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Courtesy of NAA:

Each year the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries compiles key fisheries statistics from the previous year into an annual snapshot documenting fishing’s importance to the nation. The 2016 report provides landings totals for both domestic recreational and commercial fisheries by species and allows the tracking of important indicators such as annual seafood consumption and the productivity of top fishing ports.

Interesting facts contained in the Report include:

• Americans consumed 4.8 billion pounds of seafood in 2016. The U.S. is the world’s second largest consumer of seafood after China, according to data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
• The average American ate 14.9 pounds of fish and shellfish in 2016, a decrease of 0.6 pounds from 2015.
• The United States continues to be a major importer of seafood. Between 85 percent and 95 percent of the seafood consumed in the United States is imported, measured by edible weight. This measure has been rising in recent years reflecting an increase in imported seafood. However, a significant portion of this imported seafood is caught by American fishermen, exported overseas for processing, and then reimported to the United States.
• U.S. commercial fishermen landed 9.6 billion pounds of fish and shellfish in 2016, valued at $5.3 billion. These figures represent a small decrease in pounds (1.5%) and an increase in value (2.1%) over 2015. Volume and value remain similar to recent years.
• The U.S. aquaculture industry produced $1.4 billion worth of seafood in 2015. Because aquaculture focuses on high-value food species, the value of U.S. aquaculture production equals about 21 percent of the value of total U.S. seafood production, while the volume equals 6 percent of the total production. The top U.S. marine aquaculture species are oysters ($173 million), clams ($112 million), and Atlantic salmon ($88 million).
• While most fish caught in the United States is consumed as seafood, slightly more than 22 percent of the 2016 catch was used for other products such as pet food, fish meal, and oil.

For access to the report and infographics to easily communicate the information, please visit: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/feature-story/fisheries-united-states-2016.