Maine’s commercial seafood landings topped 276 million pounds in 2011, the state’s largest catch since 2004’s 286 million pounds, according to preliminary figures recently released by the Maine Department of Marine Resource.
That’s up nearly 21 million pounds from 2010, thanks to increased lobster and Atlantic herring landings.
The ex-vessel value of the catch reached USD 426 million last year, down USD 30 million from the previous year.
Maine’s most valuable species was, of course, lobster, with the catch coming in at a record 103.9 million pounds valued at a record USD 331.4 million. That’s up more than 7 million pounds and USD 13 million, respectively, from 2010.
Following lobster, in terms of value, were softshell clams, herring and baby eels.
