BRUNSWICK, Maine -- Kat Lipp and Lily Kanady held onto their hats in a stiff breeze Monday morning as the skiff they stood on scudded and thumped across the waves. Both were all smiles as they rounded Mere Point and entered Maquoit Bay, with their clean T-shirts flapping in the wind. They were eager to get to work hauling shellfish for the Mere Point Oyster Co.
Later, back on land after five hours of hard work sorting and re-bagging thumbnail-sized baby oysters, the pair were wet and covered with marine slime.
But Lipp and Kanady were still smiling.
That's because both were right where they wanted to be, in the middle of Maine's growing sea-farming industry. Lipp and Kanady are apprentices in a new aquaculture program designed to give motivated individuals the education and on-the-job training needed to work in the field -- which requires workers with practical skills, rather than marine biology degrees.
"Before this, I wanted to get into the aquaculture but I didn't know how," said Lipp, now in her second and final apprenticeship year at Mere Point Oyster. "You really just need to be willing to help, willing to learn and be able to work together as a team."
The aquaculture apprentice program is a joint venture launched in 2023 by the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, the Maine Aquaculture Association, and Educate Maine. It was developed after a study found about 884 people working in the field as of 2022, with potential growth for up to 1,450 jobs by 2030, but only if aquaculture businesses can find the kinds of workers they need.
The workers sea farming operations want most are ones with boat handling experience, as well as basic plumbing, electrical, construction and small engine repair skills. However those types of potential employees, with practical vocational training, are in the shortest supply.
"A lot of four-year marine science college degree programs are heavy on science but low on applicable skills in the field," said Carissa Maurin, aquaculture program manager at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute.
In the apprenticeship program's first year, 2023, it fielded 28 applications for just six slots. This year, Maurin said the program had 62 applicants for 10 additional, two-year positions.
The program is free for apprentices.
Wages are paid by the farms, and the rest is currently covered by a three-year, $500,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture as well as a sizable donation from a local organization wishing to remain anonymous, Maurin said. Current funding runs out at the end of 2024, and Maurin said stakeholders are already applying for an additional four-year federal grant to keep the program going.
Those chosen for the program start out with a weeklong, 40-hour aquaculture boot camp at Southern Maine Community College covering boat handling, first aid, knot tying and basic outboard engine maintenance.
On Monday, apprentice Rob Pease stood hosing off his wetsuit after getting in the water and turning over floating bags of oysters. Pease went through the bootcamp and started working at Mere Point Oyster in April. Previously he worked on cattle and sheep farms.
"The bootcamp was awesome," he said "I've never had that level of training before going into a job before."
After bootcamp, apprentices are provided with foul-weather gear before getting to work at Maine aquaculture operations where they're paid wages ranging from about $16 to $23 per hour with at least one guaranteed future pay bump built in.
"The farms get to pick their apprentices via job interviews," Maurin said. "Applicants also write essays."
Over the course of the season, apprentices get 144 more hours of classroom training in topics like shellfish husbandry, as well as a guaranteed 2,000 hours of on-the-job training in all aspects of aquaculture. They also get a $3,000 bonus split into two payments handed out at the start and end of their apprenticeship hours. When finished, apprentices earn a Maine aquaculture certification from Southern Maine Community College, which can be put toward an associate's degree.
On-the-job training topics are split into six official categories, making sure apprentices get a rounded education and are not stuck doing the same repetitive tasks all season. At Mere Point Oyster, apprentices learn how to keep baby oysters healthy and growing fat and round before harvesting them at about 18-months old. They also learn about shipping and marketing, too.
Doug Niven, a co-owner of Mere Point Oyster, said the program has been a boon to his farm. While Niven usually has no trouble finding workers, the five apprentices currently working for him are far more motivated and eager to learn than most.
"I'm hoping we can keep them and hire them. We depend on them now," he said. "Before the apprenticeship program we had to train everyone from scratch."
Mere Point Oyster Farm Director Chris Hedberg agrees.
"It's amazing to find someone willing to show up and learn, somebody hungry, with good ideas," Hedberg said.
Niven said he's even had apprentices assisting with Brunswick regulatory meetings as he attempts to get a new dock approved by town officials.
On Monday, second-year apprentice Colin Quinn stood at a short conveyor belt, pulling small, dead or just plain ugly oysters off the line. Quinn's already been offered a job at the company when his apprentice time ends. He plans to take it.
"This is, finally, a career for me," Quinn said. "I love working at this farm, and aquaculture will be part of my life, forever, I think."