System Shock
The pandemic has made it clear that our global supply chain system can be quite fragile and unforeseen events may cause shocks to the supply chain.
Good thing that the Singapore government had already started its 30 by 30 food security goal where it aims to produce 30% of the nutritional needs locally by 2030.
For those considering a career in the sunrise industry of aquaculture, this is the best time to join.
At the time of writing, there are concerns about not having enough seafood due to a cluster at the Jurong Fishery Port which made the government close it until 31 July 2021 for deep cleaning.
There’s also news about people rushing to wet markets to get fish.
If this becomes a long term issue, Singaporeans might have to get used to eating less seafood.
Singapore’s Food Security
According to the SIngapore Food Agency or SFA, over 90% of the food we eat is imported and only 9% of fish is produced in local farms.
So it’s no surprise that the SFA has been pushing the aquaculture industry to modernise to increase local production.
In fact, in April 2021, $23million in grants was awarded by SFA to fund 8 research and development projects in aquaculture and 4 in sustainable urban food production.
So here are the options for those looking to study Aquaculture in Singapore.
Aquaculture Programmes in Singapore
At the diploma level, Republic Polytechnic runs a Diploma in Environmental & Marine Science where students can choose to specialize in the Aquaculture Technology Track. In this track, the specialization modules include
- Genetics and Fish Breeding
- Sustainable Aquaculture
- Seafood Handling
- Animal Health and Nutrition
- Comparative Aquatic Animal Physiology
This course at RP is offered only on a full-time basis.
For those looking at a part time diploma, Temasek Polytechnic offers the Diploma in Applied Science (Aquaculture). To cater to adult learners, this diploma is structured as modular certificates.
There are 5 modular certs in total and each modular certificates contains 3 subjects
Temasek Polytechnic also has a 12-month work-study certificate programme for fresh ITE graduates which leads to their Diploma in Applied Science (Aquaculture).
At the undergraduate level, James Cook University Singapore seems to be the only university offering a programme in aquaculture for now.
They have two courses, the Bachelor of Business and Environmental Science (majoring in Aquaculture)
and the Bachelor of Science (majoring in Aquaculture Science and Technology).
Remember the $23million in funding I mentioned earlier?
The Tropical Futures Institute at James Cook University Singapore is involved in 4 out of the 8 aquaculture projects and will be working on things like improving fish feed, developing genetic resources of red snapper and improving barramundi production.
