Shellfisher / Oyster Harvester

Job description

Harvest, gather, and handle oysters from oyster beds, leases, reefs, cages, baskets, bags, or other oyster harvesting areas using hands, tongs, rakes, baskets, cages, nets, or other basic shellfish harvesting equipment. Remove oysters from cages, bags, baskets, or harvesting equipment and place them into baskets, sacks, tubs, bins, coolers, or containers. Sort, count, measure, and inspect oysters as instructed to separate legal-size, marketable, undersized, broken, dead, or damaged oysters.

Load and unload oysters, baskets, sacks, cages, coolers, tools, and supplies by hand from docks, boats, trucks, storage areas, or harvesting areas. Place, retrieve, move, clean, and assist with basic maintenance of oyster cages, bags, baskets, lines, floats, markers, weights, and related harvesting equipment. Rinse, wash, clean, and remove mud, debris, shells, and fouling from oysters, cages, baskets, containers, tools, boats, docks, and work areas.

Pack, stack, store, and move harvested oysters using ice or other approved storage methods as instructed. Assist with preparing harvesting equipment before use and cleaning equipment after use. Work is performed outdoors and may involve wet, muddy, cold, hot, or variable weather conditions. The position requires standing, walking, bending, lifting, carrying, and working with basic hand tools. No education, experience, license, or certification required. Employer will provide on-the-job training.

Special Requirements

No formal education, prior experience, license, or certification required. Employer will provide on-the-job training. Must be able to follow verbal instructions and perform repetitive manual labor outdoors in wet, muddy, hot, cold, or variable weather conditions. Must be able to stand, walk, bend, stoop, reach, lift, carry, push, and pull oysters, baskets, sacks, cages, coolers, tools, and supplies during the workday. Must be able to lift and carry up to 50 pounds. Must be able to swim or remain safe in and around water due to work performed near boats, docks, oyster beds, and wet or slippery surfaces. Must be able to work safely around boats, docks, oyster beds, cages, baskets, hand tools, and wet or slippery surfaces. Must be able to sort, count, measure, rinse, clean, pack, load, and unload oysters as instructed. Must be able to distinguish marketable oysters from undersized, broken, dead, damaged, or debris-covered oysters after training. Must be reliable, report to work on time, follow workplace safety and sanitation rules, work as part of a crew, and follow supervisor instructions. No supervisory duties, vessel operation, commercial driving, mechanical repair, seafood processing, shucking, sales, or management duties required.