OWEN BERNARD
CAPTAIN
What do you like about the work that you do?
I like that it’s always different. During the run of a year, we go through different seasons. There are different types of tasks that we do, so it’s not 100% repetitive during the run of the year, which is pretty fun.
I like the challenge, the rush. Most days, being on the water is very peaceful, but there’s some days it’s not peaceful at all. I like coming in, seeing the crew, and watching guys grow up around the industry. It’s pretty rewarding.
Tell me a bit about your typical day of work.
I’ve been a captain for eight years with Kohl’s Mussel Farm. We take care of mussel lines, harvest, and bring in a nice clean product.
Normally our days start at dawn, we can start at 5:00 AM so we just kind of come in and we make a plan what our tasks are going to be for that day, and we try to, before we untie the boat, we try to get our game plan in motion and get everything on the boat that we need for the day.
And what would you tell someone who is curious about working here?
It’s great job, great atmosphere. You do work hard, but at the end of the day it gives good rewards and decent pay. If you like to work hard and you want your days to go by fast, it’s probably a good job for you here.
Are there other positions in the company that you can see yourself doing in the future?
I’ve kind of moved up the ladders as far as I can. The only thing that’d be different I guess, is if I ended up turning into a bay manager or something like that. I have the licenses and tickets to do almost everything that we have to offer here, whether it’s driving forklift, a big truck, heavy equipment, or whatever we need, I’m there. So it would be Bay Manager to have a bit of control. Make my own plan. The challenge of managing the full crew every day, making them happy, and getting the job don
What’s the coolest thing about working here?
I think it’s watching the muscles grow. You’re not physically watching them, but if you keep an eye on a line throughout the year, you see the progress that line’s made you see how big they can go and how quick they’re growing. Different areas have different growth times, so it’s kind of neat to play around and see where you can put your small seed to grow the fastest and then your big seed can go into the slower growing areas.
And how did you hear about this job?
Through friends years ago. I was just looking for work – I was actually working at McDonald’s at the time – and I needed a little bit more money and this mussel farm opportunity came up.