VACANCY for Senior Hatchery Technician

The National Lobster Hatchery, in Padstow, Cornwall are looking to recruit a Senior Hatchery Technician.

This is a full time post on a two year, fixed term contract with a starting salary of £19,684.

Closing date for applications:     15^thDecember 2012

The Organisation:            The National Lobster Hatchery can be found on the docks of picturesque Cornish fishing village of Padstow.  The charity aims to promote sustainability issues in coastal fisheries through programs of Stock enhancement, research and education; supported by the visitor centre, corporate sponsorship, grants and donations.

Aim:      To run the Hatchery on a day to day basis and further develop the hatchery based production of juvenile lobsters for the charity’s stocking program in conjunction with the R&D Officer and the General Manager.

Key responsibilities:

·                     To supervise and oversee the day to day operation of the hatchery (including supervision of staff and volunteers)

·                     To ensure that all life support systems (LSS) and hatchery equipment are maintained in a clean and functional state

·                     To maintain and develop the hatcheries marine recirculating aquaculture systems

·                     To follow SOP’s and procedures as laid out in the operations manual

·                     Care of brood-stock, larvae and juveniles on a daily basis

·                     To organise and co-ordinate the seeding program in conjunction with the various stakeholders (including some work on inshore commercial fishing vessels)

·                     Ensure that hatchery consumables are kept in stock

·                     To collect and record data on the daily operations within the hatchery

·                     Maintain an up-to-date knowledge of technology and developments, relevant to the NLH’s objectives

·                     To be on a rota to ensure adequate cover is provided 24/7 and to hold a pager for evening cover.

Required Personal skills and qualifications:

Essential Requirements:	Desirable Requirements:
·         Proven husbandry skills and experience with a variety of aquatic species ·         3 years + experience in the operation, maintenance and construction of recirculation systems ·         Experience in supervising staff and volunteers ·         Excellent communication and organisation skills ·         Accuracy and attention to detail ·         Full clean driving license	·         A good honours degree and preferably a post graduate qualification in aquaculture or a related discipline ·       An understanding of fisheries sustainability issues ·       Experience in algal culture and live feed production ·       Experience in microbiological assays ·       DIY /practical skills

For further information and to apply:     Please send a C.V and formal covering letter outlining why you feel you are suitable for the role to:

FAO: The General Manager

National Lobster Hatchery

South Quay

Padstow

Cornwall

PL28 8BL

                                                                                                                                                                      

SELFRIDGES DONATE A LIMITED EDITION KATHARINE HAMNETT LINE TO NATIONAL LOBSTER HATCHERY IN CORNWALL

The National Lobster Hatchery have been approached by Selfridges, London who very kindly offered to donate some stock from their “Project Ocean” campaign, launched earlier this year. Project Ocean is an inspiring initiative that challenges the public to imagine a world with ‘no more fish in the sea’. Project Ocean is spearheaded by Selfridges Creative Director Alannah Weston.

Driven by the unthinkable prospect of the world’s major fisheries collapsing by 2050, the London store has given itself over to leading international marine protection campaigners and 22 environmental NGOs, as well high profile activists from the worlds of art, fashion, culinary arts, and entertainment.

English fashion designer Katharine Hamnett, best known for her political t-shirts and ethical business policy stepped up to design a range of products to launch their campaign.

The beach towels, bags, tea-towels and range of t-shirts will be on sale through the National Lobster Hatchery on-line shop and Little Shop of Lobsters in the visitor centre at Padstow.

Sarah Boothroyd, who manages the website and on-line shop said ‘This couldn’t have come at a better time for us. This year we allocated new budgets to develop our on-line sales as it has proved to be a useful new income stream for us. We are expanding into Amazon and Ebay platforms and on the brink of launching a brand new website that will reflect our successes in marine conservation, research and education. We are trying to influence consumer choice and drive the changes needed for a sustainable future for our fisheries and safeguard an essential food source for an ever increasing demand’.

