Aquaculture in California is nascent but growing, driven by rising demand for sustainable seafood and interest from policymakers, communities, and industry. In Southern California, limited workforce readiness remains a barrier to aquaculture development. Community colleges and Sea Grant programs are well positioned to address this gap through collaborative, industry-informed training pathways.
California Sea Grant and Technology Career Institute at MiraCosta College partnered to design a comprehensive aquaculture workforce development certificate program applicable for regions with emerging aquaculture industries. Five integrated approaches were used: (i) establishment and consultation with an Aquaculture Program Advisory Committee (AquaPAC) representing industry, education, research, public aquariums, and agencies; (ii) an industry training needs assessment; (iii) a regional SWOT analysis to identify aquaculture and related facilities for training and internships; (iv) development of industry-informed curriculum and instructional materials; and (v) pilot implementation with iterative refinement informed by evaluation and partner feedback.
The resulting training model integrates 130 hours of interactive instruction with 100 hours of on-the-job training through regional aquaculture partners. Core topics include aquaculture fundamentals, organism biology and husbandry, systems monitoring and maintenance, safety, and business. The pilot enrolled 12 students, with 10 completing the course and earning certificates. Student and partner feedback informed curriculum refinements, including expanded coverage of regionally relevant topics like shellfish, seaweed, and conservation aquaculture, and the addition of funded internships supported through a NOAA Sea Grant Aquaculture Internship award. This model demonstrates how Sea Grant and community colleges can collaboratively build scalable, industry-aligned aquaculture workforce pathways in regions preparing for sector growth.