BSc (Hons) in Aquaculture

Aquaculture is “aquatic agriculture”, also known as fish or shellfish farming, and refers to the breeding, rearing, and harvesting of plants and animals in all types of aquatic environments, including ponds, rivers, lakes, and other freshwater systems, as well as in the ocean (mariculture). Aquaculture produces food fish, sport fish, bait fish, ornamental fish, fish eggs, reptiles, crustaceans, molluscs and other invertebrates, as well as sea vegetables and algae for food, pharmaceutical, nutritional, agrochemical, and other biotechnology products. Aquaculture is recognized as the fastest growing food production system in the world, and is considered to be the best solution to the present dependency on wild fish stocks for seafood. With about 85 % of world fish stocks being fully exploited or overfished, huge investments are being made in the aquaculture sector to cater for the increasing demand for seafood from the growing world population. Mauritius too has embarked on developing its Ocean Economy and Aquaculture has been identified as having the strongest, quickest, and highest potential for development. One of the major constraints to realizing this potential is the shortage of trained manpower and skills in the country in this discipline. Several Small and Medium enterprises (SMESs) have embarked on aquaculture projects with freshwater ornamental and edible fish, prawns and oysters being mostly cultured. Over the years these SMEs have thrived with limited skilled workers. Graduates from this course will cater for this demand for aqua-culturists but can well set up their own enterprise. This programme aims to fill this gap by forming graduates that will be well trained in the key aspects of aquaculture, e.g. aquaculture systems and technologies; farming methodologies for different fish species; seafood processing, packaging and safety; agri-business, entrepreneurship and marketing. The programme includes a compulsory 6-month internship at the end of the taught component, during which the student will gain relevant hands-on experience and skills by working in either the private sector or in public institutions. The internship will also provide the student with experience of real world of work, and also learn other soft skills that will enable them to enhance their employability, and/or make their way into the entrepreneurial world.