Master Fisher (ANZSCO 231211)

On the Regional Occupation List

From the official Home Affairs skilled occupation lists, as at 2026-08-12. Lists change at each government update — always confirm on the official page before acting.

Which lists is Master Fisher on?

ROL — Regional Occupation List. Occupations on the ROL are limited to the regional provisional visas — mainly the Skilled Work Regional 491 and Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional 494.

Visas this occupation can access

Being on a list makes the occupation nominatable for these visas — each visa still has its own requirements (points, age, English, a positive skills assessment, and for sponsored visas a willing employer or state).

Skills assessment

A positive skills assessment for Master Fisher comes from:

What the assessment actually involves

Master Fisher is a VETASSESS Group B occupation, needing a Bachelor-level qualification through the same four trade-off pathways as the rest of Group B — qualification relevance traded against employment length, up to six years where only one need be highly relevant. VETASSESS names Fisheries Studies as the highly relevant field. On the standard skilled lists this occupation reaches only the regional Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional visa, subclass 494 — VETASSESS states that limit on its own occupation page, not only in the underlying visa list data.

Where these applications come unstuck

The published 494-only ceiling is not the whole picture, and treating it as absolute is the mistake. The Home Affairs Fishing Industry Labour Agreement template names Master Fisher, by its real ANZSCO code, across the Skills in Demand, Employer Nomination Scheme and Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional programs — a route the standard skilled lists do not otherwise permit for this code. What the template says an employer can schedule is not the same as confirmation that any specific signed agreement actually does; which of the current agreements list Master Fisher on their own negotiated schedule was not confirmed here.

An honest read on this pathway

This is a genuinely two-tier occupation. Without an employer holding a Fishing Industry Labour Agreement, Master Fisher is capped at the regional 494 pathway, and the vessel itself still needs a domestically certified skipper under the Australian Maritime Safety Authority's near coastal certificate of competency system — separate from anything VETASSESS assesses. With such an agreement in place, the visa reach genuinely widens. Anyone researching this occupation needs to establish which of those two situations actually applies before assuming either the ceiling or the opportunity.

VETASSESS assesses qualifications and employment separately. Both need documentation that agrees with itself. The Employment History Builder and Document Vault organise each trail before you lodge.

Talk it through with a registered agent

Whether nominating Master Fisher is your best route depends on your points, experience evidence and timing — exactly what a MARA-registered agent works through in an initial consultation. Describe your situation once through Migratio and compare real consultation quotes from registered agents, free.

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