Aquaculture Training | Aquasearch Aquarium & Laboratory

:

ARCHIVE PAGES P{lease Note that during the COVID-19 Pandemic in 2020 - 2 023 Aquasearch has decided to no longer offer this aquaculture training.

Aquasearch offers training programs for individuals or small groups (1-4) who are interested in learning basic requirements and practical techniques used in aquaculture operations, and for those who wish to gain a better understanding of animal husbandry and aquaculture techniques. Aquasearch offers a short, practical job-training for a weekend or 1 week maximum.

This short training is appropriate for school leavers or adults who have never had experience with aquaculture or animal husbandry. Alternatively, Dr. Braley can travel and conduct a short training given there are some facilities to carry out the practical training aspects.

We train the basics of aquaculture that can apply to many species. There are specific requirements by species. This is the basic understanding you must have to be an aquaculturist.

The short training is most suited to high school graduates who want to learn enough about aquaculture to make a decision whether they should pursue this area of work.

The facility:

We want to stress that this practical job-training is working with us at our facility and marine display.

The facility is not large, but it incorporates all the necessary components for a hatchery. These include a 12,000-litre recirculation seawater system, a second system of 3,000-litres, an area which includes larval culture tanks and fresh and seawater aquaria, a microalgal area, and seawater tanks (including the aquarium marine display) under a large translucent canopy. Although some time is spent to explain certain aspects of aquaculture that can not be learnt by 'doing', much of this job-training is involved in 'doing'.

Weekend Short Training (1.5 Days) Full day Saturday and half day Sunday:

Saturday:
This will involve a full day of job-training from 9.00 - 16.30, a 60 minute lunch break, 2 x 15 min. coffee/tea break).

Participants will work through daily jobs with the trainer (3 hours) and training would involve:

Use of the seawater system and methods to maintain quality of the seawater (~30% of total weekend training time).
Maintenance of live food cultures - microalgae, rotifers, brine shrimp (~40% of total weekend training time).

Sunday:
This will involve a half day of job-training from 9:00 - 12.30, or 13.30 - 16.30.

Feeding of fish, invertebrates, and general care of broodstock organisms (~10% of total weekend training time).
Larval rearing (~20% of total weekend training time).

Certificate: A certificate will be given to show the basic aspects of practical aquaculture the participant has been successful at learning. The certificate is currently not accredited with an educational organisation.

Cost (not registered for GST):
Secondary & Undergraduate Tertiary Students AUD $330, see below for payment details.

Postgradute Tertiary, Business, General Public AUD $440, see below for payment details.

Accommodation (not included): Backpacker to 4-star accommodation is available on Magnetic Island.

Food (not included) should be organised by the participants.

1 Week Training

Please contact us regarding the availability and dates of our 1 week program.

The job-training will generally start at 09.00 and end at 16.30, with a break of 60 minutes for lunch and 2 x 15 minute coffee/tea breaks.

This training would involve:

Use of the seawater system and methods to maintain quality of the seawater.
This involves, amongst other things, learning how to use: the refractometer, the pH meter, water quality test kits, addition of freshwater to the system, checking & maintenance of the float switch system, keeping display windows clean, siphoning of sediments, culling of macroalgae, addition of sodium bicarbonate &/or calcium hydroxide to the system to maintain correct alkalinity and pH.
Feeding of fish, invertebrates, and general care of broodstock organisms.
This involves feeding of dry, prepared feeds, but also preparation of frozen shrimp or fish for feeding. There is also the care of broodstock ornamental fish (both freshwater and saltwater), and of various marine invertebrates in the aquaria (clams, corals, etc.)
Maintenance of Live Food cultures - microalgae, rotifers, brine shrimp.
In the period of 1 week the microalgae stock cultures, microalgae working juice-bottle, carboy, and outdoor mass cultures will all be covered. A practical and inexpensive algal culture medium has been prepared by Aquasearch, rather than using the expensive chemicals of the standard F2 medium. Participants will practice the use of the hemocytometer, which is used to estimate the density of microalgal cultures. The maintenance of rotifer cultures will be taught and the proper technique to catch the rotifers for feeding to larval fish will be demonstrated. Likewise, the technique used to hatch brine shrimp cysts (Artemia salina) for feeding to larval & juvenile fish will be shown. The participant(s) will be shown how to use the binocular compound microscope.
Larval rearing.
The type of larvae will depend upon the time of year that the short job-training will be done, but generally there will be some fish larvae to care for. Aquasearch has a number of freshwater and saltwater species which it can work with under it's D.P.I. Aquaculture License. With regards to the saltwater species, we are putting special emphasis on the clown anemonefish, Amphiprion percula. Whatever stage the larvae are in during the short training will be what we concentrate upon.

