Australian Maritime and Fisheries Academy based at Port Adelaide a training leader for southern hemisphere
The Australian Maritime and Fisheries Academy and training vessels at Port Adelaide.
The Australian Maritime and Fisheries Academy at Port Adelaide and Port Lincoln was the only industry-owned and -operated maritime, seafood and fishing industry development and training organisation in the southern hemisphere, going into the 21st Century.
It was founded in 1997 as the Australian Fisheries Academy, with Hagen Stehr, the “tuna king” from South Australia’s Port Lincoln, as prime backer of the need the need to train skippers and boat crews to professional standards and end the high loss of life at sea.
Based at Fishing Industry House, dockside at Port Adelaide, with a campus at North Quay Boulevard, Port Lincoln, the academy offered a broad range of nationally-accredited training programmes and short courses. It became recognised as a leader, within Australia and the Asia-Pacific region, as an industry-managed education centre for the maritime, fishing and seafood industries.
It offered traineeships in commercial fishing, aquaculture, seafood processing, seafood retailing and maritime industries. Courses included: Marine radio operator’s VHF and HF skill set; shipboard safety skill set; coxswain grades; master grades; marine engine driver grades; fisheries compliance; maritime industry pathway programme.
The name change to the Australian Maritime and Fisheries Academy in 2011 reflected the increased students, courses and demand the maritime sector had experienced. Academy students had wider career options than ever, with the oil and gas sectors of the resources industry becoming a large user of skilled maritime workers.
The Australian Maritime and Fisheries Academy continuously developed and customised its wide range of education programmes to meet industry specific requirements. The programmes were designed to deliver learning outcomes that were practical and relevance to the maritime, fishing and seafood industries.
The academy had its lease at Port Adelaide TAFE (technical and further education) campus extended by 10 years in 2023 by the South Australian government.
