How To Become A Fish Culturist: What It Is and Career Path

What is a fish culturist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

Quoted Expert

Dr. Keng-Lou Hung

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a fish culturist. For example, did you know that they make an average of $25.58 an hour? That's $53,211 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 1% and produce 100 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a Fish Culturist?

Dr. Keng-Lou Hung

Assistant Professor, University of Oklahoma

My answer here will be biased by my limited experience outside of academia. I think the first step in maximizing salary potential is to pick a high-potential career path. Veterinary doctors, professors at major research universities, data scientists, and high-level environmental consultants can have fairly high incomes. Wildlife department professionals, fisheries biologists, zoology teachers, and state and national park rangers seem to have very solid middle-class incomes. It seems that zookeepers and seasonal biologists tend to have more limited salary potential. Once one has settled on a career path that has the potential of high salary with promotions, the best strategy is probably to continue seeking opportunities to learn more advanced skill so as to be able to take on greater responsibilities, including both technical skills (data analysis, taxon expertise, field methodology expertise, policy/bureaucracy expertise) and personnel / logistical management skills.

ScoreFish CulturistUS Average

Salary

4.2

Avg. Salary $53,211

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

6.4

Growth Rate 1%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.2

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.72%

Asian 10.59%

Black or African American 3.07%

Hispanic or Latino 8.65%

Unknown 5.31%

White 71.66%

Gender

female 18.97%

male 81.03%

Age - 39

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 39

Stress Level

6.4

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

10.0

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

5.5

Work Life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

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Key steps to become a fish culturist

Explore fish culturist education requirements

Most common fish culturist degrees

Bachelor's

69.8 %

Associate

20.9 %

High School Diploma

4.7 %

Start to develop specific fish culturist skills

Skills	Percentages
CDL	34.07%
Trout	32.06%
Water Quality	25.48%
Fish Health	8.40%

Complete relevant fish culturist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New fish culturists learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a fish culturist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real fish culturist resumes.

Research fish culturist duties and responsibilities

Work closely with other project leads to make sure sampling protocols for Chinook, chum and steelhead are followed.
Provide technical interdisciplinary leadership in environmental impact analysis, ESA compliance, and conservation of threaten and endanger species.
Analyze and collect species composition data using random sampling methods as described by NMFS standard operating procedure.

Prepare your fish culturist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your fish culturist resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a fish culturist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Fish Culturist Resume templates

Build a professional Fish Culturist resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Fish Culturist resume.

Apply for fish culturist jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a fish culturist job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

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