Squid Landings Climb In Morro Bay
October 29, 2014
In its annual report, Fisheries of the United States 2013, released today, NOAA Fisheries announced that U.S. fishermen landed 9.9 billion pounds of fish and shellfish, an increase of 245 million pounds from 2012. Valued at $5.5 billion, these landings represent an increase of $388 million from 2012.
“Commercial and recreational fishing are important contributors to our economy and help create jobs throughout our nation’s communities,” said Eileen Sobeck, assistant NOAA administrator for NOAA Fisheries. “Working with our partners, the regional fishery management councils, and the fishing industry, we’ve made great strides on ending overfishing and are working toward building resilient, healthy and sustainable fish and shellfish stocks.”
The report shows that while national total of fish and shellfish landings remained about the same, total landings of wild salmon topped one billion pounds, setting a new record, up 68 percent from 2012.
California salmon landings were almost 4.4 million pounds valued at $23 million— an increase of almost 1.5 million pounds (nearly 51 percent) and $10.1 million (almost 79 percent) compared with 2012.
Chinook salmon were the principal species landed in the state. The average ex vessel price per pound paid to fishermen in 2013 was $5.29 compared with $4.47 in 2012.
California landings of sablefish totaled almost 3.3 million pounds and over $7 million represent a decrease of 17 percent in quantity and almost 22 percent in value from 2012.
Squid Landings Climbed in Morro Bay
At the Port of Morro Bay – State of Calif F &W figures released this summer show total landings in 2013 were up from 5.12 million lbs to 6.77 million lbs led by a 2 million pound increase in squid.The squid catch has gone from 276,000 lbs in 2011 to 2.1 million lbs in 2012 to 4.1 million lbs in 2013. Also in Morro Bay the value of number one catch sablefish fell while crab increased in pounds and value.The salmon catch – higher in California was not in Morro Bay in 2013 compared to 2012 as landings dropped by 50%.
At Port San Luis – Dungeness crab was the big catch.
Nationwide,figures for recreational fishing activities remained strong. Nearly 9.5 million recreational saltwater anglers in the United States took more than 71 million marine fishing trips in 2013 and caught more than 430 million fish, of which, 61 percent were released alive.
Spotted seatrout was the top catch for recreational anglers, with 38 million fish caught in 2013. Atlantic croaker, black sea bass, summer flounder and red drum were the other most common catches for saltwater anglers.
Marine aquaculture production in the U.S. has been increasing steadily in recent years, about 10 percent a year from 2008 to 2012, the latest figures available. The top U.S. marine aquaculture species are oysters ($136 million), clams ($99 million), and Atlantic salmon ($77 million).
The report also shows that the average American ate 14.5 pounds of fish and shellfish in 2013, essentially unchanged from 2012.