Aquaculture Manager
Impact: Sustainable seafood production and food security through expert aquaculture management
Manage the farming of fish, shellfish, and aquatic plants in controlled environments. Oversee water quality, feeding programmes, disease management, harvest operations, and regulatory compliance to produce sustainable seafood products.
What the day looks like
- People interaction
- Moderate
- Team vs solo
- 55% Team / 45% Solo
- Client facing
- Sometimes
- Impact visibility
- Moderate
- Travel
- 10 to 20% for industry events and site visits
- Schedule flexibility
- Structured
- Remote work
- Hybrid
- Typical work hours
- 45 to 60 hours/week
- Stress level
- Moderate
At a glance
- Median salary
- $90,000
- Entry-level
- $50,000 - $70,000
- Senior
- $140,000+
- Growth by 2033
- 10% (faster than average)
- Demand
- Growing
- Freelance potential
- Low
- Salary growth potential
- High - 65 to 80% growth from entry to senior
- Typical student debt
- $20,000 - $55,000
Skills you'll use
Hard skills
- Aquatic biology
- Water quality management
- Fish health
- Feeding systems
- Harvest operations
- Regulatory compliance
Soft skills
- Technical knowledge
- Problem-solving
- Leadership
- Attention to detail
- Environmental awareness
Technical complexity: Moderate
How to get there
- Minimum education
- Bachelor's Degree
- Licensing
- No
- Years to mid-career
- 2 to 4 years
- Years to senior
- 5 to 8 years
- Career switching
- Moderate
Where this career leads
How people arrive here
Where you can go from here
Typical progression
- Aquaculture Technician > Aquaculture Manager > Senior Manager > Director of Aquaculture > VP of Operations
Future outlook
- Automation probability
- 15% low risk as aquaculture management requires hands-on expertise
- AI disruption risk
- Low
- Demand trend
- Growing
How people feel about it
- Overall satisfaction
- 7.5/10
- Meaning
- 7.8/10
- Work-life balance
- 6.8/10
- Prestige
- 6.8/10
- Social perception
- Moderate