Careers with fish

[mikeISright]

Love keeping fish and wanted to know if there was anything past the hobby that i could do. I know of careers i just want to know first hand accounts of people with these careers and advice they could offer

 

[Pckerfreak44]

I was literally thinking this same thing today haha

 

[mikeISright]

Well ill be heading to college next year and i love fish and ive always been addicted to them. Anybody thats had experience i would love to know!

 

[christine2012]

I'd like to know too. I'm 26 and still don't know what I want to do when I grow up. All I know is I'm crazy about the hobby, and I'd love to make it more than a hobby!

 

[Ziggs180]

Besides owning your own store, the only thing I could see involving fish is being a Wild life naturalist, zoologist, some sort of aquatic park ranger, professional diver, etc etc.

 

[mikeISright]

Well owning my own store is an option haha. What kind of degree would i need for that?

 

[christine2012]

I couldn't own a store. I'd be entirely too honest with customers resulting in no profit!

 

[mikeISright]

Lol i would be honest but also keep my stock in perfect condition... Well good condition at least.

 

[Samzter]

I couldn't own a store. I'd be entirely too honest with customers resulting in no profit!

Agreed.. I know you have ro make money but I could live with the "common pleco" mistake lol.

 

[christine2012]

Agreed.. I know you have ro make money but I could live with the "common pleco" mistake lol.

They got my husband with that one. Now I have a 5" common in my cichlids tank. Ugh... he wont let me get rid of it either!

 

[MrPillow]

There's plenty you can do career-wise related to fish, it just depends on how far from aquariums you are willing to stray.Personally, I spent 6 years in college studying aquatic sciences, and have degrees in coastal ecology as well as fisheries/mariculture studies. I was in line to finish up another program, but ended up opting out partway through due to money/employment opportunities. After/during school I worked for a few years with Texas Parks & Wildlife in their hatcheries programs, working on gamefish stocking, population management, etc. Not exactly aquariums per say, but I did get to deal with big tanks full of big fish Plenty of ways you can go from commercial sales, private businesses, government work, corporate, etc.

 

[mikeISright]

There's plenty you can do career-wise related to fish, it just depends on how far from aquariums you are willing to stray.Personally, I spent 6 years in college studying aquatic sciences, and have degrees in coastal ecology as well as fisheries/mariculture studies. I was in line to finish up another program, but ended up opting out partway through due to money/employment opportunities. After/during school I worked for a few years with Texas Parks & Wildlife in their hatcheries programs, working on gamefish stocking, population management, etc. Not exactly aquariums per say, but I did get to deal with big tanks full of big fish Plenty of ways you can go from commercial sales, private businesses, government work, corporate, etc.

Wow thank you that helped a bunch. And i dont want to dig to deep into your business, but where is the money nowadays in those businesses listed above?

 

[MrPillow]

Money? There is no money. If you're hoping to be even remotely wealth, look elsewhere quick.

 

[mikeISright]

Haha so none of these offer any form of good money? And im not only in it for the money.. But still thats a big factor

 

[MrPillow]

You can make a living with some positions, but rarely more than decent. Often less. I got out of the field because I had trouble making ends meet, especially with the current reductions in government funding. Starting pay with a bachelors for government work seems to fluctuate around the $25-40k area, increases slightly as you inch up the ladder. Corporate would I imagine be the best chance of bringing home any surplus cash, but I never looked into that side of it very much. We did contract work for corporations rather frequently, the trend lately seemed to be in favor of dropping retainer employees in the field and deferring work to gov agencies.

 

[mikeISright]

You can make a living with some positions, but rarely more than decent. Often less. I got out of the field because I had trouble making ends meet, especially with the current reductions in government funding. Starting pay with a bachelors for government work seems to fluctuate around the $25-40k area, increases slightly as you inch up the ladder. Corporate would I imagine be the best chance of bringing home any surplus cash, but I never looked into that side of it very much. We did contract work for corporations rather frequently, the trend lately seemed to be in favor of dropping retainer employees in the field and deferring work to gov agencies.

Oh wow ok. Im starting to think maybe this should just stay a hobby..

 

[paytertot]

I want to have a fish store in town when I'm older. I'd like to see a store where they know what they're doing. Not to say I know it all, but I honestly think I know more than the lfs employees around here.

 

[mikeISright]

I want to have a fish store in town when I'm older. I'd like to see a store where they know what they're doing. Not to say I know it all, but I honestly think I know more than the lfs employees around here.

I completely agree!

 

[Pckerfreak44]

I was thinking about just bein a fish breeder as like a side job. That's probably the best ur gonna get haha. Maybe marine biologist?

 

[mikeISright]

Yeah will probably just end up doing that also lol.