The program looks for every technician, operator, and manager to work under the same operating procedures.
Lantra
The organization responsible for training and skills development for land, the environment, and aquaculture sectors in the United Kingdom, Lantra, has become involved in a UK-wide training initiative focused on harmful algal blooms (HABs).
Lantra will encourage workers to detect and report HABs in open coastal waters by following the standard operating procedures outlined in the Scottish Government's Farmed Fish Health Framework. The aim is to create more consistent and effective reports that create predictive models and early-warning systems.
Finally, the course, created in partnership with the Sustainable Aquaculture Innovation Centre (SAIC) and the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS), will initially be free to access, and it is expected that around 1,800 professionals and students from the sector will take advantage of it starting this spring.
"The user-friendly, introductory-level course is designed to be accessible and understandable, enabling the sector to work together on tackling the challenges associated with HABs. Timing is key, and we'll be rolling out the training ahead of the summer season, which is when HABs can be most prevalent," Jillian Couto-Phoenix, Head of Aquaculture at Lantra, explained.
To mitigate the challenges associated with HABs, producers will have access to the necessary procedures for sampling and identifying a list of target species, recording the level of risk, and support with calculations and a handbook.
This initiative is funded by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) of the United Kingdom, through the UK Seafood Fund: Skills and Training Scheme.
Salmon Scotland, Mowi, Scottish Sea Farms, Loch Duart, Bakkafrost, SAMS Enterprise, and the RSPCA have trialed the program and helped shape its content.
"The connection between HABs and climate change means that, unfortunately, they are only likely to become more of a concern in years to come so it is important to have every technician, operator, and manager working under the same operating procedures. In the future, we can foresee creating additional modules, covering, for example, blooms of micro jellyfish, which can lead to similar concerns for fish health and welfare," advanced Couto-Phoenix.
