From Faculty of Agriculture news

At the beginning of an eight-day shift, she makes the half-day journey to reach her work site (and that’s when the weather is good). The days are long and the tasks can be exhausting. But it has its perks.

“Some days you start to get a little tired and run out.” “But then you glance up, there’s a whale breaching beside, you catch a glimpse of the gorgeous mountains in the distance. Then you get this renewed energy and realize it’s all worthwhile.”

Sarah Harding (BSc (Agriculture)’13) works atop the structure of a sea cage site – her “office”, as an aquaculture technician with Marine Harvest Canada. She is floating in the ocean, somewhere between Vancouver Islands and the mainland coast of BC. Sarah’s view can’t even be described with words. It’s breathtaking.

“I’m in the middle of nowhere,” says Sarah, with a laugh. “The next closest site is approximately a 20-minute boat ride away.”

Sustainable production

Sarah is responsible for feeding and caring of Atlantic salmon for Marine Harvest, which produces one-fifth of the world’s farmed-raised salmon in Norway, Scotland, Canada, Chile, Ireland and the Faroes. Marine Harvest Canada produces 40,000 tons of sustainable Atlantic farm-raised salmon each year of the coast of British Columbia. The fish arrive on site as smolts and are raised in the sea cages until they have reached market size. The quantity varies per site, but these days Sarah is raising 12 pens of salmon for human consumption. There are approximately 50,000 salmon per pen.

“There’s no such thing as a typical day out here,” Sarah says. Normally there are two to three staff members per site. Although it can vary demanding on the work-load. “It’s harvest time right now, so there are a few others working with us.”

As a team they spend most of their days feeding the fish and monitoring their environments. It takes 60-90 minutes to feed each cage. “Multiply that by the 12 cages and feeding takes most of the day. Just our daily routines keep us busy until 6 p.m.”

Sarah’s entire work space and living accommodations are floating on the ocean and are connected via walkways. Just because they’re located in the “middle of nowhere” certainly doesn’t mean they’re roughing it. The crew has full amenities on-site, complete with internet and satellite television. Sarah says she even eats better at work than on her days off.

“I pre-order my groceries online a few days before my shift starts. Then I stop at the grocery store the morning I’m heading to work and pick it up. My bags are pre-packed and everything I ordered is inside.” Sarah worked through the Thanksgiving long-weekend but made sure she and her co-workers didn’t feel homesick. “I made the boys a turkey dinner, complete with all of the trimmings.”

An unexpected interest

In more ways than one, working for a company who produces one-fifth of the world’s farm raised salmon in facilities across the globe, is not exactly where Sarah originally pictured herself.

She entered Dalhousie’s Faculty of Agriculture (as the former NSAC) with the goal of becoming a large animal vet. In her second year, Sarah found herself taking an introductory aquaculture course, as an elective. To her surprise, she enjoyed it. She signed-up for a second aquaculture course the following semester. Before she knew it, Sarah found herself spending a lot of time in the Aquaculture department on campus and changed her minor, to aquaculture.

After seeing a recruitment presentation by Marine Harvest Canada a few months before graduation, Sarah got really excited and knew just what she wanted to do.

“It’s definitely a huge shift from what I thought I wanted to do when I first started at NSAC,” says Sarah, who is originally from N.B. “I was so happy I got the job.”

Days after receiving their degrees, Sarah along with roommate, Amanda Luxton (also class of ’13), packed their belongings and drove from coast to coast, together.

“I love the work. The company is amazing and their benefits are really great.”

Sarah’s heard horror stories about winter out on the sea cage sites.

“So far I’ve been lucky!”

But no matter how bad it gets out there, Sarah will just take a glance around to realize a few rough waves are definitely worth it.

Note:

Amanda also works for Marine Harvest Canada in one of the company’s fresh water hatchery’s. Amanda is responsible for the eggs to smolt stage salmon. She cares for the salmon from the time they hatch until they are smolts and are transported to sites like Sarah’s.

Sarah and Amanda share an apartment on Vancouver Island. In their spare time, they enjoy fishing and hiking.