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Fisheries Sciences Major

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Fisheries Sciences

298 Bachelor's Degrees Annually
41 Master's Degrees Annually
#237 in Popularity
$50,790 Median Salary

Types of Degrees Fisheries Sciences Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many fisheries sciences graduations there were in 2020-2021 for each degree level.

Education Level Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree 298
Graduate Certificate 56
Associate Degree 43
Master’s Degree 41
Basic Certificate 30
Doctor’s Degree 9
Undergraduate Certificate 6

What Fisheries Sciences Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, fisheries majors were asked to rate what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important in their occupations. These answers were weighted on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the most important.

Knowledge Areas for Fisheries Majors

This major prepares you for careers in which these knowledge areas are important:

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  • Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
  • Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
  • Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
  • English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
  • Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

Skills for Fisheries Majors

fisheries majors are found most commonly in careers in which the following skills are important:

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  • Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
  • 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.
  • Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
  • Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
  • Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

Abilities for Fisheries Majors

As a fisheries major, you will find yourself needing the following abilities:

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  • Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
  • Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
  • Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
  • Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
  • Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.

What Can You Do With a Fisheries Sciences Major?

People with a fisheries degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title Job Growth Rate Median Salary
First-Line Supervisors of Aquacultural Workers 2.1% $46,960
Fish and Game Wardens 4.3% $57,710

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Fisheries Sciences?

298 Bachelor's Degrees Annually
42% Percent Women
13% Percent Racial-Ethnic Minorities*
This is a less frequently chosen undergraduate major. Only 298 students graduated with a bachelor’s degree in fisheries sciences in 2021, making it rank #237 in popularity. This major tends to be male dominated. About 58% of recent graduates are men.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of fisheries majors is as follows:

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Race/Ethnicity Number of Grads
Asian 2
Black or African American 2
Hispanic or Latino 19
White 251
International Students 2
Other Races/Ethnicities 22

Geographic Diversity

Fisheries appeals to people across the globe. About 0.7% of those with this major are international students. The most popular countries for students from outside the country are:

  • Japan
  • China
  • Ghana
  • Colombia
  • Mexico

How Much Do Fisheries Sciences Majors Make?

Bachelor’s Degree Starting Salary

According to 2019-2020 data from the U.S. Department of Education, students who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in fisheries have a median salary of $27,857 during the early years of their career. During this timeframe, most salaries fell between $24,363 (25th percentile) and $29,135 (75th percentile).

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One thing to note here is that not all of these people may be working in careers related to fisheries.

Salaries According to BLS

Average salaries range from $50,790 to $59,260 (25th to 75th percentile) for careers related to fisheries. This range includes all degree levels, so you may expect those with a more advanced degree to make more while those with less advanced degrees will typically make less.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Median Salary for a Fisheries Sciences Major  ( 50790 to 59260 )
0K
250K
Median Salary for a High School Graduate  ( 30000 to 57900 )
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250K
Median Salary for a Bachelor's Degree Holder  ( 45600 to 99000 )
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250K
Median Salary for an Advanced Degree Holder  ( 55600 to 125400 )
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250K

Some degrees associated with fisheries may require an advanced degree, while others may not even require a bachelor’s in the field. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to fisheries have obtained the following education levels.

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Education Level Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma 20.4%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED) 21.2%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production) 3.7%
Some College Courses 2.9%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree) 2.3%
Bachelor’s Degree 44.5%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master. 3.2%
Master’s Degree 1.5%

Online Fisheries Sciences Programs

In 2020-2021, 29 schools offered a fisheries program of some type. The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level Colleges Offering Programs Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year) 0 0
Certificate (1-2 years) 2 1
Certificate (2-4 Years) 0 0
Associate’s Degree 5 1
Bachelor’s Degree 2 0
Post-Baccalaureate 0 0
Master’s Degree 9 1
Post-Master’s 1 0
Doctor’s Degree (Research) 6 0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice) 0 0
Doctor’s Degree (Other) 0 0

Is a Degree in Fisheries Sciences Worth It?

The median salary for a fisheries grad is $50,790 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 27% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $217,800 after 20 years!

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You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to fisheries.

Major Number of Grads
Natural Resources Conservation 22,254
Natural Resource Management 2,933
Wildlife Management 2,449
Forestry 2,233
Natural Resources Conservation (Other) 151

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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