Safe at sea, Safe at work and Safe seafood School program
In partnership with Reece High School, SMT will be offering a Certificate 1 in Seafood Industry combined with an Elements of Shipboard Safety (ESS) course in NW Tasmania to Grades 11 and 12 students in 2022. The program has been developed with the assistance of the Industry Training Hub Australian Government initiative and with input from local employers Huon Aquaculture and Petuna.
Skills Fund tender lodged
Thank you to all employers who lodged expressions of interest in the SMT and TSIC’s skills fund application. Your efforts go towards ensuring subsided training is available when it is needed in 2022 and this forms the platform of TSIC and SMT’s push with the State Government to make a long term commitment to fund training for our industry.
Plans for Navigator
SMT’s new training vessel, the Navigator, has been put to good use over the past months with more than 35 Master up to 24M (the old Master 5) and 18 MED 3’s being trained and assessed aboard her.
In 2022 we will be purchasing a new tender to be kept on Navigator’s back deck. This will be utilised as part of our Coxswain course in Hobart and increase the opportunity to use Navigator as a floating classroom for regional Coxswain training.

Barge handling training for the crew of Nuyina
In November SMT commenced barge handling training for the crew of the RSV Nuyina. The program was designed to give the crew of the vessel the opportunity to learn how to handle the new jet-powered landing barge under the direction of experienced operators.
The program was delivered by SMT trainers Nadia Bush and Ben Tucker who have previously spent many summers in Antarctica operating similar barges for the Australian Antarctic Division.
During the training, the crew was also directed on barge handing chartists and their auxiliary systems by their builder Philip Taylor from Taylor Brother as seen below

Congratulation 2021 award winners
SMT would like to congratulate all the 2021 Tasmania Seafood Award Winners and TSIC for hosting another excellent event. The event showcased the depth of talent in the Tasmanian Seafood Industry which is something we should all be proud of.
SMT is especially proud of and would like to congratulate two members of its team that picked up awards this year. Peter Cheeseman for winning the People Development Award and Ellen Duke for winning the Young Achiever Award.
Peter has been working with SMT for many years on ways to better integrate his employer’s training needs with the course that SMT offers. Peter’s input has led to several innovative changes to SMT programs which have led to better people development outcomes for those engaging in training.
Ellen has had a long association with SMT which stretches from a trainee in 2007 to a highly skilled Shellfish Husbandry trainer today. On top of her valuable work with Camerons of Tasmania and SMT Ellen is a very active representative of the Shellfish industry which has been recognised in her receiving this award.