Dutch Harbor, Alaska, and New Bedford, Mass., are once again the United States’ top fishing ports.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Wednesday released its annual list of the country’s leading fishing ports.
For the 20th consecutive year, Dutch Harbor ranked No. 1 in terms of volume. Commercial fishermen landed 612.7 million pounds of seafood, mostly Alaska pollock, in Dutch Harbor in 2008. That’s down from 777.1 million pounds in 2007.
For the ninth straight year, New Bedford ranked No. 1 in terms of value. Commercial fishermen unloaded USD 241.3 million (EUR 169.5 million) worth of seafood, mostly sea scallops, last year. That’s down from USD 268.9 million (EUR 188.9 million) the previous year.
Total U.S. seafood landings reached 8.3 billion pounds worth USD 4.4 billion (EUR 3.1 billion) in 2008, compared to 9.3 billion pounds worth USD 4.2 billion (EUR 3 billion) in 2007. Alaska’s pollock harvest, which represents roughly one-third of the total seafood catch, was mainly responsible for the drop in total seafood landings.
Reedville, Va., ranked No. 2 in terms of volume, yielding 354.2 million pounds of seafood in 2008, followed by Empire-Venice, La. (353.2 million), Intercoastal City, La. (254.6 million) Kodiak, Alaska (250.9 million), Pascagoula-Moss Point, Miss. (216.3 million), Cameron, La. (171.9 million), New Bedford (146.4 million), Los Angeles (123.6 million) and Gloucester, Mass. (120.2 million).
Dutch Harbor ranked No. 2 in terms of value, producing USD 195 million (EUR 137 million) last year, trailed by Kodiak (USD 98.7 million), Cape May-Wildwood, N.J. (USD 73.7 million), Honolulu (USD 73.3 million), Hampton Roads, Va. (USD 72.3 million), Naknek-King Salmon, Alaska (USD 65.3 million), Empire-Venice (USD 62.9 million), Gloucester (USD 54.2 million) and Cordova, Alaska (USD 50.4 million).
