Course details

New Zealand Certificate in Aquaculture (Fish Farming) - Level 3 with strand in Hatchery
NZQF Level 3

About the course

Aquaculture, the practice of breeding, rearing, and harvesting aquatic organisms, offers abundant career prospects. It is a rapidly growing industry with high demand for skilled professionals. This course focuses on sustainable aquaculture systems, hatchery management, and fish farming. Graduates will be prepared for diverse roles in aquaculture farms, research organisations, and marine vessels. SIT provides hands-on education through classroom sessions, field trips, and industry exposure, equipping students for a rewarding career in aquaculture.

The purpose of this qualification is to provide the aquaculture sector with people who are able to work as technicians or farm assistants carrying out routine operations involving daily care, husbandry and monitoring of fish or shellfish in an aquaculture operation.

Entry requirements

School Leavers

  • Suitable physical capability to complete manual tasks;
  • Be employed in the aquaculture industry or be willing to carry out industry experience on an aquaculture site.

Mature Applicants

Applicants over the age of 20 years at time of enrolment will be considered where they can demonstrate the ability to succeed in a programme. Examples of demonstration of ability to succeed are the provision of evidence of successful completion of a programme of study at level 2 or above in a related discipline and/or employment in the related sector for one or more years. Applicants over 20 years are also required to have suitable physical capacity to complete manual tasks. 

Language Requirements

Applicants, whose first language is not English, or who come from a country where the language of instruction in schools is not English, are required to provide evidence of having achieved one of the following:

NCEA Level 3 with University Entrance, or

an International Baccalaureate Diploma or Cambridge A- level qualification for which the teaching and assessment was conducted in English, or

Cambridge Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (CELTA), or Trinity College London Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (CertTESOL), or

Successful completion of all primary education (being the equivalent of New Zealand primary school years 1 to 8) and at least three years of secondary education (being the equivalent of three years from New Zealand secondary school years 9 to 13) at schools in  either New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the Republic of Ireland, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States one of the countries listed in Rule 18.5 where the student was taught using English as the language of instruction, or

Successful completion of at least five years of secondary education (being the equivalent of New Zealand secondary school years 9 to 13) at schools in either New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the Republic of Ireland, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States where the student was taught using English as the language of instruction, or

Successful completion of a Bachelor ‘s Degree, Graduate Certificate, Graduate Diploma, Bachelor Honours degree, Postgraduate Certificate, Postgraduate Diploma, Masters’ Degree or Doctoral Degree, the language of instruction of which must be in English and which must be from a tertiary education provider from New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the Republic of Ireland, South Africa, the United Kingdom or the United States, or

Successful completion of one of the following internationally recognised proficiency tests listed below to the level required of the programme of study and with all scores achieved in a single test during the two years preceding the proposed date of enrolment:

IELTS test - General or Academic score of 5 with no band score lower than 5

TOEFL Paper based test (pBT) - Score of 500 (with an essay score of 4 TWE)

TOEFL Internet based test (iBT) - Score of 35 (with a writing score of 14)

Cambridge English Examination - B2 First or B2First for schools with a score of 154.  No less than 154 in each skill.

OET - Minimum of Grade C or 200 in all sub-tests

NZCEL - Level 3 (General)

Pearson Test of English (Academic) – PTE (Academic) score of 36 with no band score lower than 36

Language Cert - B1 Achiever International ESOL Written (LRW) PASS with no less than 25/50 in each skill and Spoken (S) PASS

Trinity ISE - ISE I with no less than distinction in any band

*This course is not available to international students.

About the provider

Southern Institute of Technology (SIT) provides quality tertiary education and training across a wide range of subjects and qualifications. From certificates to postgraduate studies, we offer NZQA programmes for students to learn at a level and pathway that suits them.

We are home to the Zero Fees Scheme and are the only tertiary provider in New Zealand to offer a no tuition cost education to domestic NZ students for every year of study, at all levels.

We offer SIT programmes at campuses in Invercargill, Queenstown, Gore, and online through SIT2LRN Distance Learning.

We also have a specialised faculty in rural education at Telford in Balclutha, South Otago.

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