Aquaculture Workers

How to become an Aquaculture Worker

Official Chinese title (2022 occupational classification): 水生动物饲养工

Also called: Marine Fish Farmer, Freshwater Fish Farmer, Sea Cucumber and Urchin Farmer, Reptile Farmer, Amphibian and Shellfish Farmer, Crustacean Farmer, Freshwater Pearl Farmer, Marine Pearl Farmer, Aquascaper

Raises fish, prawns, shellfish and other aquatic animals in ponds, sea cages and other settings and harvests them.

Main tasks

Cleaning and disinfecting ponds, cages, sheds and farming facilities, equipment and tools
Testing and adjusting water quality with water testers, aerators and other equipment
Transporting and stocking young fish and shellfish in tanks and bags
Choosing feed and feeding with automatic feeders
Spreading lime or organic fertiliser to adjust nutrients in the water
Watching growth and preventing common diseases
Catching and harvesting stock
Servicing and maintaining feeders, aerators and other farming equipment

Ways in

Vocational majors: Higher vocational college (高职专科) major: Aquaculture Technology (410401). Vocational major 410401 Aquaculture Technology (水产养殖技术), 3 years. The Ministry of Education's 2022 major profiles list this occupation among those the major prepares students for (职业面向). Example certificates: Licensed Veterinarian.; Secondary vocational school (中职) major: Mariculture (610402). Vocational major 610402 Mariculture (海水养殖), 3 years. The Ministry of Education's 2022 major profiles list this occupation among those the major prepares students for (职业面向). Example certificates: Water Environment Monitoring and Treatment.

AI and this job

Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Who does this work

The census group Fishery Production Workers holds 0.37% of everyone employed in China; 26% of its workers are women (2020 Census).
15.7% are under 35, 53.5% are 35 to 54 and 30.8% are 55 or older. The middle age band is 45 to 49.
Census figures for the whole mid group (2020 long-form sample), not for this job alone.

Questions people ask

How do I become an Aquaculture Worker?

Ways in include: Higher vocational college (高职专科) major: Aquaculture Technology (410401); Secondary vocational school (中职) major: Mariculture (610402).

Will AI change the work of an Aquaculture Worker?

Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

National Bureau of Statistics of China: China Population Census Yearbook 2020, long-form tables 4-6 and 4-7 (employed by occupation mid group, sex, age) (2020 Census long form (10% sample)), retrieved 4 October 2026
International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026

Sources: Occupational Classification of the People's Republic of China (2022 edition, public consultation draft), Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, State Administration for Market Regulation and National Bureau of Statistics; Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, 2025 enterprise pay survey information; Guangzhou Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, 2025 labour market wage prices; National Bureau of Statistics of China (www.stats.gov.cn), 2020 Population Census yearbook; Ministry of Education, vocational education major profiles (2022 revision) and undergraduate major catalogue (2025); Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, national vocational qualifications catalogue (2021); O*NET interest scores (CC BY 4.0); ILO global generative AI exposure index (CC BY 4.0). Figures processed by Peernovo. English text, translations and the matching of occupations to ISCO-08, majors, degree fields and qualifications by Peernovo.

Descriptions and tasks are Peernovo's own words, written from the facts in the Occupational Classification of the People's Republic of China (2022 edition). Job titles and work types are the classification's own.

Updated 4 October 2026