sherylscubaboard
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A writer's query: Do fish farms use scuba divers to perform any functions?
Fish farming query
- Thread starter sherylscubaboard
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RonFrank
Contributor
One of my cuz's first jobs had something to do with oyster farming.. I believe they were cultivating them, but I'm not 100%, and this was in the 70's. But she was definately diving for part of her day among the oyster beds off the coast of Oregon.
Fish Farm is a rather broad term. The fish farm in S CO. (actually more famous as the Aligator Farm) does NOT use divers for anything, and I'd think that most similar farms would not need them based on the size of the fish and the size of the tanks.
I'm no Aquaculture expert, so maybe you'll get MoreBetterResponses from others...
Ron
Fish Farm is a rather broad term. The fish farm in S CO. (actually more famous as the Aligator Farm) does NOT use divers for anything, and I'd think that most similar farms would not need them based on the size of the fish and the size of the tanks.
I'm no Aquaculture expert, so maybe you'll get MoreBetterResponses from others...
Ron
sherylscubaboard:
sherylscubaboard:
I recently saw a show on TV that dealt with the commerial fisheries off of Nova Scotia, I believe. On of the things they were developing was an off shore, contained fish farm. Basically it was a huge cage. Scuba divers were used to set it up and do other maintainence work as I recall.
flounderer
Contributor
Offshore cages utilize divers as previously mentioned. There a few places doing it in the US and nearby. Univ. of NH (cod), U of Miami (cobia and snapper), Hawaii (threadfin, tuna), Puerto Rico (cobia) are a couple messing with cages right now. They are getting pretty popular in aquaculture. They send divers to install, maintain, harvest, and clean the cages. I've been stuck on land doing marine aquaculture for years, it might be time for a jump in the cage direction so I can get some diving in.
Ditto on this. I've dove an experimental cobia-rearing cage off Cape Eleuthera. That operation requires divers almost every day, to check stock status, repair enclosure damage, and remove sharks that bit their way in. It's a tough job, and there's some risk to the divers. On the other hand, you get the opportunity to see some pretty whacked out stuff; plus hey, you're getting paid to dive.flounderer:
Donnie
Guest
sherylscubaboard,
As mentioned earlier... "Fish Farm" is a broad term.
I worked for almost (7) seven years on a fish farm in the Puget Sound, (Washington,) and dove almost every day! We raised Atlantic Salmon, in net pins about a quarter mile out in "Rich Passage." During our peak season... we could harvest up to 42 tons of salmon a week.
When you have this many fish, there will be a certain percentage of fish that die every day. (The fish that die are known as "Morts" which is short for "mortality") When they die... they initially sink to the bottom of the net pen. The dog fish will come up from the bottom and begin chewing on the mort. Eventually... the shark chews a hole in the pen.
Every day, morts have to be picked from the pens and subtracted from the total amount of fish that were initially put in the pen. And of course... the hole has to be mended... so you will learn how to mend nets! (We had 42 pens, and we could pick as many as 200 lbs of morts a day! MUCH more if we had a bad algae bloom!)
One of the biggest killers of farmed fish is "stress." During the Spring of the year, you get a lot of kelp growing on the nets. This kelp plugs the holes of the nets and the nets act like big sails under water. When you have a large tidal exchange, the nets collapse, which crowds the fish... causing stress. So... nets have to be cleaned on a regular basis, and the morts removed. (Nets are usually cleaned above water.)
Algae blooms also create stress on fish, and some algae (if in large enough doses,) are toxic, or will suffocate the fish. Again!... more dead fish. Sea Lions will bite a fish which is close to the net wall. The Sea Lion wont get in... but again!... more dead fish!
Boats get rope caught in their shafts and propellers, anchor chains occasionally have to be reset, which requires a diver to act as a tender for the tug boats, things get dropped in the water... the list goes on and on.
You will not hire out as a diver, (Divers are a dime a dozen.) rather you will be hired for other skills you may have, and diving is kinda expected. If you don't dive... everyone kinda looks at you funny! I hired out as a maintenance technician, and soon found myself doing just about every job on the farm.
