aquaculture oyster technician

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. Perform farm property maintenance, like painting and mild repairs (eg, boards on the dock). Deep cleaning of equipment and machinery