Aquaculture Farm Worker

Job description

Workers will perform agricultural/aquaculture labor associated with the cultivation, care, maintenance, and harvesting of oysters produced on the employer's leased oyster-growing water parcels in Vermilion Parish, Louisiana. Workers will place oyster seed into cultivation cages and deploy and position cages in designated oyster-growing areas. Workers will routinely inspect oysters and cultivation cages; monitor oyster growth, health, and development; observe water and environmental conditions; and clean, flip, reposition, repair, and maintain oyster cages and related cultivation equipment. Workers will remove algae, marine growth, seaweed, mud, debris, and other naturally occurring material from cages and equipment as necessary to maintain proper water flow and promote healthy and uniform oyster growth. As oysters grow, workers will sort and transfer oysters into appropriate growing cages or compartments to provide adequate space for continued development. Workers will measure and monitor oyster growth and assist with maintaining cultivation and production records as directed by the employer. When oysters reach harvestable market size, workers will retrieve cultivation cages from the employer's oyster-growing areas and transport the harvested oysters to the dock or designated farm work area. Workers will remove market-sized oysters from cultivation equipment and wash the exterior shells to remove naturally occurring algae, slime, mud, sand, seaweed, residue, and other debris accumulated during cultivation.

Harvested oysters will be sorted and graded according to size and quality and placed into sacks, containers, bins, or other appropriate containers for storage and transportation to seafood processing plants before released to wholesalers, distributors, or other commercial buyers. Workers will not shuck or open oyster shells.

Workers may perform general maintenance directly related to the employer's oyster-farming operations, repair cultivation cages, clean and maintain docks, boats, work areas, tools, equipment, and other farm infrastructure used in the cultivation and harvesting of the oysters.

Workers must follow instructions and applicable workplace rules, boating, sanitation, food-safety, and occupational safety procedures while performing assigned duties.

Special Requirements

Applicants must have at least one (1) month of work experience performing aquaculture, oyster-farming, shellfish-cultivation, or comparable water-based agricultural duties. Experience is required because workers will perform duties in and around water and may work from docks and small boats while handling oyster cages, cultivation equipment, and live oysters. Workers must be familiar with working safely in a water-based aquaculture environment and performing physically demanding duties under changing outdoor and water conditions. No formal education is required.