‘This fabulous donation by Selfridges (designed by Katharine Hamnett) is causing our little stock room to quite literally burst at the seams! The t-shirts are a lovely quality and will boost our sales significantly.’

The well-known oversized t-shirts with large black slogans such as NO MORE FISH IN THE SEA?, SAVE THE SEA, SAVE THE WORLD, LOVE, STOP AND THINK are on sale at www.nationallobsterhatchery.co.uk

 

VACANCY - Research & Development Officer

Pay/conditions:           £22,000 starting salary, based at the National Lobster Hatchery, Padstow, some work away from site will be required as will some antisocial hours and weekend cover. This is a fixed term contract for 23 months, with a view to becoming permanent.  Annual leave for this position is 22 days per year excluding public holidays.

Qualifications:             The successful applicant will have a PhD in lobster culture or a closely related discipline and a good honours degree in marine biology and or fisheries/aquaculture science.

Skills and experience:  

The successful applicant will have the following skills and experience:

·         Proven project management skills and a track record of completing research projects through to publication. 

·         Excellent communication skills both written and oral including a track record of presenting at National and International scientific conferences, as well as through other forms of media (TV, radio, newspapers etc.).

·         The ability to network in order to create and maintain functional partnerships.

·         Experience of involving key stakeholders (fishermen and fish-farmers) in R&D projects.

·         Extensive experience of lobster larval and post larval culture and its development. 

·         An exhaustive knowledge of the scientific literature on the European Lobster pertaining to its: culture, fisheries management and stocking.

·         A track record of supervising postgraduate students in delivering component parts of research projects.

·         Feed development, morphometric assessment and microbiological assays pertaining to lobster culture.

Summary of role:            

The overarching aim of the position is to build the charity’s capacity for research.  The role will have 3 key functions:

·         To advance the charity’s stock enhancement program by improving culture techniques (and therefore post release survival) and to support on-going work to assess the effectiveness of the charity’s stocking program.  Specifically the charity would like to establish a pilot scale cage culture site during this project and make significant advances in stabilising larval culture.

·         To raise restricted funds to support further development of the charity’s research and development operations and to ensure that the position remains an economically viable one.

·         To publish and present the findings of the charity’s research and disseminate these findings as broadly as possible in order to continue developing the charity’s academic reputation.

·         The National Lobster Hatchery operates under an equal opportunities policy

 

Closing date for applications: Monday 22nd October @5.00pm

Interview date: TBC

Start date: November/December 2012

For further information contact:       Dominic Boothroyd, General Manager

The National Lobster Hatchery

South Quay

Padstow

PL288BL

01841 533877

Email: info@nationallobsterhatchery.co.uk

Web: www.nationallobsterhatchery.co.uk

 

This position is funded by the Coastal Communities Fund

Driveline provides lobster van to hatchery

Driveline GB Ltd., based in St Austell have very generously provided Padstow based charity The National Lobster Hatchery with a Citroen van, so that it can continue delivering its marine conservation, research and educational activities to Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. Richard Jacobs and Mark Kirby established Driveline in 1994 and the company is now one of the main vehicle rental and logistics companies operating in Cornwall. They are regular supporters of Cornish charities and have recently opened a new depot in Plymouth.

Richard Jacobs said “Both I and my Co Director Mark are extremely proud to be able to contribute in some way to the sterling work undertaken by our partners at the National Lobster Hatchery. In the very fragile world in which we live, we have always striven to build and develop our business with both sustainability and a high ethical code in mind. Given these criteria, we feel that this new partnership further ratifies this business ethos. We look forward to supporting this prestigious project in any further way that we can and we are extremely proud to affiliate our well established Cornish brand, as we have with many other charitable organisations over the years, with such a worthwhile cause”.

