Farming, Fishing, and Forestry

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.

MAY 2025 · OCCUPATIONAL WAGES

A wage reference for United States.

Published wage percentiles describe a distribution within the source occupation group. They provide context for a career decision; employer packages and job offers have their own terms.

Source wage group: Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Occupations

This wage group may include multiple detailed occupations. The figures are for the source group, which may be broader than Fishing and Hunting Workers. They are not an exact-title, employer, experience or seniority match.

May 2025 · USD · United States. Annual and hourly figures are shown only when the source publishes them; neither is calculated from the other.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational wage data, distributed through the O*NET® OnLine service.

Median annual wage$36,630USD per year · Published 50th percentile
Median hourly wage$17.61USD per hour · Published 50th percentile

Annual wage thresholds

USD per year

Hourly wage thresholds

USD per hour

Published occupational wage percentiles · United States · May 2025
PercentileAnnual wage (USD/year)Hourly wage (USD/hour)
10th$31,760$15.27
25th$34,540$16.60
50th · Median$36,630$17.61
75th$44,990$21.63
90th$58,220$27.99

“≥” means at least the published amount; “≤” means at most that amount. These are bounds, not exact values. “Not published” means the source did not provide that figure. Occupational wages follow the source definition and do not establish an employer’s base salary, equity or total compensation.

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THE WORK BEHIND THE TITLE

What this career involves.

Occupation definitions describe common work. Responsibilities and requirements vary by employer and specific job.

Selected title examples

Abalone FishermanAlbacore Fishing Boat CrewmanAlligator HunterAlligator TrapperAnimal Bounty HunterAnimal Damage Control AgentAnimal TrapperBait ManBeachmanBird TrapperBlue CrabberBoat Deckhand
Expand more title examples (48)
Boat PullerBounty HunterBounty TrapperCarriage DoggerCarriage OperatorCarriage RiderCarriage SetterCat SwamperCatcherChaserChokerChummerClam DiggerClam DredgerClam PickerClam SorterClipperCommercial CrabberCommercial FisherCommercial FishermanCommercial Fishing Vessel OperatorCommercial Ocean ClammerCrab CatcherCrab FisherCrab FishermanCrabberCrew MemberCruiserDeckhandDeep Sea DiverDeer HunterDerrick FollowerDiverDiving FisherDrag SeinerDulserEelerFish CutterFish PitcherFish ProcessorFish SeinerFish Technician (Fish Tech)Fish TenderFish TrapperFisheries Technician (Fisheries Tech)FishermanFishing Vessel DeckhandFishing Vessel Mate

Typical tasks

  • Steer vessels and operate navigational instruments.
  • Remove catches from fishing equipment and measure them to ensure compliance with legal size.
  • Direct fishing or hunting operations, and supervise crew members.
  • Interpret weather and vessel conditions to determine appropriate responses.
  • Travel on foot, by vehicle, or by equipment such as boats, snowmobiles, helicopters, snowshoes, or skis to reach hunting areas.
  • 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.
Expand more tasks (23)
  • Maintain engines, fishing gear, and other on-board equipment and perform minor repairs.
  • Connect accessories such as floats, weights, flags, lights, or markers to nets, lines, or traps.
  • Wash decks, conveyors, knives, and other equipment, using brushes, detergents, and water.
  • Harvest marine life for human or animal consumption, using diving or dredging equipment, traps, barges, rods, reels, or tackle.
  • Oversee the purchase of supplies, gear, and equipment.
  • Load and unload vessel equipment and supplies, by hand or using hoisting equipment.
  • Scrape fat, blubber, or flesh from skin sides of pelts with knives or hand scrapers.
  • Patrol trap lines or nets to inspect settings, remove catch, and reset or relocate traps.
  • Locate fish, using fish-finding equipment.
  • Kill or stun trapped quarry, using clubs, poisons, guns, or drowning methods.
  • Maintain and repair trapping equipment.
  • Obtain permission from landowners to hunt or trap on their land.
  • Put fishing equipment into the water and anchor or tow equipment, according to the fishing method used.
  • Compute positions and plot courses on charts to navigate vessels, using instruments such as compasses, sextants, and charts.
  • Sort, pack, and store catch in holds with salt and ice.
  • Obtain required approvals for using poisons or traps, and notify persons in areas where traps and poison are set.
  • Track animals by checking for signs such as droppings or destruction of vegetation.
  • Skin quarry, using knives, and stretch pelts on frames to be cured.
  • Transport fish to processing plants or to buyers.
  • Attach nets, slings, hooks, blades, or lifting devices to cables, booms, hoists, or dredges.
  • Teach or guide individuals or groups unfamiliar with specific hunting methods or types of prey.
  • Release quarry from traps or nets and transfer to cages.
  • Participate in animal damage control, wildlife management, disease control, and research activities.

Skills used in this work

Coordination
Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
Critical Thinking
Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
Judgment and Decision Making
Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
Speaking
Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Monitoring
Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Time Management
Managing one's own time and the time of others.
Expand more skills (29)
Active Listening
Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Complex Problem Solving
Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
Instructing
Teaching others how to do something.
Learning Strategies
Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
Reading Comprehension
Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
Equipment Maintenance
Performing routine maintenance on equipment and determining when and what kind of maintenance is needed.
Management of Personnel Resources
Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
Operation and Control
Controlling operations of equipment or systems.
Operations Monitoring
Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
Social Perceptiveness
Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Troubleshooting
Determining causes of operating errors and deciding what to do about it.
Active Learning
Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
Equipment Selection
Determining the kind of tools and equipment needed to do a job.
Management of Material Resources
Obtaining and seeing to the appropriate use of equipment, facilities, and materials needed to do certain work.
Systems Analysis
Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
Quality Control Analysis
Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance.
Repairing
Repairing machines or systems using the needed tools.
Service Orientation
Actively looking for ways to help people.
Writing
Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
Management of Financial Resources
Determining how money will be spent to get the work done, and accounting for these expenditures.
Mathematics
Using mathematics to solve problems.
Negotiation
Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
Persuasion
Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
Systems Evaluation
Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
Science
Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.
Technology Design
Generating or adapting equipment and technology to serve user needs.
Installation
Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or programs to meet specifications.
Operations Analysis
Analyzing needs and product requirements to create a design.
Programming
Writing computer programs for various purposes.
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Sources and citation.

Cite this page: Wages.fyi, “Fishing and Hunting Workers career and wage guide.” Link to this Wages.fyi page

This page includes information from the O*NET® 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. Wages.fyi has selected and organized this information and added wage navigation and explanations. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. Database license and attribution requirements.

Official occupation profile · Official wage reference . Wage reference: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics May 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, distributed through the O*NET® OnLine service. Source data and publication dates can differ from the date this page is accessed.