PLEASE NOTE: Each day the standard work still needs to be performed, in order to keep the fish and invertebrates fed, the seawater system maintained, live foods and cleaning. This normally takes 1-2 hours each morning, half an hour at mid-day and 1 hour at the close of the day. Therefore, up to 3½ hours each day may be spent on this work. The remainder of the time will be spent on special subjects each day:

Day 1: Use of instruments: Microscope, refractometer, pH meter, and test kits (NO3, NO2, NH4).

Day 2: Live Foods, microalgae culture. Preparing and sterilizing stock cultures and working cultures. Some theory on the importance and use of microalgae in aquaculture. Use of the formula D1V1 = D2V2.

Day 3: Remainder of microalgae culture. Live foods - Rotifer culture, Artemia culture and freshwater infusoria.

Day 4: Care of broodstock fish and invertebrates. Water chemistry with aquaria. Seawater collection (if required). Set up aquarium.

Day 5: Larval culture. Caring for larvae, water quality, feeding, fish and bivalve molluscs, discussions on other organisms.

Day 6: Nursery culture. Water quality, food, culture vessels. Considerations in shipping and packing.

Day 7: Biofiltration and foam fractionation (protein skimmers). Wind up and open discussion.

Cost (not registered for GST):
Secondary & Undergraduate Tertiary Students AUD $675, see below for payment details.

Postgradute Tertiary, Business, General Public AUD $965, see below for payment details.

Accommodation (not included): Backpacker to 4-star accommodation is available on Magnetic Island.

Food (not included) should be organised by the participants.

TESTIMONIALS - AQUASEARCH SHORT AQUACULTURE TRAINING

"It is the perfect introduction to the basics of aquaculture. This course provides excellent content, great hands on experience, and fun field trips.

I would highly recommend that anyone who is interested in the aquaculture industry to enroll in this course. Plus the 24 year old cultured Giant Clams and the Anemone fish are definitely something to see. Well worth it."

Mohammed Al-Kandari

(Research Tech.) Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research.

"Dr Braley has had a long and distinguished career in tropical aquaculture and was a pioneer in many procedures and practices that are used within present day commercial operations. His short course training materials are of exceptional quality and coupled with the hands on nature of the training, it provides a solid foundation for people wishing to enter the aquaculture industry.

This form of training also caters for individuals that have both an interest in tropical marine aquatic systems and a general affinity with the plethora of fascinating organisms that inhabit the waters adjacent to the Queensland coastline."

Mark Oliver

Aquaculture Trainer and private consultant
Sunshine Coast Institute of TAFE, Australian Aquaculture Support Services Pty Ltd
P: 07 5456 1173 E: australianaquaculture@hotmail.com

"Aquasearch's aquarium and laboratory facility on Magnetic Island is so much more than an attractive and enjoyable viewing experience, because it also provides a unique insight into the science behind aquaculture.

Dr Braley has successfully packaged aquaculture training programs that have evolved into an important component of this region's tropical aquaculture training capability. The low-tech approach employed at Aquasearch lays bare the core principles of aquaculture, and provides an especially appropriate hands-on opportunity for capacity building for aquaculture development in remote communities both in Australia and in developing countries.

The collegiate one-on-one approach taken by Dr Braley also fosters excellent results for participants who may require additional help with English literacy and numeracy. The success of this professional and science based (yet low-tech) presentation and training facility is further uniquely enhanced by its welcoming, multi-cultural, friendly and family-based environment."

Libby Evans-Illidge
Manager, Bioresources Library and Leader, Sponge Aquaculture Research.
Australian Institute of Marine Science
P: 07 4753 4426 E: e.evansillidge@aims.gov.au

PAYMENT & INSURANCE

PLEASE NOTE: Prices listed are for Australian residents only (AUD) and Aquasearch is NOT registered for GST.
Non-Australian residents interested in the short-training should contact us first. Non-Australian resident course prices are available on request. Optional visits to other marine facilities in the area can be arranged.

PAYMENT:

After booking, half the cost of the training shall be paid upon arrival on Magnetic Island, and the remainder before completion of the training. Payments may be made by cheque if the cheque is drawn on an Australian Bank. Other payments can be made by Postal Money Order, by cash or bank cheque after Travellers Cheques have been cashed at the bank. Cheques or money orders should be made out to AQUASEARCH. If you prefer to send money electronically, then contact us to get details where the electronic transfer will go.

INSURANCE:

It is a requirement that each person participating in any of the training programs must have their own insurance to cover heath, accident and death. Insurance for these areas may be covered by Travel Insurance, but it is your responsibility to check this, or to obtain other insurance which will cover you. Aquasearch reserves the right to check on your insurance package when you arrive and before the training has started.

You will need to sign an insurance waiver stating that Aquasearch will not take any liability for this insurance. The low cost for this training is possible only because we are not taking on this responsibility for insurance to cover heath, accident and death.

VISA REQUIREMENTS FOR NON-AUSTALIAN RESIDENTS:

A Tourist Visa is suitable for this short training. A Student Visa is only needed when a course of study or training is longer than 12 weeks.