Animal Welfare Technician

Cermaq Canada is seeking to fill the role of a full-time Animal Welfare Technician within the Innovation Department. The key function of this role will be to provide operational support to the Fish Health team during Mechanical Delousing Treatments, and to the Saltwater farm sites on the East and West Coast of Vancouver Island.
Cermaq is a world leading salmon farming company. We have a team of more than 3500 employees across Chile, Canada and Norway. A team committed and proud to grow superior seafood for a global market. At Cermaq, you become part of a meaningful, developing, and diverse workplace. We offer a wide range of job opportunities where you will be able to grow and learn in a sustainable and rapidly developing industry. We support our employees’ personal development and make it possible for you to realize new ideas and initiatives. Our culture is informal and committed. We are smart people in rubber boots. We care for each other, for the environment, and for our communities.
Work will be on the Aqua Service and/or Salar, both use only ambient temperature ocean water to remove sea lice and eggs - no chemicals or medications are used for the treatment. Both systems also capture the removed lice and eggs for disposal on land following treatment, and both are able to treat a similar amount of fish within the same timeframe (200 metric tonnes of salmon per hour).
In addition to camp-based accountabilities which include monitoring and reporting on fish health issues, implementing control measures, advising management on environmental and biological aspects of the farm operations during the Mechanical Delousing treatments, and during regular operations when treatments are not underway; the successful candidate must also be capable of supporting other Innovation/Fish Health department projects, initiatives and/or work assignments, including the possibility of being cross-trained in other areas of the vessel in order to provide coverage if required.
Accountabilities:

• Review pre-treatment information provided by site personnel and actively participate with the System Operator and Treatment Manager to elaborate on a treatment plan
• Support the Aqua Service/SFI operations and participation in the daily checks including but not limited to operational and water quality sampling
• Assessing fish welfare throughout the treatment process, which includes, scoring of anaesthetized fish and water quality checks
• Participation in the vessel moves on site, and set up and take down of sampling equipment on vessel, including cleaning & disinfection if necessary
• Sea lice and quality sampling including the review of handling, briefing, tracking, conducting site inspections, logging, and record keeping of TMS usage in site logs and FishTalk
• Verify and track sea lice counts for reporting purposes, including sea lice counts for all 4 treatment lines on the SFI system, reporting fish welfare concerns and efficacy rates to the System Operator in a timely manner
• Daily and end of shift reports for the Fish Health, Upper Management and Production teams, summarizing a report once a site is completed
• Tracking effectiveness of the treatments (sea lice counts) during treatments
• Ability to work independently and in collaboration with others

Application requirements

• Preference will be given to candidates with either post-secondary aquaculture education or an equivalent combination of education and/or related work experience
• This is a full-time camp-based position operating 8 days on 6 days off
• Proficient MS Word, MS Excel, and technical report writing skills
• Prerequisites to hiring include a physical fitness test, a criminal record check, and reference checks.
• This position is camp-based, transportation is provided to the sea sites in Tofino.
• You can meet the transportation to Tofino in these communities: Campbell River, Courtenay, Coombs, Port Alberni, and Ahousaht
• Only applicants who are legally allowed to work in Canada will be considered.

How to Apply:
If you have these qualifications, please email your resume and cover letter stating “Animal Welfare Technician” in the subject line, to: careers.canada@cermaq.com
Cermaq Canada is an equal opportunities employer who provides a workplace that is free of discrimination.
Cermaq Canada has a progressive view of reconciliation with Indigenous peoples. Although wholly committed to hire the best candidate available, we strongly encourage applications from Indigenous peoples for this role.
We would like to thank all applicants for their interest; however only those candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.