DUTCH HARBOR-UNALASKA, ALASKA AND NEW BEDFORD, MASS.,
REMAIN TOP U.S. FISHING PORTS FOR 2006

Commercial fishermen unloaded 911.3 million pounds of fish and shellfish at the port of Dutch Harbor-Unalaska, Alaska, in 2006, making it the country’s top port for landings in 2006, NOAA Fisheries Service announced today. The port of New Bedford, Mass., claimed the top spot for value of landings, bringing in $281.2 million in 2006. The total domestic commercial landings for 2006 were 9.5 billion pounds, valued at $4 billion.

Dutch Harbor-Unalaska netted the top landings slot for the18th consecutive year, according to NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service, beating its 2003 record landing by 2.6 million pounds. Intracoastal City, La., ranked as the number two port for quantity of landings in 2006 with 400.7 million pounds. Reedville, Va., was third at 372.5 million.

The value of landings at New Bedford was $281.2 million, mostly in sea scallops, ocean quahogs, lobster, Atlantic mackerel, flatfish and herring. Dutch Harbor-Unalaska was ranked second in value of landings at $165.2 million, followed by Kodiak, which came in third at $101.4 million, both as a result of improved groundfish catch from the Bering Sea, Aleutian Islands, and Gulf of Alaska.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, an agency of the U.S. Commerce Department, is celebrating 200 years of science and service to the nation. From the establishment of the Survey of the Coast in 1807 by Thomas Jefferson to the formation of the Weather Bureau and the Commission of Fish and Fisheries in the 1870s, much of America's scientific heritage is rooted in NOAA.

NOAA is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and information service delivery for transportation, and by providing environmental stewardship of our nation's coastal and marine resources. Through the emerging Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), NOAA is working with its federal partners, more than 60 countries and the European Commission to develop a global monitoring network that is as integrated as the planet it observes, predicts and protects.

NOAA Fisheries Service: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov

TOP 10 COMMERCIAL FISHERY LANDINGS AT MAJOR U.S. PORTS, 2005-2006
Figures in Millions of Pounds
Port	Quantity
	2005	2006
Dutch Harbor-Unalaska, Alaska	887.6	911.3
Intracoastal City, La.	464.0	400.7
Reedville, Va.	373.4	372.5
Kodiak, Alaska	337.2	332.8
Empire-Venice, La	170.8	285.7
Pascagoula-Moss Point, Miss.	159.1	212.1
New Bedford, Mass.	153.4	169.9
Los Angeles, Calif.	139.7	164.5
Astoria, Ore.	164.7	164.1
Gloucester, Ma.	124.2	148.4

 

TOP 10 COMMERCIAL FISHERY VALUES AT MAJOR U.S. PORTS, 2005-2006
Figures in Millions of Dollars
Port	Value
	2005	2006
New Bedford, Mass.	282.5	281.2
Dutch Harbor-Unalaska, Alaska	166.1	165.2
Kodiak, Alaska	95.8	101.4
Honolulu, Hawaii	57.4	54.6
Key West, Fla.	35.1	54.4
Sitka, Alaska	44.7	53.2
Brownsville-Port Isabela, Tex.	45.0	52.0
Naknek-King Salmon, Alaska	54.3	51.4
Hampton Roads Area, Va.	85.1	51.0
Seward, Alaska	52.2	51.0

Note: To avoid disclosure of private enterprise certain ports have not been included.