Photo by Valentina Kondrasyuk

A new report has warned that marine conservation careers in Wales are becoming increasingly difficult to access for young people from working-class backgrounds, with a severe shortage of entry-level roles compounded by the complete absence of local vocational routes into the sector. Improving Social Mobility within Wales’s Marine Conservation Sector, published by the Pembrokeshire Coastal Forum (PCF) and the consultancy Pelagos, draws on desk research, 26 interviews with employers and stakeholders, and conversations with 20 young people aged 16 to 26 across Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire and Swansea, carried out between January and March 2026. The work was supported by the Welsh Government’s Marine Resilience Fund.

A shortage of entry-level jobs

The report’s full findings describe a job market so competitive that one employer reported receiving 293 applications for a single marine role, with another describing the experience as “selling tickets to a gig that is oversubscribed.” One young graduate told researchers: “I’m now totally stuck. I’ve been applying for six months… Most jobs require a Masters degree. I know so many people getting one but then being in the same position.” The report stresses this scarcity affects everyone seeking to enter the sector, regardless of background, before social mobility is even considered.

No vocational route

Researchers found no stakeholder could point to a single local vocational pathway into marine conservation across the three areas studied, meaning university remains the only realistic entry route. As Herald Wales reported, the report goes as far as describing the sector as becoming “functionally middle class” as a result. One interviewee summed up the problem: “I think it’s really lacking, isn’t it, in conservation anywhere that you can go without the university route.” The graduate route itself brings further barriers, from unpaid internships to the cost of qualifications such as a driving licence, which the report says fall disproportionately on young people without family financial support.

Four barriers shaping the pathway

The research identifies four interconnected factors shaping whether a young person pursues a marine conservation career: their connection to the ocean and nature, their awareness of what jobs exist, the aspirations of their community, and their academic confidence. As Business News Wales noted in its coverage, the report frames these as part of a wider “model of system change” requiring action across education, employment, funding and policy, rather than something any single organisation can fix alone. The report opens its findings section with a quote from Nazir Afzal, Chancellor of the University of Manchester, drawn from his separate review of working-class participation in the arts: “Britain does not have a talent problem, it has a system that quietly filters talent out – class, geography, race, income and access stop people from being in the room.” Elsewhere, one long-serving stakeholder offered a pointed illustration of how desk-bound much of the sector actually is: “I’ve worked in this sector for over 20 years and I haven’t been on a boat for work!”

Industry voices

Nadia Tomsa, Charity Director of Sea Trust Wales, who contributed to the research, said the findings reflected what she sees first-hand running a small marine charity. “The conservation sector is becoming increasingly difficult to access, with a huge shortage of entry-level opportunities, and work placements/internships to gain experience in the sector are incredibly competitive,” she said. “Unpaid internships or those with a fee attached create a barrier to lower-income individuals gaining experience.” Tomsa, who described coming from a working-class background in the South Wales Valleys, added that Sea Trust Wales had received more than 100 applications for a single two-month volunteer placement, many from graduates seeking experience simply to remain competitive for paid work.

What the report recommends

The report concludes with two central recommendations: building a joined-up vocational pathway into marine conservation, including apprenticeships and paid work placements for school-age and college-age people, and transforming the existing graduate route through greater financial support, mentoring and employer-led changes to recruitment practices, such as reconsidering blanket requirements for degrees or master’s qualifications. Around 31% of children in Wales live in poverty, one of the highest rates in the UK, the report notes, underlining the scale of the structural challenge facing efforts to widen access to blue careers.