Three Interns Placed through Aquaculture Internships for Massachusetts Program

Aquaculture Internships for Massachusetts (AIM), a collaborative partnership with MIT Sea Grant, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Sea Grant, and Barnstable County Cooperative Extension, provided two weeks of training and three weeks of hands-on experience at multiple aquaculture operations in Massachusetts this spring. Now, trainees have been placed as interns to work for the remainder of 2024.

The AIM pilot program introduced the aquaculture industry to eight Massachusetts residents who were intrigued, but did not otherwise have a chance to explore whether aquaculture was a good fit for them. One of the primary barriers for the industry with recruiting new staff, is that many who might have the aptitude and interests to thrive working on farms or with town shellfish managers, can’t afford the myriad of costs associated with trying it out – namely the high cost of housing and transportation. To enable recruitment from communities particularly impacted by this barrier, the AIM program provided housing, transportation and a weekly stipend to all participants.

After these five weeks of introduction, AIM successfully placed three trainees with operations to intern from June through the end of 2024:

Alicia P. of New Bedford has been working at Blue Stream Shellfish in Fairhaven as a farm hand.
Aydan C. of Rowley has been working with Shellfish Biologist Liz Lewis in the Town of Barnstable’s Marine and Environmental Affairs group, helping with municipal shellfish propagation and management.
Adrian W. of Yarmouth Port has become a full partner with Todd Gelinas, the owner of Stony Island oyster farm.