NOAA Fisheries has released their Fisheries of the United States, 2015 report, giving a profile of the nation’s fishing and seafood by the numbers. According to this latest report, in addition to strong landings and economic values for U.S. fishermen, the numbers reflect a jump in domestic seafood consumption to 15.5 pounds per person, up by nearly a full pound. U.S. dietary guidelines recommend eating 8-12 ounces of seafood each week for a healthy diet. Increased consumption of seafood is anticipated to continue into the future, underscoring the importance of domestic aquaculture as part of a sustainable seafood portfolio.
Although aquaculture figures for 2015 are not yet available, for perspective, in 2014 the top U.S. aquaculture produced species included oysters, clams, and Atlantic salmon, and generated 608 million pounds of seafood valued at $1.3 billion. This equates to 20 percent of the value and 6 percent of the volume of total U.S. production of fishery products.
Commercial fishermen landed 9.7 billion pounds of seafood valued at $5.2 billion in 2015, continuing the high landings and values of U.S. fisheries we’ve seen over the last five years. This trend underscores the collective progress of the U.S. fisheries management system, the fishery management councils and fishermen that make it work in order to ensure the sustainability and economic stability of our nation’s fisheries.
U.S. anglers took more than 60 million trips in 2015 and caught more than 350 million fish, 57 percent of which were released. The total recreational harvest was estimated at 151 million fish weighing 188 million pounds.
For in-depth details, a copy of the report and, related materials, visit the NOAA fisheries statistics webpage.
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