We promote careers in the Irish catching, fish farming and seafood processing sectors by training new entrants and upgrading the skills of existing practitioners.
About Training and Skills Development BIM has an established history in the area of training and skill development for the Irish Seafood Industry. Our first National Fisheries College opened in Greencastle, Co Donegal in 1974 under the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries and BIM was given the Training of Fishers function by Ministerial Order in 1978. The first ‘Deckhand’ programme for new entrants commenced in September of the same year. A little over twenty years later our second college was opened in April 1999, The National Fisheries Training College, Castletownbere, Co Cork. There are also two mobile coastal training units to complement our training services.
Seafood Training Programmes In 2020 the ISO 9001:2015 Certification was awarded to BIM’s National Fisheries College of Ireland for the delivery of Maritime Training and Education. Attaining this internationally recognised standard for quality management systems, ensures that prospective students can be certain any training they receive across all of BIM’s training sites will be of a consistently high standard.
These accredited Seafood Training Programmes and workshops are available across all sectors of the Irish Seafood Industry. Whether you are a novice entrant looking to explore a new career path in the Fishing, Aquaculture or Retail and Processing sector, our courses will allow you to develop key skills in a specific area; we also provide skills development for existing members of the seafood industry to add value, both on an individual professional basis and to the overall seafood business.
Professional Development BIM collaborate with external organisations including Irish Business and Employers Confederation (Ibec), offering continuous professional development (CPD) courses, such as the Mid Management Development Programme; and the South East Technological University (SETU) Higher Diploma in Business in Fisheries & Aquaculture. We can help you and your team develop key skills with training for all sectors of the Irish Seafood Industry, from upskilling in your existing area, to exploring new career pathways for new entrants to the sector.
Learning Hub In our Learning Hub you can access a series of videos which will cover topics such as, exploring new seafood business ideas, new market opportunities and innovative ways of working.
Funding You also may be eligible to apply for funding towards course fees and subsistence costs incurred when you undertake your training. See here for more details about our Seafood Funding Training scheme.
Download the Quality Assurance Manual (V6)
Download the Quality Policy Statement (pdf 175Kb)
