Here at University Centre Sparsholt we boast incredible facilities to support our Fisheries, Aquaculture and Marine Studies courses. Our Aquatic Research and Conservation Centre (ARCC), Salmonid Rearing and Trials Centre, and lake allow our students to access high quality industry-relevant facilities on campus.
These facilities, combined with our lecturing staff who are known to be the experts in the industry mean students gain real industry experience on and off‑site that is under‑pinned by the high level of technical lecture content to prepare them for a range of careers or progression to courses at Master’s and PhD level.
Enhancing your future
Students are encouraged to undertake challenging and innovative research as part of their course. Our pioneering facilities ensures that our students have a head start in their chosen careers and make them stand out against the competition when they graduate.
Aquatic Research and Conservation Centre
The ARCC is an incredible teaching facility, and is the only one of its kind in the UK. It has a 650m² purpose-built fish house holding stocks of Carp, Catfish, Tilapia and an extensive range of ornamental species. It features a large indoor Koi pool, research areas and up-to-date holding systems, many sponsored by industrial partners.
The centre offers students opportunities in system management, the husbandry and maintenance of species and through the many capture breeding projects that are preserving endangered species: active conservation.
Marine habitats have been recreated to replicate a range of ecological systems, from mangroves to reefs, and access to the Institute of Marine Sciences at the University of Portsmouth provides bespoke teaching and learning facilities in local marine environments for our Higher Education students.
Salmonid Rearing and Trials Centre
The unique Salmonid and Rearing Trials Centre is designed to undertake important aquaculture research and train fish farmers of the future. The Facility includes a salmonid hatchery and ongrowing unit, a small lab and fish processing area and a trials unit with 72 identical tanks.
Supplied by borehole water, the site produces brown trout for restocking local rivers and rainbow trout for the table. It is also a research and development facility used by a number of the largest fish food manufacturers in Britain for food trials. Much of this work is carried out by the students and helps fund a Year 3 European study tour.
Sparsholt Fishery
The Sparsholt Fishery is a one-hectare lake, fed by water from the Salmonid Centre, which holds stocks of carp, roach, rudd, bream, crucian carp, tench and perch. It is an important teaching resource and a great recreational facility which is free for fishery studies students.