Aquaculture training workshops will focus on women, nonbinary students
Courtesy / Tim Briggs, New Hampshire Sea Grant
Last year’s Aquaculture in Shared Waters students get a tour of a kelp farm, led by one of the course directors, Jaclyn Robidoux. The 2024 cohort will be targeted for women.
As increasing numbers of women enter the aquaculture sector, a new series of free training workshops may help them build skills to get out on the water.
The series is also intended to help empower and build community among women and nonbinary aquaculturists.
The 2024 Women in Aquaculture series will be hosted by the Aquaculture in Shared Waters training program, which has helped commercial fishermen and farmers start and improve their aquaculture businesses in Maine for over a decade.
The six-part series will run from February to May, focusing on seamanship and maritime skills, gear and labor practices for different bodies, self-advocacy and safety, community relations and marketing, business financing, and more.
“Empowering women aquaculture farmers to diversify their income and innovate on Maine’s working waterfront not only ensures their success as farmers but also promotes economic growth for the industry as a whole,” said Anne Langston Noll, associate director of the Maine Aquaculture Innovation Center.
Applications are open now, and close Jan. 26. For more information, click here.
The series focuses on targeted skills for women on the water, drawing from emerging social science research on the training needs for women in aquaculture, according to a news release. By empowering underrepresented aquaculturists to build skills and meaningful connections, the series aims to foster greater diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility in Maine’s aquaculture sector.
“Women have always been an integral part of Maine's working waterfront, and we’re seeing more and more women enter the aquaculture sector,” said Annie Fagan, a marine extension associate with Maine Sea Grant and one of the directors of the series.
Fagan said that access to training opportunities can be a barrier for women looking to enter the industry or grow existing businesses.
“We hope to meet some of their unique training needs while building community for long term support," she said.
The series consists of four two-hour virtual sessions and two day-long in-person sessions.
Diverse topics, participants
One day-long workshop will focus on techniques and tools that promote strength and mobility on and off the water, along with how to handle difficult interactions on and around the water or at work. Participants can choose between Brunswick and Ellsworth for the workshop location.
The other day-long workshop will cover maritime skills such as trailering and knot-tying. Participants can choose between Jonesport and Damariscotta.
The workshops will be run by women instructors and subject experts. Applications are encouraged from self-identifying women and nonbinary entrepreneurs who operate or work for an aquaculture business, those with working waterfront backgrounds who are interested in getting more involved in aquaculture, and participants of previous Aquaculture in Shared Waters courses.
The series is funded by NOAA Sea Grant through the Maine Aquaculture Hub, a network is guided by a steering committee consisting of Maine Sea Grant, the Maine Aquaculture Association, Coastal Enterprises Inc., the University of Maine School of Marine Sciences, the Maine Department of Marine Resources, the Maine Aquaculture Innovation Center and the University of Maine Aquaculture Research Institute.
Aquaculture in Shared Waters — a collaboration between the Maine Aquaculture Association, Maine Aquaculture Innovation Center, Maine Sea Grant, the University of Maine School of Marine Sciences and Coastal Enterprises, Inc. — is a training program focused on the cultivation of commercially valuable species including oysters, mussels, scallops and kelp.
Since the program began in 2013, over 500 students have completed the course, 30 new aquaculture businesses have been established, and 60 have been expanded or retained through economic diversification.
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