This article describes the patterns of occupational mobility of hake fishermen through a quantitative analysis of their occupational aspirations and expectations. The methodology considers the use of secondary data collected through a survey administered to 302 fishermen applied in inlets of the Bio Bio Region in Chile. The results indicate an identity component in the occupational mobility which influences workers´ aspirations and expectations with respect to themselves and their children. Subjectively, the traditional dimension of the trade is characterized by the importance of work in the dentity of individuals, by the permanency in the sector, by the intergenerational transmission of the trade, in the presence of family businesses around fishing and in the denial to change jobs.