Aquaculture Oyster Technician

Job description

Participate in the entire oyster lifecycle starting with acceptance of the nearly microscopic product from an oyster hatchery and ending with packaging of finished product. Beginning stage oysters will be grown in individual silos in our nine nursery tanks on the dock once the water temperature meets or exceeds 50degrees F. As the oysters grow, nursery duties include using a bubble tank and vibratory shaker to separate and group oysters by size. Different strains of oysters received from the nursery will also have to be kept separated from each other. During this phase, daily cleaning of the nursery tanks, silos, water supply/discharge are all crucial tasks. The nursery phase of the lifecycle typically lasts from early April to October.

Once large enough, oysters are moved out of the nursery tanks and placed by workers into tight mesh bags. They are then placed into either bottom or floating wire cages. Duties during this phase include: work from the boat approximately 1.5 miles from shore. Drag oyster bags to and from boat. Clean boat. Perform supervised boat maintenance duties. Use tumbler to mechanically sort oysters by size. Sort out dead oysters. Stand on bottom and work in water approximately 4 feet deep. Clean bags and cages. Install buoys and marking poles.

Once oysters have been deemed market size, workers duties will include: removing oysters from cages and returning them to the dock. Manually count oysters for packaging. Pack boxes of oysters of varying count size. Make boxes. Load pallets use pallet jack. Lift/carry up to 80lbs; bags of oysters weigh as much as 80lbs. Some oysters will be shucked rather than packaged in the shell. Workers will shuck oysters, clean and package as well as clean the shucking facility.

Other task include: Use tools such as pneumatic wire cutter to build and maintain gear for the entire operation.

Special Requirements

See Addendum C