Scholarships help women build aquaculture careers

Two successful candidates will be offered a ‘fully immersive learn/work experience’ aimed at creating equal opportunities for women hoping to build careers in aquaculture.

The recipients, who must be university or college students aged 18 or over, will each be awarded $10,000 and a paid, one-month summer internship on the Kvarøy Arctic farm site in Norway.

They can continue their internships each year they are studying and will then be considered for employment upon graduation.

Farm-level operations

Kvarøy Arctic CEO Alf-Gøran Knutsen said: ‘We started this scholarship programme at the beginning of 2020 because we recognise it’s harder for women to break into the farm-level operations of aquaculture globally.

‘The pandemic delayed our plans for last year’s recipients to join us on the farm but not our dedication to supporting them in their career development and to continuing this programme.’

Hosted in partnership with Seafood and Gender Equality (SAGE), a non-profit initiative founded by former Fair Trade USA director Julie Kuchepatov, the new scholarships will be available this year.

Burgeoning industry

Aquaculture employed 20.5 million people across the world in 2018 (on a full-time, part-time, or occasional basis in primary production), with women representing 19 per cent of the workforce, according to the FAO.

One of the scholarships is open to applicants from any country globally, while the second will be for candidates from Africa.

‘Aquaculture is a burgeoning industry in this part of the world,’ said Kvarøy Arctic strategic development officer Jennifer Bushman.

‘It’s within the Kvarøy Arctic value system to take a collaborative approach to advancing aquaculture and we’ve chosen to dedicate one of our scholarships to African women who are permanent residents on the continent and who are committed to supporting that region’s development in one of the most efficient and nutritious animal protein sources available.’

Inaugural programme

Demand for the inaugural programme, hosted with the James Beard Foundation, prompted Kvarøy Arctic to extend last year’s plan for one scholarship to three, with awards going to women from Tunisia, South Africa, and the US. 

Marwa Mechlaoui, from Tunisia, a PhD student at the Arctic University of Norway researching vaccine formulation and fish immunology, said after winning her scholarship: ‘I decided to look for opportunities to study and work abroad because there are no jobs for women in aquaculture in my home country.’

Applications for the 2021 scholarships open on April 13 and close on June 22. Visit KvaroyArctic.com for more details.