Aquaculture Oyster Technician
Employer
784 Locklies Creek Road
Topping, VA 23169
United States
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 multiple 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 and pvc-coated wire cages. 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 using 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 and daily cleaning of facilities.
Special Requirements
Persons seeking employment in this position must be available for the entire period requested by the employer. All workers will be subject to a training period of up to ten days during which the employer will evaluate workers' performance of required tasks. Employer reserves the right to terminate a worker if the employer reasonably finds worker's performance during the trial period to be unacceptable. Employer reserves the right to discharge an obviously unqualified worker, malingerer or recalcitrant worker who is physically able but is unwilling to perform the work necessary for the employer to grow a premium quality product, or for any other lawful reason. The employer may discipline the worker, including brief suspension of work activities/employment for a set period determined by the supervisor or termination of employment.