Luke Ingersoll

About me

I was born/grew up in: I was born and grew up on Grand Manan, New Brunswick.

I now live in: I moved to Harbour Breton, NL in 2007. Built a home here in 2015.

I completed my training/education at: I graduated from Grand Manan High School with a Business Diploma.

I studied/trained at Dive Safe International for my Occupational Dive Diploma.

What I do at work

Our typical day starts at the dive shop. Here we load our dive gear and sign in our master dive logs.

Once on the aquaculture site, our dive team and site crew review our Standard Operating Procedures (SOPS) for the tasks that are required.  We then discuss the depth of the dive. We also discuss and calculate how long we can stay underwater before we have to start coming back to the surface. This is known as “bottom time”. Then we sign off on our pre-dive plan.

After our dive is complete, we transfer the information to our personal dive logs.  When diving more than once per day, dive tables are used to determine the maximum bottom time of our second and third dives.  This procedure uses some math along with the DCIEM Diving Tables. These calculations help prevent decompression sickness, which can be fatal. Using the DCIEM Tables, we calculate the maximum bottom time allowed at the depth we are planning to dive.

At the end of the day, once all dives are complete, log books filled out, post dive discussions, we then clean and disinfect all of our dive gear.

My career path is

I started working at my father’s fish sheds. I then took a job at the local IGA grocery story. My job there was stocking shelves, and some work in the office. Eventually I became the butcher/meat manager.

I left IGA to pursue a career in the growing aquaculture Industry. I worked first for Ross Island Salmon then to Jail Island Salmon (which Cooke Aquaculture purchased in 2003).  I moved to NL in 2007 as Dive Supervisor for Cooke Aquaculture. I was promoted to Area Manager and finally Lead Diver.

In 2017, I started my own Dive Company, TayAus Diving Ltd.. We were fortunate to get a contract with a large aquaculture company, Northern Harvest Sea Farms (NHSF), immediately.  MOWI Canada purchased NHSF a couple years ago. This made the already successful company stronger.  We haven’t looked back since and, with the industry growing, it seems as though the sky is the limit!!

I am motivated by

I mainly enjoy the outdoors and knowing that every day may bring something different to the job.

I find it very satisfying and rewarding knowing that I’ve put my best into the job. I like to come away from the sites knowing we’ve made a difference. What I do is a small but very important part of this large industry.

I’m proud to be able to employ local and out of province individuals that have similar goals and interests as I do.

How I affect peoples’ lives

We are an essential part of keeping the cages and nets inspected. We help make sure that the “home” of the fish is clean and without any mortality within the cages.

Outside of work I

Relax….hummmm…. We enjoy campfires with our family and friends in our backyard overlooking Harbour Breton Bay in the summer.  In the winter months, we enjoy snowmobiling, and travelling to warm places in the south.

My advice to others

If you enjoy the outdoors, being on and around the water, then aquaculture could be just the thing for you!  With the pristine waters, here in Newfoundland and Labrador, the diving is incredible. You never know what you may see while in the vast ocean!