U.S. commercial fishers landed 3.5 million metric tons of seafood in 2024, valued at USD 4.9 billion (EUR 4.4 billion), according to NOAA Fisheries’ latest edition of its Fisheries of the United States report.
That represents a 3.6 percent decline from 2023 revenue, with commercial fishers landing 9.2 percent less in terms of weight. At the same time, commercial fishers received a slightly higher average ex-vessel price for those landings, earning USD 0.64 (EUR 0.57) per pound in 2024 – 6.7 percent more than the year before.
The highest landing value by species or species groups were USD 776.4 million (EUR 693.7 million) for lobsters, USD 694.4 million (EUR 620.4 million) for crabs, USD 432.5 million (EUR 386.4 million) for Alaska pollock, USD 394.1 million (EUR 352 million) for salmon, and USD 332 million (EUR 296.6 million) for scallops. The highest landings by weight were 3.1 billion pounds of Alaska pollock, 1.2 billion pounds of menhaden, 421.2 million pounds of salmon, 373.9 million pounds of Pacific cod, and 316.5 million pounds of Pacific hake.
By broader category, finfish remains the largest portion of those landings by weight, representing 88 percent of all landings in 2024.
Aquaculture production, meanwhile, was valued at USD 1.6 billion (EUR 1.4 billion).
In terms of trade, the U.S. imported 6.4 billion pounds of seafood products – valued at USD 25 billion (EUR 22.3 billion) – and exported 2.3 billion pounds of seafood – valued at USD 4.4 billion (EUR 3.9 million). That represents a trade deficit of USD 20.6 billion (EUR 18.4 billion), marking a decrease of 1.4 percent from the prior year.
The top valued import item was shrimp, representing 24 percent of all edible imports, while the top valued export item was whole lobster.
According to NOAA Fisheries’ companion report, Fisheries Economics of the United States, the commercial seafood sector supported 1 million full- and part-time jobs in 2024. That’s just slightly down from 2023 but a much larger 20.7 percent decrease from 2022.