General Manager of the National Lobster Hatchery, Dom Boothroyd had this to say: “Last year the charity tripled its production and released over 32,000 juvenile lobsters around our coastline. We have spent the winter and spring months installing extra capacity into the hatchery and are now in the position where we can significantly increase our lobster production. We hope to release 40,000 juveniles next season and aim to increase this to over 100,000 juveniles a year in just a few years. This anticipated increase in production has meant that we had to look at the potential of getting a vehicle to transport our releasing gear (and baby lobsters) around the county. We looked at buying a vehicle and shortly realised that we couldn’t actually afford one. Around this time Richard and Mark from Driveline came to visit and offered us a van for free. We are delighted and so grateful for the support that Driveline provides, it makes a huge difference to a small charity with big ideas! It will make an important contribution to our work over the coming years”.

Moulted Crawfish showing beautiful new shell

Below are some pictures of our amazing Crawfish after moulting its shell, revealing a bright new beautiful carapace.

Crawfish, as well as many other shellfish, moult their shell (exo-skeleton) in order to keep up with their rate of growth. It's a bit like a child, that needs to buy new clothes as they grow - the crawfish crawl out of their old shell to reveal a brand new bigger shell which fits them.

After moulting, shellfish are very soft and therefore vulnerable, the process also uses up a lot of energy and vital resources, and one tasty and nutritious way of them to replenish themselves is by eating the moulted shell afterwards!  The old shell is full of calcium carbonate which helps the crawfish to harden his new shell.

You can probably see our crawfish closely guarding its shell, which has since faded greatly in comparison with its shiny new orange exo-skeleton.

LAST CHANCE TO BUY A RAFFLE TICKET

The draw will take place on 24th Sept 2012 to win a

luxury two night break in Rock

to include breakfast. Your stay will include 1 round of golf at St Enodoc Golf Course, spa treatment at The Cow Shed Spa at St Moritz Hotel, lunch at No. 1 Rock Road Restaurant. Then to finish it off a 3 course meal at No. 1 Rock Road with a bottle of Vintage Laurent-Perrier Champagne. Only £1 a ticket for the chance of winning this fantastic prize. You can either buy on-line through our Little Shop of Lobsters or over the phone.

Thank you to James & Rhowan from No. 1 Rock Road who very kindly donated this prize.

FIRST GREAT WESTERN TO SUPPORT MARINE CONSERVATION, EDUCATION AND RESEARCH CHARITY

First Great Western is supporting the work of Padstow based charity, ‘The National Lobster Hatchery’.

The rail company has offered to provide ten free tickets to the organisation to enable it to develop and grow. The tickets will allow staff of the charity to attend meetings in London in order to increase the charity’s outputs and raise much needed funds.

General Manager; Dominic Boothroyd said “We are truly grateful for the support of First Great Western. This gift is a huge help at a time when charities everywhere need that little extra support. It will allow us to attend meetings around the country, at no extra cost and so allow us to grow as an organisation. Ultimately this will help us to deliver more of our marine conservation, research and education outputs to the regions coastal communities”.

The charity is going through a period of development at the moment with a significant increase in its capacity to raise juveniles, with the addition of new hatchery equipment and plans to enhance its educational out-reach. The charity is also driving forward its programme of research with some significant projects taking place at the moment.

James Davis from First Great Western had this to say:

“First Great Western is privileged to provide services from London Paddington to some of the county’s leading destinations. Our lines in Cornwall are symbolic of that, offering passengers easy access to the capital or to stations across the south west – and the ability to work or make that vital phone call as they travel. First Great Western is committed to playing an active part in the communities we serve. We are delighted to be able to sponsor the Lobster Hatchery and hope that we can help ensure that their valuable work continues.”

First Great Western has one of the largest and most complex rail networks in the UK, carrying one and a half million passengers every week on 9,000 services, and calling at 276 stations. They are the only UK rail company to operate High Speed Inter-city, commuter, regional and sleeper services and provide fast and frequent commuter services for the M4 corridor, the Thames Valley and Newbury and Oxford routes and operate services in the South West, providing local commuter and leisure services and the key longer distance routes from Cardiff to Portsmouth.