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Studies & Degrees in Fisheries

Fisheries is the study of how fish and other aquatic species are caught, farmed, managed and conserved. Two production systems sit side by side in the sector: capture fisheries, which harvest wild stocks in the sea, in estuaries and in inland waters, and aquaculture, the farming of aquatic species in salt or fresh water. A fisheries programme deals with both, and with the science needed to keep stocks and habitats healthy.

Students learn fish biology and aquatic ecology, how to assess the size of a stock and set catch limits, how fish farms and hatcheries work, and the technology, economics and law of the sector. Programmes mix laboratory work with time on rivers, lakes or at sea, and they rely more and more on statistics and data analysis.

Qualifications and levels

  • Bachelor's degrees. In the United States, fisheries is usually part of a natural-resources or aquatic-science degree. At The Ohio State University it is a specialisation, Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, within the Forestry, Fisheries, and Wildlife major. The School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences of the University of Washington teaches a Bachelor of Science in Aquatic Conservation and Ecology; its earlier Bachelor of Science in Aquatic and Fishery Sciences is marked as the pre-2025 curriculum. The University of Cape Coast in Ghana offers a four-year BSc in Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences.
  • Iceland. The University of Akureyri lists a BS in Fisheries Science of 180 ECTS credits and a BS in Business Administration and Fisheries Science of 240 ECTS credits. Both are taught in Icelandic.
  • Brazil. Fisheries is an engineering degree, Engenharia de Pesca. The course at the Universidade Federal do Ceará (UFC) states that it is the second oldest in the country and offers 100 places a year.
  • Spain. At university, fishing and aquaculture are a specialisation (living resources) of the Grado en Ciencias del Mar of the Universidad de Cádiz; official bachelor's degrees have 240 ECTS credits. Vocational training (FP) has its own maritime and fishing family, with intermediate diplomas such as Técnico en Cultivos Acuícolas and Técnico en Navegación y Pesca de Litoral, and higher diplomas such as Técnico Superior en Acuicultura (2,000 hours) and Técnico Superior en Transporte Marítimo y Pesca de Altura.
  • Master's degrees and doctorates. The University of Washington awards an MS and a PhD in aquatic and fishery sciences; the MS normally requires a research-based thesis. The University of Jyväskylä has a two-year master's in Aquatic Sciences (120 ECTS credits, taught in English) centred on freshwater systems. The one-year MSc in Marine Biology of University College Cork includes modules in fisheries and aquaculture.

Where to study fisheries

SpainExchange lists 26 active schools for fisheries. Fourteen are in the United States and four in Spain. Ghana has two, and Indonesia, Iceland, Canada, Finland, Ireland and Brazil have one each. In the United States the list includes The Ohio State University, the University of Washington, Oregon State University, Purdue University, Colorado State University and the University of California, Davis. In Spain it includes the Universidad de Cádiz, the Universidad de Murcia and the Universitat de Barcelona. Elsewhere there are the University of Akureyri, the University of Jyväskylä, University College Cork, the University of Cape Coast, the University of Ghana and UFC.

Location shapes the content. Inland universities concentrate on freshwater fisheries in lakes and rivers, while coastal ones work on marine stocks and aquaculture. The language of instruction also varies: Icelandic in Akureyri, Portuguese in Brazil, Spanish in Spain, and English for the master's programmes in Jyväskylä and Cork.

Careers

Graduates work as fisheries biologists and stock-assessment scientists in public agencies and research institutes, as managers and technicians of fish farms and hatcheries, in seafood processing and quality control, and in conservation organisations and consultancies. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) groups fish scientists with zoologists and wildlife biologists. It states that a bachelor's degree is typically needed for entry-level positions and a master's degree may be needed for higher-level jobs, and it projects employment in that group to grow 4 percent from 2025 to 2035.

Working on a fishing vessel is a different path. The BLS notes that fishing workers usually learn on the job, and it projects their employment in the United States to decline 4 percent from 2025 to 2035. Worldwide the sector is large: the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) estimates that 61.8 million people worked in the primary sector of fisheries and aquaculture in 2022, about 22 million of them in aquaculture.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between fisheries and aquaculture?

Capture fisheries harvest wild fish and shellfish; aquaculture farms aquatic species. Most fisheries programmes cover both.

Is fisheries the same as marine biology?

No. Marine biology studies life in the sea in general. Fisheries is applied: it covers freshwater as well as marine species and adds stock assessment, management, technology and economics.

Can I study fisheries in Spain without going to university?

Yes. Vocational training has a maritime and fishing family with intermediate and higher diplomas in aquaculture and in navigation and fishing. The higher diploma in aquaculture lasts 2,000 hours.

Can I study fisheries in English in Europe?

At master's level, yes: the Aquatic Sciences programme in Jyväskylä and the Marine Biology MSc in Cork are examples. The fisheries degrees in Akureyri are taught in Icelandic.