A lot of the diving is nothing more than floating on the surface, adjusting ropes, and led lines. It is not uncommon to spend anywhere between 4 to 6 hours in the water, without ever getting out. (This is a long time to spend in the Puget Sound.) And... you will do this almost every day!
Most of the guys (myself included,) couldn't wait for some poor sucker to raise their enthusiastic hand, and volunteer to dive. Within 2 or 3 weeks... the last thing most folks wanted to do was put on a cold, damp wetsuit, and 07:00 in the morning, and come out of the water around lunch, looking like a prune. (Trust me!... Its not all that glamorous!)
If you want to pursue working at a fish farm... pursue it with an interest in aquaculture... NOT AS A DIVER!!! If it is a big fish farm... you will get burned out on diving. If it is an operation that only has you in the water about once or twice a week... you will probably enjoy it!
I got burned out on diving because I had a hard time telling my boss "No", every time he asked me to dive the pens. It got to the point in which the absolute last thing I wanted to do was suck air out of a rubber hose. For me... It took the fun right out of diving... and after all... Diving should be fun!
What type of fish farms are available where you are at?
Donnie
As mentioned earlier... "Fish Farm" is a broad term.
I worked for almost (7) seven years on a fish farm in the Puget Sound, (Washington,) and dove almost every day! We raised Atlantic Salmon, in net pins about a quarter mile out in "Rich Passage." During our peak season... we could harvest up to 42 tons of salmon a week.
When you have this many fish, there will be a certain percentage of fish that die every day. (The fish that die are known as "Morts" which is short for "mortality") When they die... they initially sink to the bottom of the net pen. The dog fish will come up from the bottom and begin chewing on the mort. Eventually... the shark chews a hole in the pen.
Every day, morts have to be picked from the pens and subtracted from the total amount of fish that were initially put in the pen. And of course... the hole has to be mended... so you will learn how to mend nets! (We had 42 pens, and we could pick as many as 200 lbs of morts a day! MUCH more if we had a bad algae bloom!)
One of the biggest killers of farmed fish is "stress." During the Spring of the year, you get a lot of kelp growing on the nets. This kelp plugs the holes of the nets and the nets act like big sails under water. When you have a large tidal exchange, the nets collapse, which crowds the fish... causing stress. So... nets have to be cleaned on a regular basis, and the morts removed. (Nets are usually cleaned above water.)
Algae blooms also create stress on fish, and some algae (if in large enough doses,) are toxic, or will suffocate the fish. Again!... more dead fish. Sea Lions will bite a fish which is close to the net wall. The Sea Lion wont get in... but again!... more dead fish!
Boats get rope caught in their shafts and propellers, anchor chains occasionally have to be reset, which requires a diver to act as a tender for the tug boats, things get dropped in the water... the list goes on and on.
You will not hire out as a diver, (Divers are a dime a dozen.) rather you will be hired for other skills you may have, and diving is kinda expected. If you don't dive... everyone kinda looks at you funny! I hired out as a maintenance technician, and soon found myself doing just about every job on the farm.
A lot of the diving is nothing more than floating on the surface, adjusting ropes, and led lines. It is not uncommon to spend anywhere between 4 to 6 hours in the water, without ever getting out. (This is a long time to spend in the Puget Sound.) And... you will do this almost every day!
Most of the guys (myself included,) couldn't wait for some poor sucker to raise their enthusiastic hand, and volunteer to dive. Within 2 or 3 weeks... the last thing most folks wanted to do was put on a cold, damp wetsuit, and 07:00 in the morning, and come out of the water around lunch, looking like a prune. (Trust me!... Its not all that glamorous!)
If you want to pursue working at a fish farm... pursue it with an interest in aquaculture... NOT AS A DIVER!!! If it is a big fish farm... you will get burned out on diving. If it is an operation that only has you in the water about once or twice a week... you will probably enjoy it!
I got burned out on diving because I had a hard time telling my boss "No", every time he asked me to dive the pens. It got to the point in which the absolute last thing I wanted to do was suck air out of a rubber hose. For me... It took the fun right out of diving... and after all... Diving should be fun!
What type of fish farms are available where you are at?
Donnie
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