S.C. Sea Grant Consortium’s Commercial Seafood Apprenticeship Program (CSAP) recently graduated five individuals: Rebekah Bennett, Shane Brackett, Patricia Cope, Blake Godsey, and Garrett Kestory. The apprentices are AMSEA Safety Drill Conductor certified, CPR/First Aid certified, and have completed over 120 hours of classroom and on-the-job training in safety, seamanship, and navigation; boat and gear operation and maintenance; fisheries science, management, and engagement; and seafood business operations. One apprentice is already working for Abundant Seafood, based in Mount Pleasant, S.C.
CSAP, funded by the NOAA National Sea Grant Office and the USDA Rural Business Development Grant Program, is the first such apprenticeship program in the Southeast. The program offers one month of paid job training that provides the knowledge and skills needed to start a career in commercial fishing or mariculture. CSAP is designed in partnership with Clemson University and offered by the S.C. Sea Grant Consortium in collaboration with commercial fishing operations and mariculture growers in McClellanville, S.C.
The Consortium will host another cohort in 2025. Visit the CSAP website or contact Angela Treptow, Commercial Seafood Apprenticeship Program coordinator, at (843) 823-4866 for more information.
Captain Jeff Spahr and his nephew Jack Spahr teach the apprentices how to identify and prepare oyster “singles” for seafood restaurants and markets. Photo courtesy of Hailey Murphy, S.C. Sea Grant Consortium.