Case Study 2

Mark, Costa Spring Hatchery.

When talking to my careers teacher at school I soon found that fish farming was not the run of the mill career choice for anyone living near Newcastle. The Youth Opportunity Scheme 'YTS' was run by the Government, and I was given a placement at Moorland Trout Farms, Pickering, North Yorkshire for one year.

At the end of the year I applied to Sparsholt Collage in Hampshire to go on their OVO course but was not accepted. I was offered a job at Moorland Trout Farms, where I rose to manager of the hatchery unit, producing 4,000,000 eyed ova per year and 100 tons of little fish.

I am now manager of Costa Spring Hatchery Ltd producing 60,000 brown trout and 25 tons of Rainbow trout from 1-20 lb for the angling - restocking market. I also produce 2.5 million fry and fingerlings for other trout farms.

Fish Farming is a relatively new industry, and new approaches in fish husbandry, nutrition and production are being learned all the time. New species of fish are being looked at by the industry, including cod, because of the low amount of Trawler caught fish. Arctic Char is an alternative for trout for freshwater land-based sites.

For anyone who likes the outdoor life fish farming can offer a rewarding career. Whether you come into the industry through a degree course and university, or as I did, at a more practical level.

I still get up in a morning looking forward to going to work. How many people can say that after 17 years in one job?

British Trout Association, The Rural Centre, West Mains, Ingliston EH28 8NZ
Tel: 0131 472 4080    Fax: 0131 472 4083     E-mail: mail@britishtrout.co.uk