Apprenticeships

Primary ITO offers apprenticeships in aquaculture, seafood processing and commercial fishing for people who are already employed in the industry.

For more information, or to enrol an employee contact Primary ITO [email protected]

0800 20 80 20

This apprenticeship gives people the skills to work as experienced senior operators involved in aquaculture at sea or in a hatchery on land. 

Apprentices choose a strand (Finfish, Hatchery, Shellfish) that best suits their role and career goals.

This apprenticeship gives people the skills to work as experienced senior operators involved in processing on land or at sea.

Apprentices choose a strand (Fish and Fish Products, Live Holding, Cleaning and Sanitation or Seafood Logistics) that best suits their role and career goals.

This apprenticeship gives people the skills to work as experienced operators involved in commercial fishing either on-deck or maintaining equipment and machinery.

Apprentices choose a strand (Shellfish, Wet Fish or Frozen Fish) that best suits their role and career goals.

Certificates and Short Courses

Primary ITO also offers training for people in the seafood industry that cover topics from health & safety, food safety and product handling, to marine protection. These are done in the workplace and include certificates, short micro-credentials and bite-sized courses.
 

To enrol, people need to be employed in a seafood job and must be enrolled by their employer. For more information or to enrol an employee contact Primary ITO [email protected]

0800 20 80 20

This is for people who are new to the seafood industry.

Topics include:
• skills to safely carry out a range of entry level, practical tasks

This is part of the NZ Certificate in Primary Industry Skills that can be taken separately as a short course.

Topics include:
• safety and hygiene

This is for people who work in the aquaculture industry, and to provide formal recognition for the skills of those already working within the industry.

People choose a strand (Hatchery, Fish or Shellfish)

Topics include:
• hatchery stock management
• routine stock management, monitoring and aquaculture farming

This is for experienced operators in either hatchery, fish or shellfish operations who are involved with stock management and other aquaculture operations.

People choose a strand in Finfish, Hatchery, Shellfish or Aquaculture Diving

Topics include:
• implementing and monitoring stock management procedures
• preparing, implementing and reviewing diving activities

This is for people involved in seafood processing operations.

People choose a strand (Fish and Fish Products, Live Holding, Cleaning and Sanitation or Logistics).

Topics include:
• fish and fish products: hygiene, handling, quality
• live holding: species biology, handling, packing
• cleaning and sanitation: chemicals, cleaning, sanitation
• logistics: storage, product loading/ unloading, dispatch

This is part of the NZ Certificate in Seafood Processing (Level 3) that can be taken separately as a short course.

Topics include:
• hygiene and product handling, or point of sale

This is part of the NZ Certificate in Seafood Processing (Level 3) that can be taken separately as a short course.

Topics include:
• risk management, checks and records, quality control

This is part of the NZ Certificate in Seafood Processing (Level 3) that can be taken separately as a short course.

Topics include:
• fish biology, grading and hygiene

This is part of the NZ Certificate in Seafood Processing (Level 3) that can be taken separately as a short course.

Topics include:
• sanitation and use of chemicals

This is part of the NZ Certificate in Seafood Processing (Level 3) that can be taken separately as a short course.

Topics include:
• storage and documentation

This is for people who want to work as experienced senior operators involved with production or quality assurance.

Topics include:
• production: product quality, scheduling, staff supervision, workroutines
• quality Assurance: product quality, food safety, contamination control, compliance and verification

This is part of the NZ Certificate in Seafood Processing (Level 4) that can be taken separately as a short course.

Topics include:
• legislative compliance, documented systems and verification

This is for people involved in either frozen fish, wet fish or shellfish (Rock Lobster, Paua). People choose a strand
(Shellfish, Wet Fish or Frozen Fish) that best suits their role and career goals.

Topics include:
• shellfish strand: commercial harvesting and handling
• wet Fish strand: commercial fishing and handling
• frozen fish strand: commercial fishing and handling of frozen fish, as a vessel

This is part of the NZ Certificate in Commercial Fishing (Level 3) that can be taken separately as a short course.

Topics include:
• equipment maintenance
• health & safety
• protected species capture

This is part of the NZ Certificate inCommercial Fishing (Level 3) that can be taken separately as a short course.

Topics include:
• health & safety
• marine protection
• shellfish biology

This is part of the NZ Certificate in Commercial Fishing (Level 3) that can be taken separately as a short course.

Topics include:
• marine protection & protected species
• health & safety

This is for people who want to work as experienced senior operators involvedwith commercial fishing operations
 in either inshore or deepwater environments.

Topics include:
• senior Crew: health & safety, fishing operations, compliance responsibilities
• factory Technician: repairs, maintenance and operation of equipment, productionrequirements, compliance

This is for people starting a career in commercial fishing.

Topics include:
• communication
• health & safety
• equipment
• protection of the marine environment

This is for people new to the seafood industry or existing workers who would benefit from upskilling.

Topics include:
• reporting and monitoring requirements when receiving fish for commercial sale

This is for people new to the seafood industry or existing workers who would benefit from upskilling.

Topics include:
• safely carrying out lifting operations using a vessel-mounted crane

This is for people starting a career in the seafood industry.

Topics include:
• communication
• health & safety
• processing skills

This is for people who are working in the seafood industry and are involved in supervising or verifying HACCP plans.

Topics include:
• food safety hazards
• control systems
• preventive measures for a food processing operation