Contact: Gordon Helm                  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
                                      8/14/97

Commercial fishermen brought 579 million pounds of fish, worth $118.7 million, to the port of Dutch Harbor-Unalaska, Alaska, in 1996 -- making it the port with both the highest volume and dollar value of fish in the country, the Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced today.

Officials at NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service said the port of Dutch Harbor-Unalaska netted the top volume landings slot for the ninth straight year. However, landings there dropped 105 million pounds over 1995 figures due to declines in pollock landings. Empire-Venice and Cameron, La., the number two and three ports in 1994, regained those positions again in 1996 with landings of 316 and 315 million pounds, respectively.

Landings at Dutch Harbor-Unalaska were valued at $118 million, a decrease of $106 million from the record 1994 value of $224 million. New Bedford, Mass., was second in value, with landings worth $100.5 million, while the Kodiak, Alaska, catch value was third at $82.3 million in 1996.

The top 10 leading U.S. ports in volume and value of fish and shellfish landed in 1994 and 1995, and the latest statistics of 1996 are:

                                 


                             VOLUME
              (figures are in millions of pounds)

     PORT                          1994         1995      1996

Dutch Harbor-Unalaska, Alaska      699.6*       684.6      579.6
Empire-Venice, La.                 431.7        298.1      316.5
Cameron, La.                       401.8        280.0      315.7
Seattle, Wash.                     391.8        229.0      241.2 
Kodiak, Alaska                     307.7        362.4      202.7 
Intercoastal City, La.             304.8        179.2      199.0
Morgan City-Berwick, La.           243.6        127.4      162.9
Los Angeles, Calif.                 98.2        168.5      157.6
Pascagoula-Moss Point, Miss.       200.9        128.6      148.0
Ketchikan, Alaska                   93.6        116.7      136.8

* Record for quantity is 848.2 million pounds landed in Los Angeles, Calif., in 1960.

                             VALUE
              (figures are in millions of dollars)

     PORT                          1994      1995           1996

Dutch Harbor-Unalaska, Alaska      224.1**   146.2          118.7
New Bedford, Mass.                  82.4      86.9          100.5 
Kodiak, Alaska                     107.6     105.4           82.3 
Key West, Fla.                      53.0      66.7           62.8
Brownsville-Port Isabel, Texas      64.1      66.0           60.0
Honolulu, Hawaii                    44.0      46.7           50.1
Point Judith, R.I.                  36.5      43.7           46.0
Empire-Venice, La.                  60.1      51.1           45.4 
Dulac-Chauvin, La.                  55.0      53.4           45.2 
Portland, Maine                     43.6      39.4           38.6

A complete list of commercial fishery landings and value at 60 major U.S. ports for 1994-1996 is available by fax upon request.