John MacPherson from Portree on the Isle of Skye has come a long way in a short time. After starting work as a Site Technician at Grieg Seafood’s Dunvegan site back in 2017, he went on to win the aquaculture category at Lantra Scotland’s ALBAS earlier this year, and has recently been promoted to the position of Site Manager at the same company. His rapid rise from trainee to manager may have come as a bit of a surprise to John, but he is relishing the challenge.
John said: “Winning the ALBAS award back in March was the icing on the cake and it was great to be recognised for all my hard work. People were messaging and congratulating me, and the fact that I won has really helped my confidence. It’s been a bit of a whirlwind for me – it felt like yesterday I was working as a Site Technician, and now I’m responsible for two sites myself and own my own house. Things have moved fast, that’s for sure.”
In 2018, John became a Modern Apprentice with Grieg Seafood, supported by Inverness College UHI. The apprenticeship saw him doing an SVQ while being paid and building practical skills. He was able to put theory into practice in his workplace and John has thrived ever since.
John continues: “The apprenticeship involved some college work which I completed when the weather was too bad or when I had downtime. My tutor at the college would also visit me onsite to see how I was doing. I found the apprenticeship a great way to broaden my understanding and give me a deeper knowledge about how things work. The SVQ goes into lots of detail about fish welfare and other topics that you can put into practice straight away. It enables you to understand what you are doing, so everything makes sense and you can make better decisions.”
In the two sites he now looks after, John’s responsibilities range from managing staff to ensuring the fish are well taken care of.
He said: “One of the sites has six, 90 metre cages and the other has nine, 90 metre cages. That’s a lot of fish. One of the most important parts of my job is ensuring we pass various audits from welfare agencies and organisations we supply. There are many other things to do onsite, from coordinating treatments, ordering supplies, doing the paper work and managing the database where we record our activities. I also look after the staff, make sure they are happy and have the team we need, so recruiting is a part of my role too.”
As with many fish production businesses in the aquaculture sector, Grieg’s Seafood has been affected by changes to the market price of Salmon and logistical issues during the Covid-19 pandemic. Having only recently taken on the position of Site Manager, John experienced the difficulties first-hand.
He said: “When the lockdown came in, it was tough at first. Delays in getting materials from suppliers meant we had to sort things out ourselves sometimes. The price of salmon also dropped as people weren’t buying so many luxury foods, but that has begun to creep up since lockdown has eased. It’s also been a challenge to keep staff safe with social distancing, but we’ve introduced staggered start and finish times.
”For someone with so much experience and ability at such young age, the future is certainly bright.
“I’ve still got a lot to learn so I see myself continuing as a Site Manager for the foreseeable future. After that, I’d like to become an Area Manager, giving me responsibility for multiple sites so I can get involved with the operational and management side of the business. But at the same time, there are so many roles in other areas, whether its transportation, processing or fish health, that I may consider something completely different further down the line. That’s the great thing about this industry. There’s something for everyone. ”
Find out more about careers in aquaculture here or call 01738 310164.