U.S. Fisheries By The Numbers

Status of U.S. Fish Stocks

As a result of the U.S. science-based management process, the status of our nation’s federally managed marine fish stocks continues to improve. In 2015 the overall percentage of stocks not listed on the overfishing or overfished list remained steady, and two stocks were rebuilt.
In 2015, eight stocks were removed from the overfishing list, and two stocks were removed from the overfished list.
Since 2000, 39 U.S. federally managed fish stocks have been declared rebuilt.
Read more in the annual Status of U.S. Fisheries report.

In 2013, U.S. commercial fishermen landed 9.9 billion pounds of seafood valued at $5.5 billion.

Total landings 2012 commercial

Of the 2013 U.S. commercial catch, the majority was used for food for humans—77 percent for fresh/frozen food, 4 percent canned, and 1 percent cured.

U.S. Commercial Fisheries 2013 How Our Catch is Used

The United States produced $1.2 billion worth of aquaculture seafood in 2012, and the top U.S. marine aquaculture species were Atlantic salmon ($77 million), oysters ($136 million), and clams ($99 million).

U.S. Aquaculture Production 2012 Landings and Values

The United States is the world’s third largest consumer of seafood in the world, eating more than 4.6 billion pounds in 2013. That works out to about 14.5 pounds per person.
Read more in the annual Fisheries of the United States—2013.

In 2014, U.S. commercial and recreational saltwater fishing generated more than $214 billion in sales and supported 1.83 million jobs.

Sales Impacts

In 2014, the seafood industry supported nearly 1.4 million jobs and generated $153 billion in sales impacts. The industry saw a 3 percent increase in jobs and an 8 percent increase in sales impacts from 2013.

Commercial fisheries economic impact trends for the United States