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Sparsholt College’s already renowned Aquaculture and Fishery Management resources have just been awarded a £245,000 boost from the European Fisheries Fund (EFF) and the Marine Management Organisation (MMO).
To date Sparsholt is the only UK-based college allocated a grant which is part of a five-year, £38million project aimed to ensure the UK’s fishing industry becomes more sustainable and remains profitable. The award, to re-build the College Fish Hatchery will ensure those looking to train and ultimately pursue a career in the aquaculture sector can do so in industry standard facilities
Caroline James, learning manager for Fishery Studies at Sparsholt College, said: “Such a significant grant recognises the importance of ensuring that the next generation looking to pursue a career in this sector do so with the appropriate qualifications acquired in facilities which mirror that of industry. Equally important is the on-going professional development of those already working in aquaculture to enable the UK’s fishery industry to successfully and profitably meet the growing demands of a domestic and international market. Having a labour market appropriately trained, qualified and experienced will help ensure the next generation achieve the European Fisheries Fund objective.”
Primarily the hatchery will be used as an educational facility, however, the design and the usage will enable the college to exploit many other opportunities to both enhance student experience and generate income. The hatchery has significant potential as a research facility and for educational development to expand the current range of R&D trials as well as supporting some Environment Agency work and local fishery re-stocking programme. The research opportunities have enormous educational potential for MSc and PhD work which the college is currently unable to offer. The plan also incorporates a small-scale commercial aquaculture unit to produce table fish to expose students to this aspect of the aquaculture industry.
A commercial income is increasingly important to Sparsholt College and the new hatchery will provide a number of opportunities such as feed trials, research projects and professional training to the corporate market. These activities also enable students to improve their entrepreneurial and business skills prior to them entering the aquaculture industry.
The new college hatchery will replace the current 35-year-old outdoors facility. Designed to maximise the use of gravity to allow water to be utilised three times plus improved energy efficiency, the new hatchery would have better systems reliability and consequently a higher level of fish welfare.
At Sparsholt there is already the unique National Aquatics Training Centre for work with ornamental fish and warm water aquaculture species such as carp, catfish, tilapia and barramundi.
The new facility is scheduled to be opened by September 2012. and those looking to find out more about the range of Aquaculture and Fishery Management courses available at Sparsholt College should visit www.sparsholt.ac.uk or call 01962 776441.
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