# Fishing and Hunting Workers

US SOC code 45-3031. Markdown version of https://futurehistory.earth/timeline/45-3031

## In brief

In 2025, BLS counted **28,200** US fishing and hunting workers, including the self-employed. The earliest figure here is [a Census count](https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/1943/demo/occ-1870-1930-ch2.pdf) of **27,871** from 1870, not measured the same way as today's count. The current technology era for fishing and hunting workers: Electronic monitoring cameras and AI-assisted catch review, since 2015.

Figures: Official statistic (latest count); Researched context (earliest figure).

## What the sources say

### Official outlook

BLS projects employment to decline 4.2% from 2025 to 2035. Source: [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=45-3031&ioType=o) (Official statistic).

### AI exposure studies

- **0.9%** of this job's tasks are exposed to large language models. Not a forecast of job losses. [Eloundou and others, 2023](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv) (Official statistic)

Data as of BLS Employment Projections 2025-35.

## Fishing and Hunting Workers employment and pay by year

- On record since: 1700
- Latest US employment: 28,200 (2025). Source: BLS Employment Projections 2025 [3]
- Outlook: -4.2% by 2035. Source: BLS Employment Projections 2025-35 [13]

### All 12 years of cited US data

| Year | US employment | Annual pay (median unless marked) | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1870 | 27,871 | n/a | Decennial Census 1870 [1] |
| 1880 | 41,352 | n/a | Decennial Census 1880 [1] |
| 1890 | 60,162 | n/a | Decennial Census 1890 [1] |
| 1900 | 69,000 | n/a | Decennial Census 1900 [2] |
| 1910 | 68,000 | n/a | Decennial Census 1910 [2] |
| 1920 | 53,000 | n/a | Decennial Census 1920 [2] |
| 1930 | 73,000 | n/a | Decennial Census 1930 [2] |
| 1940 | 64,000 | n/a | Decennial Census 1940 [2] |
| 1950 | 75,000 | n/a | Decennial Census 1950 [2] |
| 1960 | 41,000 | n/a | Decennial Census 1960 [2] |
| 1970 | 31,000 | n/a | Decennial Census 1970 [2] |
| 2025 | 28,200 | n/a | BLS Employment Projections 2025 [3] |

## Sources (22)

### Employment series

1. [US Census Bureau, Comparative Occupation Statistics for the United States, 1870 to 1940 (Edwards, 1943), Part II, Table 8, p. 104: Fishermen and oystermen, 1870](https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/1943/demo/occ-1870-1930-ch2.pdf), US Census Bureau
2. [Historical Statistics of the United States, Colonial Times to 1970, Series D 607 (Fishermen and oystermen), p. 145: 1900](https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/1975/compendia/hist_stats_colonial-1970/hist_stats_colonial-1970p1-chD.pdf), US Census Bureau
3. [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35, National Employment Matrix (occupation.xlsx, Table 1.2, archived copy): 45-3031 Fishing and hunting workers, 28.2 thousand jobs in 2025](https://web.archive.org/web/20260901010043/https://www.bls.gov/emp/ind-occ-matrix/occupation.xlsx), Bureau of Labor Statistics

### Tool eras

4. [NOAA Fisheries, Northeast Fisheries Science Center, "A Brief History of the Groundfishing Industry of New England"](https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/new-england-mid-atlantic/commercial-fishing/brief-history-groundfishing-industry-new-england), NOAA Fisheries
5. [Knaggs, E. H., "San Pedro Wetfish Fleet: Major Purse-Seine Gear Changes, 1952-1972", Marine Fisheries Review (NMFS)](https://spo.nmfs.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/pdf-content/MFR/mfr345-6/mfr345-62.pdf), NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service
6. [NOAA Fisheries, "Magnuson-Stevens Act at 50: Charting a Course to Sustainable Fisheries"](https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/feature-story/magnuson-stevens-act-50-charting-course-sustainable-fisheries), NOAA Fisheries
7. [Environment Hawaii, "Council Limits Permits, Requires Satellite Monitoring of Longline Fleet" (Vol. 6, No. 4, October 1995)](https://environment-hawaii.org/council-limits-permits-requires-satellite-monitoring-of-longline-fleet/), Environment Hawaii
8. [NOAA Fisheries, "What is the vessel monitoring system?"](https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/node/696), NOAA Fisheries
9. [US GAO, "Individual Fishing Quotas: Better Information Could Improve Program Management" (GAO-03-159, December 2002)](https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-03-159.pdf), US Government Accountability Office
10. [NOAA Fisheries, "Catch Shares"](https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/sustainable-fisheries/catch-shares), NOAA Fisheries
11. [NOAA Fisheries, "U.S. Fishermen Get Cameras To Track Bycatch" (2015)](https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/feature-story/us-fishermen-get-cameras-track-bycatch), NOAA Fisheries
12. [NOAA Technology Partnerships Office, "SBIR Success Story: AI innovation helps commercial fishing save time, money, and manpower" (2026)](https://techpartnerships.noaa.gov/?p=11812), NOAA Technology Partnerships Office

### Forecasts and exposure studies

13. [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35, National Employment Matrix: 45-3031 Fishing and hunting workers (2025: 28.2 thousand; 2035: 27.0 thousand; -4.2%)](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=45-3031&ioType=o), Bureau of Labor Statistics
14. [Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin & Rock (2023), "GPTs are GPTs", occupation-level exposure data occ\_level.csv (O\*NET-SOC 45-3031.00, human-rated β 0.009)](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv), OpenAI

### Historical notes

15. [NOAA Fisheries, Northeast Fisheries Science Center, "A Brief History of the Groundfishing Industry of New England"](https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/new-england-mid-atlantic/commercial-fishing/brief-history-groundfishing-industry-new-england), NOAA Fisheries
16. [NOAA Fisheries, "Magnuson-Stevens Act at 50: Charting a Course to Sustainable Fisheries"](https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/feature-story/magnuson-stevens-act-50-charting-course-sustainable-fisheries), NOAA Fisheries
17. [Christian Science Monitor, "Georges Bank Closes, Ending an Era" (December 12, 1994)](https://www.csmonitor.com/1994/1212/12014.html), Christian Science Monitor
18. [CDC NIOSH, Maritime Safety and Health: Commercial Fishing](https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/maritime/about/commercial-fishing.html), CDC National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
19. [NOAA Fisheries, "Fisheries of the United States" (2023 highlights)](https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/commercial-fishing/fisheries-united-states), NOAA Fisheries

### Predecessors & successors

20. [NOAA Fisheries, "Tide to Table Profiles: Atlantic Sea Farms" (2021)](https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/feature-story/tide-table-profiles-atlantic-sea-farms), NOAA Fisheries

### Present-day analysis

- [Eloundou et al. 2024 — GPTs are GPTs (Science)](https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130), accessed 2026-05-21
- [O\*NET 30.3 — US Department of Labor](https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html), accessed 2026-05-21

How to read these figures: https://futurehistory.earth/methodology. Every figure links to its own source; gaps stay gaps.