Fisheries Law Enforcement and Security Jobs

Holdings of aquaculture companies around the world are worth billions of dollars. Therefore, protection of these holdings is very important to these companies.

Within the United States, much of this protection falls within federal and state government personnel, such as The U. S. Coast Guard, or to private security companies. Internationally, however, the fishery officer plays a prominent part in this role. In Canada, the United Kingdom and the European Union, for example, fisheries are protected through a series of fishery laws and acts which are enforced by government fisheries officers.

Responsibilities for a fishery officer typically fall into two main areas: protection of relevant fisheries and enforcement of pertinent legislation. In regards to fisheries protection, a fishery officer will patrol wild fishery habitat and man-made fish farms, in addition to periodically inspect fishing vessels for adherence to local fishing regulations. The inspections will also serve as data collection for recording annual fishing harvests or documenting the impact of various aquatic species diseases. Note – if you’re interested in a career in law enforcement then check out that section of JobMonkey too.

Legislation enforcement is commonly a task for fishery officers employed by private or public aquaculture companies.

Fines can result if proper fish farm practices are not met, specifically in the environmental arena and the fishery officer can be responsible for ensuring the proper practices are followed to meet environmental regulations.

The fishery officer may have an educational background in either aquaculture or law enforcement. Employers look for the accompanying field experience if an applicant has only one of those backgrounds. Most fishery officer applicants will go through a training period to become familiar with their area of responsibility, both from the security standpoint and the specific aquaculture requirements.

A starting salary for a fishery officer would range between US$35,000 to US$45,000 annually, with appropriate increases resulting from experience and time spent in various roles.

The working conditions for a fishery officer are not that different as that for fishing crew members. An officer candidate must be both physically and mentally fit. The job can be lonely, as the officer may be in the field for an extended period of time. The job responsibilities must be fulfilled regardless of weather conditions, so a tolerance of working in inclement weather is required. Working all hours of the day are required also, typically in rotating shifts over several weeks at a time with other fishery officers. A fishery officer must also have excellent people skills because the range of individuals he/she will come in contact varies from local fishermen to governmental legislators.