Fisheries officer : Career development

Promotion and career development opportunities vary with employer. Many sports fisheries and fish farms are small enterprises, which can limit prospects. To gain supervisory or management experience it may be necessary to move.

Progression and career structures are fairly well defined within the public sector, but promotion can depend upon meeting performance targets. There is some room to progress into a more specialised technical role or into team leader and management roles, which may involve taking a more strategic view of fisheries issues, resources planning and people management.

It can be very helpful to be flexible in your career. Some fisheries officers move into policy development within government or into private consultancy. Another route is into further or higher education lecturing and research in colleges or universities which offer relevant courses, although these options may require relocation.

Depending on your educational background and experience, another option could be progression into fisheries science with organisations such as The Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS)  and the Scottish Fisheries Research Services (FRS).