The Datum Report

Occupation 1212 · Managers, directors and senior officials

Managers and proprietors in forestry, fishing and related services

Half of full-time managers and proprietors in forestry, fishing and related services in the UK earn more than £33,011 a year, and half earn less.

Managers and proprietors in this unit group plan, organise and co-ordinate the activities and resources of forestry, fishing, animal husbandry and related operations and establishments.

How people enter it

Whilst no formal qualifications are required for proprietors in this area, forestry managers usually require a degree or equivalent qualification in forestry and prior relevant work experience. BTEC qualifications in fish farm management are available. Skippers of offshore fishing vessels require prior work experience and must undertake basic safety training by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. Apprenticeships are available in some areas. Minimum age limits may apply in some areas of employment.

What the work involves

• determines financial, staffing and other short- and long-term needs
• manages and trains staff
• decides, or advises on, type of animal to be bred and/or trained, and selects, buys and trains animals accordingly
• plans and directs the establishment and maintenance of forest /woodland areas and regularly inspects forest work
• liaises with neighbouring landowners, contractors and local authorities
• oversees facilities such as visitor centres, nature trails, footpaths, etc.
• selects suitable breeding grounds for shellfish, sea and freshwater fish and purchases stock
• arranges rearing and feeding and ensures health of fish stocks
• oversees maintenance of equipment and fish habitats
• plans fishing voyages, maintains vessel/s and equipment and oversees operational safety
• arranges for sale of catch, liaises with onshore agents
• ensures observance of maritime laws and international fishing regulations

Also called

Cattery owner · Fish farm owner · Forest manager · Owner (landscape gardening) · Racehorse trainer

What it pays

How pay has changed

Median gross annual pay for managers and proprietors in forestry, fishing and related services, full-time employees, 2023 to 2025. Each point is that year's ASHE April snapshot as published — revisions are not backfilled into earlier years, and a year ONS withheld is a gap rather than a joined line.

ONS, ASHE Table 14 - occupation by four-digit SOC (national). Table

Year-on-year change

The change from each year to the next, in per cent, computed from the figures in the chart above — so the two cannot disagree.

ONS, ASHE Table 14 - occupation by four-digit SOC (national). Table

Pay by region

Median gross annual pay for full-time employees, ranked, against the UK figure. 0 of 11 regions are published: ONS withholds a cell where the survey sample cannot support it, and those are shown as gaps rather than dropped — an absent region is not a region without the work in it.

ONS, ASHE Table 14 - occupation by four-digit SOC (national). Period 2025. Table

Every regional figure

ONS does not publish occupational pay below region. Cells the survey could not support are shown as withheld, with its reason — adding a region split to a specific occupation leaves roughly a tenth of cells publishable.

Common questions

Classified alongside this

Managers and proprietors in agriculture and horticulture