Description
Internship Timeframe & Anticipated Work Schedule
Summer Full-Time 12 weeks (480 hours - starting in May/early June), Summer Full-time 10 weeks (400 hours - starting in late June)
This position is 40 hours per week. Interns must be available one weekend day, ex: aTuesday-Saturday schedule or a Sunday-Thursday schedule.
Job Description
Muscongus Bay Aquaculture (MBAq) offers a great opportunity for a dedicated, conscientious individual to spend the summer outdoors working as an integral part of our oyster seed nursery crew. The MBAq nursery has 8 upwellers located in West Bath, Maine on the New Meadows River and is home to millions of our hatchery produced oyster seed. The nursery crew grow these seed from approximately 1mm size to around 15mm over the course of 3 months. This involves daily care in the form of freshwater cleaning of equipment and seed, as well as size grading, and keeping a close eye on the seed’s health. The last step is packing up the seed and getting orders ready for customers from farms up and down the East Coast. The job is fun, physical, and is perfect for people who love to get their hands dirty and be outdoors all day, as well as learn the ropes of commercial shellfish seed aquaculture.
Interns will be cleaning baby oysters and equipment weekly with fresh water. They will be responsible for making sure our upweller systems are running correctly and will learn to troubleshoot any problems that could go wrong with these systems. They will be expected to grade oysters efficiently by size, keeping the health and safety of product as the top priority. Interns will also help in the packing of product to be sent to customers. Our Nursery Manager, Maddi Cox, and our Nursery Crew Manager, Lauren Radcliffe, will oversee the intern's work on a daily basis.
Working for Muscongus Bay aquaculture is a great opportunity because it allows students to see all different sides of oyster aquaculture. Students will learn about where the oyster seed comes from and how it is produced. They will see how oyster spat is cared for, moved around, and prepped for customers. Interns will experience the impact our commercial shellfish nursery has on Maine aquaculture and will be able to be a part of it all! The role will help a student grow their career because it can outline all the paths and opportunities you can have in the field of aquaculture. You can be involved in aquaculture from the very beginning of the oyster life cycle and in the lab, or you can be harvesting and processing market sized product out on the farm.
Skills & Physical Requirements
The intern should ideally possess beginner-level systems management skills and the ability to work while exposed to the elements. The ideal candidate should be proficient in observation skills and working on or near the water.
The intern must be able to lift up to 50 pounds, possess a valid Driver’s License, and be able to get on and off a boat without assistance.
Employer Description
Muscongus Bay Aquaculture (MBAq) is comprised of a hatchery, nursery, and two farms. In our hatchery we have been producing top quality oyster seed since 1999. Oyster larvae spend their first few weeks in the hatchery, munching away on house grown algae, until they settle and begin growing their shells. Once springtime water temperatures reach an acceptable range for our babies, they are sent to our nursery site on the New Meadows River in West Bath, ME. Here they receive top-quality care to encourage growth and are sent to farms up and down the East Coast. A portion of these babies are set aside for our own farm, located on the Damariscotta River, where they are cared for diligently until they are about 2 years old and sold for consumption