent two days at sea.

A key point was the sustainability and longevity of the seafood industry.

“If you overharvest, you won’t have it for the next generation,” one participant explained.

The program aims to match students with jobs after the program ends. Co-director Jocelyn Juliano says the participants were ready to enter the industry.

“They’re very eager to get started, they want to get down to business right away,” Juliano said. “Next time, we want to get job descriptions in advance from industry representatives looking to hire, so participants can meet with business owners and get started right away.”

Juliano is a program specialist with the South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium, which created and manages the program.

The program is supported by the South Carolina Department of Agriculture’s Agribusiness Center for Research and Entrepreneurship, the McClellanville Community Foundation, the McClellanville Watermen’s Association, Clemson Cooperative Extension, a USDA Rural Business Development Grant, and NOAA’s National Marine Grants Office.

In addition to the scholarship and contacts with employers, participants received a certificate in cardiopulmonary resuscitation, first aid and automatic external defibrillator operation, a US Coast Guard exercise instructor certificate and a course completion certificate from the SC Sea Grant Consortium.

South Carolina’s seafood industry is grappling with challenges including an aging workforce, aging docks and facilities, competition from imported seafood and development pressures that threaten marine ecosystems.

The program is an important step in developing a recruiting pipeline for job seekers in the seafood and mariculture industry.

To learn more and sign up for 2025 program alerts, contact program coordinator Angela Treptow at [email protected]. You can also learn more about the program online at scseagrant.org/sc-commercial-seafood-apprenticeship-program.

–Eva Moore, SCDA