fish canning operator
Fish canning operators brine, cook and package fish. They sterilise fish canning lines and introduce fishes in tanks once heads and visceras have been removed from the body. They tend cooking stoves to preheat the fish, and fill the cans either manually or mechanically with fish, olive oil or other products.
fish canning operator fish canning operators brine, cook and package fish. They sterilise fish canning lines and introduce fishes in tanks once heads and visceras have been removed from the body. The role shows moderate AI exposure (0.50 on a 0-1 scale) — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. The most in-demand skills for the role include food canning production line, food storage, food preservation, maintain cutting equipment, tolerate strong smells.
Pay in the UK
UK: median £28,243 a year for Food, drink and tobacco process operatives (ONS ASHE 2025, full-time)
Middle half of full-time jobs: £24,471 to £33,889 a year
UK jobs are grouped differently; this is the closest UK occupation group (ONS SOC 2020 8111). ONS rates this estimate precise. 2025 provisional figures; ONS revises them a year later. Source: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (Open Government Licence)
Pay in India (occupation group)
Average monthly earnings of salaried employees in the occupation group “Plant and machine operators and assemblers” in India, from the Government of India's Periodic Labour Force Survey (January–December 2025). It covers everyone in this group, not only fish canning operator, and it is not US pay converted to rupees.
Source: MoSPI (Government of India), Periodic Labour Force Survey Annual Report 2025, Table 51 — average wage/salary earnings of regular wage/salaried employees, NCO-2015 division 8. Official India data gives one average per occupation group: there are no official India figures for single careers, experience levels or cities. Read the report
Top skills
Knowledge you'll build
- Production and Processing
- Food Production
- Administration and Management
- Education and Training
- Mechanical
- English Language
- Computers and Electronics
- Customer and Personal Service
What you'd actually do
- Clean, wash, and sterilize equipment and cooking area, using water hoses, cleaning or sterilizing solutions, or rinses.
- Read work orders, recipes, or formulas to determine cooking times and temperatures, and ingredient specifications.
- Observe gauges, dials, and product characteristics, and adjust controls to maintain appropriate temperature, pressure, and flow of ingredients.
- Measure or weigh ingredients, using scales or measuring containers.
- Tend or operate and control equipment, such as kettles, cookers, vats and tanks, and boilers, to cook ingredients or prepare products for further processing.
- Record production and test data, such as processing steps, temperature and steam readings, cooking time, batches processed, and test results.
Tools & technology you'd use
Frequently asked questions
What does fish canning operator do?
Fish canning operators brine, cook and package fish. They sterilise fish canning lines and introduce fishes in tanks once heads and visceras have been removed from the body. They tend cooking stoves to preheat the fish, and fill the cans either manually or mechanically with fish, olive oil or other products.
What skills does fish canning operator need?
The most in-demand skills for this role include food canning production line, food storage, food preservation, maintain cutting equipment, tolerate strong smells, ensure sanitation. These are the skills O*NET identifies as most important for competent performance.
Will AI replace fish canning operator?
Our AI-durability model gives fish canning operator a score of 0.50 on a 0-1 scale (higher = more exposure). That places it at moderate AI exposure — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. Learning to work with AI tools rather than against them is the path forward.