Engaging with Education Providers

As a major employer in rural Tasmania, we actively engage with education providers from primary schools through to University level to educated and, hopefully, attract the next generation of salmon farmers.

Our engagement includes hosting internships and student work placements, facilitating site tours, working with the Beacon Foundation and UTAS Children’s University, collaborating with providers to shape curriculum, and providing guidance to VET and tertiary Aquaculture students about what hard and soft skills prospective employers find desirable.

We encourage anyone interested in pursuing a student work placement or internship to apply via the Working at Huon section of our website. Due to the high level of demand for industry work placements, we limit the number of students to ensure a more valuable learning experience and the scheduling of work placements is dependent on operational requirements and the availability of supervising employees.

Working on Water

Tasmania has a wide range of employment opportunities in and around the water, including roles in aquaculture, tourism, the seafood industry, and science. This is why in 2017 the Working on Water program was launched in Launceston as a way to introduce high school students in years 9 and 10 to career opportunities in these fields.

–Students at Forest Home with Hatchery Manager, Nathan Rowe. Image thanks to Grace Isdale/TSIC –

–“Today, the program runs in the state’s north and south during October and sees students tour research and aquaculture facilities, learn about seafood marketing, as well as hear from industry-leaders.” –Last year, 55 Tasmanian secondary school students were accepted into the program from schools across the state. Over the course of the three days, the students were exposed to real-world experiences which has helped to shape their future study and career goals. Students interested in the 2020 program can stay informed about enrolment dates and program requirements via the Tasmanian Seafood Industry Council website or their social media.

Students undertaking the program are managed and supervised by Independent Schools Tasmania and the Beacon Foundation, while the cost of the program is completely covered by the Tasmanian Seafood Industry.

Student Work Placements at Huon

At Huon, we offer a wide range of student work placements and internships with the ultimate goal of providing meaningful employment outcomes.

On any given day, we have people placed across all aspects of the business, giving them the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in aquaculture. These students are typically placed from higher education intuitions such as University of Tasmania or Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies.

Ari Gilham, an IMAS student who is passionate about sustainability recently completed a placement at Hideaway Bay. –“The Environment Department at Hideaway Bay has been my favourite part to be involved in,” said Ari. –“The scale of the work that goes into environmental management astounded me. I did not realise the scale, consistency requirements, communicative transparency from the industry and the long term care taken in order to minimise the environmental impacts.”

“Most interesting for me was the complexity of feed trial processes. From hatchery to harvest, the specifics are integral to the success or failure of a trial, and the amount of steps and processes along the way to track progress I found unusual.”

–Ari performing a flesh check –

–“Placement students have the opportunity to work across a variety of areas of the business including freshwater, marine and feed trials.” –“The value this placement has had for me regarding my studies is astounding, especially the environmental aspects of it. The diagnostics of stock loss, microbial identification, ROV videos for benthic health assessments, stock numbers and size ratios during harvesting of varying feeds, and the mysteries surrounding jellyfish identification have all been hugely valuable in the application of skills from my studies.”

“Being able to see how the industry works at all stages is vital for me in understanding how current science is being applied in the industry,” finished Ari.

Beacon Foundation Farm Visit

A common misconception is that salmon farming is a brawns industry, when in fact it is a brawns and brains industry—this is something that Huonville High students learnt on a recent farm visit facilitated by the Beacon Foundation’s Growth Industry Preparation Programme (GrIPP).

–Students on a Harvest Pod –

–“GrIPP aims to help raise student and parent awareness of the skills shortages and career opportunities within Tasmania in five industries–Building and Construction, Tourism and Hospitality, Advanced Manufacturing, Aged and Community Services, along with Food and Food Production.” –On their visit the students participated in an employability skills workshop, site tour and talks with a panel of industry experts including Huon’s mechatronics engineer Tim Jackson, our Assistant Manager of Farm Operations, Leigh Savage, Alasdair Bradley from feed company BioMar, Michael Rowe from Mitchell’s Plastic Welding and Robin Barnes, University College Applied Science Lecturer.

–Matt Yost, Hands on Learning facilitator, and Huonville students –

Hands on Learning

In an effort to reduce our environmental impact, we are recycling and donating as much old and disused farm equipment as possible. We are thrilled to report that some disused air pipe found a new home at Huonville Primary in their Hands on Learning garden where it has been put to good use in a watering system.

–“Huon gave the school a grant in 2018 which was used to establish the garden as a channel through which to reach disengaged students.” –The program has been so successful that it is now running four days a week and is used by the Save the Children Foundation as an example of how struggling students can turn things around and be reached through out-of-class learning. In addition to supporting Hands on Learning, several Huon employees are volunteering their time to mentor female students at the school.