Aquaculture Farm Manager
Overview
Farm technicians/managers work in fish farming, shellfish culture, algal cultivation, and even coral restoration. They monitor organism health, provide care across organismal life cycles, harvest organisms as needed, and sell products when required. They often work collaboratively with stakeholders to complete tasks and ensure the health of the animals. They facilitate organism reproduction and growth. In addition, their work also includes transporting and selling products once the organisms have reached maturity.
Day-to-day work
Depending on the aquaculture species, a farm manager's schedule varies greatly; depending on the organism's life cycle, feeding requirements, reproduction, and harvest times. For example, oyster farmers often adjust their schedules to the high and low tides. Just like terrestrial farmers, this usually involves waking up early, adjusting and monitoring conditions as needed, feeding the organisms, etc.
Meet Xin Liu
President of Oregon Oyster Farms
Xin Liu became the owner of Oregon Oyster Farms in 1997, one of the oldest oyster farms in Oregon. He studied Environmental Chemistry as an undergrad and completed a Master’s in Marine Ecology at Jilin University in Changchun, Jilin, China. He moved to Newport and studied oysters at Hatfield Marine Science Center before buying the oyster farm. His main advice to students is to show their passion and motivation for working in aquaculture, or whatever their dream career is.
Read the interview with Liu!
Xin Liu is the owner and president of Oregon Oyster Farm, one of the oldest oyster farms in Oregon. He has been the owner since 1997, and his main responsibilities are managing the aquaculture farm and making a product that keeps customers happy. Something he likes to describe as “happy customers, happy business". Five years after moving to Newport in 1992 to do research at Hatfield Marine Science Center, he bought Oregon Oyster farms with a couple of friends and spent the next couple of years turning the business around to make it profitable and sustainable.
Water farming, as Liu describes it, is very similar to land farming; you get up early, and you go to work. However, oyster farmers tend to depend heavily on the tides to access their stocks and so have a constantly changing schedule. Luckily, Oregon Oyster Farms is located in the mouth of the Yaquina River, so the workers are less dependent on the tides. The other main part of the job is selling products to customers and keeping them happy.
Lui went to college at Jilin University, obtaining a Bachelor's degree in Environmental Chemistry and a Master's degree in Marine Ecology. This university has a great relationship with OSU, so Xin came to Hatfield Marine Science Center to study aquaculture. Throughout his education and moving to Newport, he fell in love with “Mother Nature” and describes these as the most influential experiences that have led him to a career in aquaculture.
Liu describes that you can never go wrong by doing what you love. He says that for him, he always knew he was a nature guy, not a computer science guy. So, after studying oysters at school, he knew when he bought the oyster farm, it was something he was passionate about, something he loved, so it was easy to keep up his motivation to care about the farm.
For Liu, aquaculture is a type of art, much like music. Many people are familiar with the notes, but not everyone can combine them to create music. Aquaculture is similar. You need the fundamental theory, but every location is different depending on the temperature, salinity, current, etc. Leveraging the location to get the best results is something that takes experience and years of learning. Learning the fundamental skills and developing the field skills have allowed him to get where he is today.
Liu recommends any experience that would put students in contact with not just the fundamentals but with ecology as well. Being able to understand the species and the effect those species have on the environment is invaluable. The species being farmed affect the environment around them, and Liu emphasizes that understanding the effects on the ecosystem and ensuring that it stays sustainable and minimizes environmental issues.
As he had mentioned throughout the interview, fundamental skills and previous experience are a plus, but the main thing Liu looks for when considering employees is whether they have the motivation. He shared the story of an employee who had expressed interest in boating but had no experience with farming or oysters. But he had the passion needed, so, gradually, they gave him more and more responsibility, and now he is a very experienced boat handler and very knowledgeable about where to move oysters to get a better quality.
Liu finds the changes he has seen in Yaquina Bay to be his favorite part of what he does. He’s only ever lived in one part of the states, and over the course of the last 27 years, his drives to work have allowed him to see changes in Yaquina Bay which most people haven't noticed. The improvements that sustainable farming has made to the bay have not gone unnoticed to him.
Liu was quite content with his life so far, although he did mention that he wished he could have started with the farm earlier, so he had more energy to invest in it.
Liu pointed out that because aquaculture is new, there are a lot of new government programs and regulations, and the field is limited in what species are farmed commercially. He recommends that if you find a species you know you are passionate about or want to learn more about, explore as much as you can about this species. Perhaps this expands the field of aquaculture, but the ultimate goal is finding something that sparks your interest, and the job you end up with is something that you enjoy. Lastly, he emphasized how important hard work is and does not go unnoticed.
Besides oysters, Xin loves a lot of Newport's native fauna, including Rockfish and Dungeness crabs.
"Aquaculture is like a type of art. You cannot just learn from the textbook. You need a fundamental theory but, then, in the practical field, you have to learn by experience, based on what you learn from the textbook."
- Xin Liu