# Fish related Jobs/Careers



## howmany (Jul 1, 2009)

I am currently a Junior in High School, and almost 17. I love keeping, and taking care of fish, as well as everything related. *** been keeping Cichlids for about 4 years now. I still have time to be thinking about what direction I want to go for a career, and I would love to pursue something fish/marine related. Anyway, I was wondering what kind of jobs are out there, if any of you guys on here have jobs related to this, or if It is just a hobby. I just want to gather some ideas. Thanks in advance


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## Narwhal72 (Sep 26, 2006)

I worked in a large fish store in high school, left there to go to college in Fl. and got a BS in aquaculture. Spent 6 months interning at a cichlid farm in Florida. Liked it a lot but it didn't pay the bills. Went back to the fish store I worked at in high school. Worked there for a number of years, managing and doing aquarium maintenance but wasn't happy and was feeling dead ended. Left there and went to work in R&D for a major aquarium manufacturer and couldn't be happier.

There are jobs out there but sometimes you have to go through a bunch of them until you find the right one.

Andy


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## Guams (Aug 21, 2009)

I have a BS in Natural Resource Management, but if I could go back I would change over to Fisheries Management. There are state and federal jobs in NR/fisheries management.

My career choice has nothing to do with fish-keeping, and I like it that way. My tanks are how I wind down from work when I get home.


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## fmueller (Jan 11, 2004)

There is an easy way to make a small fortune with fish - you have to start with a large fortune


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## mok3t (Nov 28, 2008)

I started working sorta part-time at a newly opened fish shop just before Xmas.

I enjoy the job, but i gotta say, after a few hours of cleaning tanks i REALLY dont feel like doing mine when i get home


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## frank1rizzo (Mar 14, 2005)

fmueller said:


> There is an easy way to make a small fortune with fish - you have to start with a large fortune


hahaha


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## tirzo13 (May 26, 2004)

Texas A&M has a good program.
Humboldt state also, can also do a minor in with diving there.
The bay area universities study at Moss Landing Marine Laboratories and Monterey Bay.
UC San Diego is with Scripps Institute.
Florida and Hawaii have excellent diving with their programs!

At any rate, you can get a good paying job, with excellent retirement here in California in fisheries for the state government.
Managing Salmon hatcheries, studying the rivers, lakes and ocean.
In general you wont get rich, but you will be paid fairly to do something you like AND get a pension which pretty much does not exist for anyone else anymore.
Ask most people you know, they are not going to have anything for retirement and are pretty much going to work till they can't.
Working for the government i can retire at 55, with a pension and medical set up for me.
55 seems like along way away, but trust me, i remember Junior year like it was yesterday. (Felicity where are you!) 
I'm very envious of my friends who took a government job right out of high school and at 40yo have 20 years service! Or those that retired from the military.
All set, and young enough to do something else they love, no matter the pay!

Anyway, I also have friends who teach at Universities, and they pretty much get paid to travel a couple times a year to study fish, not a bad deal.

As far as starting your own fish business, its pretty much a loss like most business ventures or break even at best.
For every person like Gary B. who founded Zoomed, many people lose their (and their families)shirt.

So my suggestion is if you can get a government or tenured university job in fisheries you will be taken care of and your future will be set. 
Most other things will be just a paycheck, though may pay your bills and be content day to day, most likely will not prepare you for your future.


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## Nina_b (Jan 3, 2011)

+1 on getting a degree in something fish related.
Something not mentioned here is a marine/freshwater biologist. There are always research opportunities, and although jobs may be scarce, aquariums and the government will always need a few. This has the back door of going into academia, conferences, teaching, research and publishing really is a very meaninful way to make a living (It's what I do, although I'm in anthropology, not biology).

If studying further is not on the cards, why not find out from breeders or clubs in your area what kinds of opportunities there are? I agree with the above that pet shops (or fish shops) are risky at best. There are some successes out there, though, and working for one of those as an intern/assistant/algae scrubber will give you some idea of how to proceed, as well as some cash (not much though) to get yourself started.

Every job is both rewarding and hard work. They all have frustrating aspects, and nicer aspects. None of the above will make you rich. I say dream big, but keep a realistic path in mind to reach those dreams.


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## demonsoni (Feb 10, 2006)

I wanted to work with fish. Went to school and started a degree in freshwater and marine biology. Changed schools and majored in Fisheries Management. Quickly realized I wanted to work with fish on a deeper level, changed majors to Evolutionary Biology and Ecology. By this time I was super close to graduating and I had missed countless chances to do fish research with the college and countless other ecological research opportunities. If I had been sooner I would probably have went on to get a masters studying whatever I wanted while heavily researching fish. I did work for my states EPA for a summer, catching thousands of native fish, weighing and identifying them. That was awesome. I got my B.S. and now I test soap for a fortune 500 company. Life is funny like that. But I have a great hobby that is not ruined by my work.


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## slapfish (Mar 19, 2011)

u lot got some good sounding jobs


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## howmany (Jul 1, 2009)

Thank you all for your reply's, I appreciate all the input and ideas.


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## JustusAugustus (Mar 13, 2011)

I have a real job in addition to this but put up an add on craigslist for tank cleaning or something, its a quick way to make a little extra money.


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