A full-time, one-year program that includes the courses in the certificate program plus additional course work in hatchery management and fish/shellfish propragation, design and construction of aquaculture facilities, an additional semester of practical applications and a summer internship at an aquaculture facility. Some of the courses in this program are transferable to four-year colleges and universities. Graduates of the diploma program may continue their education in the associate in applied science degree program, start their own fish or shellfish farm, or go to work as a technician at any of the many established Aquaculture operations in North Carolina or throughout the nation.