Description
Catch fish and other aquatic life using nets aboard commercial fishing vessels. Set, monitor, and haul nets; handle and preserve catch; operate and maintain gear and vessel systems; and follow safety and fisheries regulations.
- • Prepare, rig, and inspect nets, lines, floats, weights, and bridles before departure.
- • Travel by vessel to fishing grounds and coordinate set locations.
- • Steer vessels and operate navigational and communication equipment.
- • Attach nets to power blocks, winches, booms, and reels.
- • Compute positions and plot courses using GPS, charts, and compasses.
- • Locate schools of fish using sonar and fish-finding instruments.
- • Deploy, anchor, tow, or purse nets according to method and conditions.
- • Operate power blocks, capstans, net reels, and winches to haul and stack nets.
- • Monitor net depth, spread, and tension; adjust doors, floats, and weights.
- • Patrol and tend nets, inspect settings, remove catch, and reset or relocate gear.
- • Remove catch from nets and measure to ensure legal size and species compliance.
- • Release non-target or undersized species safely back to the water.
- • Sort, grade, and ice or chill catch; stow in holds with salt and ice.
- • Maintain engines, hydraulics, and on-board equipment; perform minor repairs.
- • Maintain and mend nets, webbing, and rigging; splice and replace lines.
- • Interpret weather, sea state, and vessel conditions to determine safe operations.
- • Wash and sanitize decks, holds, conveyors, knives, and gear.
- • Connect and check lights, flags, and markers on nets for visibility and compliance.
- • Load and unload gear, provisions, and supplies by hand or with hoisting equipment.
- • Record catch, effort, bycatch, and location data for logs and regulatory reporting.
- • Comply with quotas, seasons, area closures, and gear restrictions.
- • Offload and transport catch to buyers or processors.
- • Direct net-fishing operations and supervise crew members as assigned.
- • Train new crew in net handling, deck safety, and catch processing.
- • Oversee purchasing of nets, floats, weights, fuel, and vessel supplies.
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Agriculture
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Tasks & skills:
O*NET occupational data (work activities, skills, knowledge).
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This site includes information from O*NET by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. Career Clutch has modified some of this information for student readability. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Last reviewed: Jan 2026
