Scallop fishing vessel. (Photo: Stock File)

Commercial fishing brought in USD 600 mln more last year than in 2009

UNITED STATES
Friday, September 09, 2011, 01:40 (GMT + 9)

Commercial fishers landed 8.2 billion lb of seafood last year worth USD 4.5 billion or 200 million lb and USD 600 million more than in 2009, reads a new report released this week by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

"These increases in fish landings and value are good news for our nation’s fishermen and for fishing communities, where jobs depend on healthy fish stocks,” said Eric Schwaab, assistant NOAA administrator for NOAA’s Fisheries Service. “We know fishermen are making sacrifices now to rebuild fish populations, and these efforts, combined with good science and management, support sustainable jobs for Americans.”

NOAA’s report, Fisheries of the United States 2010, showed that fisheries generated USD 166 billion in sales and supported 1.4 million direct and indirect jobs.

For the 22nd consecutive year, the Alaskan port of Dutch Harbor-Unalaska had the highest amount of fish landed, mainly pollock. For the 11th consecutive year, New Bedford, Massachusetts had the highest valued catch thanks largely to the sea scallop fishery.

Last year, commercial fishers landed 515.2 million lb of seafood in Dutch Harbour-Unalaska, up nearly 10 million lb over 2009 and climbing from USD 3.4 million to USD 163 million.

The port of New Bedford came first for values of landings at USD 306 million in 2010, a 22.8-per cent jump over 2009 -- driven by a 28 per cent increase in the per-pound price of sea scallops -- and the highest landing values in 30 years for that port. The total amount of seafood landed fell by 36.6 million lb to 133.4 million lb.

All coastal regions in the US had increases in total value of fisheries landings.

The report also states that the average American ate 15.8 lb of fish and shellfish in 2010, slight less than 2009’s 16 lb. The US remains third-ranked for consuming seafood, behind China and Japan, consuming 4.878 billion lb of seafood, just under the 2009 figure of 4.907 billion lb.

The amount of imported seafood eaten by Americans continued to rise, this time by 4 per cent to about 86 per cent. The US exports 63 per cent of its domestically produced seafood, an increase of 4 per cent over 2009.

“While we are turning a corner on ending overfishing on wild stocks, this report shows the need for US aquaculture to grow and complement wild fisheries,” said Schwaab.

In July, NOAA came out with its National Aquaculture Initiative to build up private sector investments in aquaculture and create jobs.

Related articles:

- Measures proposed to increase groundfish and scallop fishing oportunities 

- NOAA reveals top fishing ports 

By Natalia Real
[email protected]
www.seafood.media

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