Fishing and Hunting Workers
Hunt, trap, catch, or gather wild animals or aquatic animals and plants. May use nets, traps, or other equipment. May haul catch onto ship or other vessel.
- Median pay
- Not reported
- Doing it now
- 28,200
- By 2035
- Down 4.2%
- Usually needs
- No formal educational credential
across the country
3,300 openings a year
to get in
What the work involves
- Travel on foot, by vehicle, or by equipment such as boats, snowmobiles, helicopters, snowshoes, or skis to reach hunting areas.
- Steer vessels and operate navigational instruments.
- Maintain engines, fishing gear, and other on-board equipment and perform minor repairs.
- Remove catches from fishing equipment and measure them to ensure compliance with legal size.
- Select, bait, and set traps, and lay poison along trails, according to species, size, habits, and environs of birds or animals and reasons for trapping them.
- Interpret weather and vessel conditions to determine appropriate responses.
- Wash decks, conveyors, knives, and other equipment, using brushes, detergents, and water.
What to study
The fields of study the Department of Education links to this occupation, most widely taught first.
- Fishing and Fisheries Sciences and ManagementSee 22 colleges that teach it
Who it suits
O*NET scores every occupation on six interest dimensions. This one leans hardest on these three.
Hands-on and practical
Organised and precise
Analytical and curious
Careers like this one
Where this comes from: the description and the task list are O*NET, which the Department of Labor maintains. Pay, workforce size, outlook and the education normally needed are the Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections programme, 2025 wages and 2025 to 2035 projections. Pay is not reported for this occupation, which means half earn less, and what you would earn depends on where you work and how long you have been doing it. The fields of study come from the National Center for Education Statistics crosswalk.