America’s trout production fell by 10 percent in 2018, according to a report released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Last year, the country sold USD 100 million (EUR 89.8 million) worth of the freshwater fish. That’s down from USD 111.5 million (EUR 100.1 million) in 2017.
The major reason for the decline stems from a drop in production in Idaho, the country’s largest producer. Last year, the state produced just 22.2 million trout that were 12 inches or longer. That’s 5.5 million fewer than the year before. As a result, the value of Idaho’s trout fell from USD 50.4 million (EUR 45.3 million) in 2017 to USD 40.3 (EUR 36.2 million) million in 2018.
North Carolina, the country’s second-largest producer, saw the number of trout sold increase, but the sales figure drop. The state sold more than 3.6 million trout that were 12 inches or longer in 2018, an increase of about 140,000. However, the weight of the trout sold was lighter (4.2 million pounds in 2017 to 4 million last year), and as a result, the sales figures dropped from USD 9.1 million (EUR 8.2 million) in 2017 to USD 8.8 million (EUR 7.9 million) last year.
The U.S. sold 35.8 million trout at least 12 inches in length, down from nearly 41 million in 2017. The average price per pound for the fish was USD 1.91 (EUR 1.72).
Smaller trout, those between 6 and 12 inches, increased 25 percent from 2017 to nearly 8.1 million. The value of the smaller fish rose 5 percent to USD 7.9 million (EUR 7.1 million). The major driver for sales of these fish, the USDA said, was to stock recreational fishing lakes. That accounted for 52 percent of those sales.
The USDA also said the nation’s trout producers lost more than 29 million fish that were scheduled for market. Disease was the culprit for 92 percent of those losses.
In 2016, the U.S. sold USD 105 million (EUR 94.3 million) worth of trout.
