M. Shahbandeh
Research expert covering agriculture & FMCG
U.S. fishery industry - statistics & facts
Industry experts assume that the fishery business will benefit from measures taken to prevent overfishing and from the choices individual consumers are making regarding their purchase of sustainably sourced seafood. In 2022, global fish production amount to over 184 million tons. In the United States that year, salmon had the highest value out of all domestic species in fishery landings, followed by crab and lobster.
The U.S. fish market
While those in the U.S. do not consume overwhelming amounts of seafood, the presence of such a large coast presents capture opportunity. Capture production in 2022 resulted in landings revenue of about 5.6 billion U.S. dollars for the seafood industry. In that same year, approximately 8.34 billion pounds of fish were caught in the United States. The major domestic species have included pollock, menhaden, salmon, hakes, and flatfish in recent years. The United States was ranked among the leading fish and fishery exporters worldwide in 2020.Fish producing regions
The focus of the U.S. seafood industry is mainly concentrated on the Pacific region of the U.S., as 4.8 billion pounds of fish were caught in Alaska alone in 2022 and another one billion pounds caught along the rest of the Pacific coast that year. The leading U.S. state in terms of seafood landings was by far Alaska with 5.6 billion pounds, distantly followed by Louisiana, Virginia, and Mississippi. Several cultural dishes in both Alaskan and Cajun cuisine are based on fish and seafood, such as gumbo and seafood boils.
