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- Breed and rear fish and shellfish to be sold on for food or for angling
- You'll need to be physically fit and competent around the water (swimming, handling a boat)
- Outdoor work in all weathers, often in beautiful locations
As a fish farmer you'll breed and grow shellfish and fish for the food industry, or rear ornamental and freshwater fish to stock lakes and rivers for angling.
DAY-TO-DAY DUTIES
- Breeding or buying in stock
- Feeding and monitoring fish health
- Grading and moving fish as they grow
- Maintaining buildings, equipment and habitats
- Treating used water
- Harvesting and selling fish stock
DAY-TO-DAY ENVIRONMENT
You could work on a farm and your working environment may be physically demanding and outdoors in all weathers. Use of a house or caravan and a vehicle may sometimes be provided by your employer.
You may work on a rota that includes early mornings, evenings and weekends.
You'll need
This role would be ideal for someone who enjoys working outside with physical fitness and swimming ability, IT skills, commercial awareness, and boat handling skills.
There are no set entry requirements, but a college course may give you useful skills and knowledge. Courses are usually offered by land-based and agricultural colleges and include Level 1 Certificate in Fisheries Management, Level 2 Diploma in Fish Husbandry and Level 2 Diploma in Land and Wildlife Management (Fish).
Paid or voluntary work in related areas can be useful. Examples include taking part in environment and water monitoring with river trusts, ecological surveys or being a member of an angling club.
You could apply to fish farms for permanent or seasonal work. Some jobs are in remote areas of the country, so you may need access to a vehicle.
CAREER PROSPECTS
You could move into areas like fisheries management, biological science or environmental research by taking a degree qualification. On a larger farm, you could progress to supervisor or manager or you could start your own fish farm.