How To Become A Seafood Processor: What It Is and Career Path

What is a seafood processor and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Being a seafood processor entails several job responsibilities. Working as a seafood processor can have you cleaning machinery to adhere FDA regulations, maintaining and operating machines, revising plans for regulatory compliance, cleaning stations, and performing duties in relation to fish processing for retail sale.

With the things you need to do as a seafood processor, you need to have the necessary skills for a good and smooth workflow. You need to possess dexterity to be able to accomplish physical activities using your hands. Along with this, you need to have physical strength to carry, lift, and move the objects around. Lastly, you should also know how to use technology to know about the industry you're working on.

You can be a seafood processor with a high school degree or GED. With an average salary of $20,564 a year and a job growth rate of 8%, this is a good job to consider at the moment. As long as you meet the minimum requirements like education and skills, you have a chance to land this job.

ScoreSeafood ProcessorUS Average

Salary

1.8

Avg. Salary $23,630

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.7

Growth rate 2%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

10.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.03%

Asian 7.77%

Black or African American 6.06%

Hispanic or Latino 24.10%

Unknown 3.65%

White 57.38%

Gender

female 25.97%

male 74.03%

Age - 42

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 42

Stress level

5.7

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.7

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.0

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a seafood processor

Explore seafood processor education requirements

Most common seafood processor degrees

High School Diploma

49.4 %

Bachelor's

17.7 %

Associate

13.4 %

Start to develop specific seafood processor skills

Skills	Percentages
Cleanliness	21.15%
Processing Equipment	20.01%
Gut	16.77%
Processing Plant	8.96%
Food Products	6.09%

Complete relevant seafood processor training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New seafood processors learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a seafood processor based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real seafood processor resumes.

Research seafood processor duties and responsibilities

Utilize CMMS system to address and make equipment changes to improve equipment operational uptime and minimize equipment downtime.
Work in the case-up department.
Clean machinery to FDA regulations.
Review workspace for cleanliness and safety.

Prepare your seafood processor resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your seafood processor resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a seafood processor resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable seafood processor resume templates

Build a professional seafood processor resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your seafood processor resume.