NEW ORLEANS — The National Marine Fisheries Service on Wednesday released fisheries statistics that show the 2011 seafood catch in the Gulf of Mexico rebounded to its highest volume since 1999. That’s despite the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill that still has area fishermen fearing less seafood in local waters.
Menhaden, often described as a keystone species showing and helping determine the viability of many local species, rose dramatically in Louisiana. It jumped from its 10-year average of about 900 million pounds of catch since 2001 to about 1.3 billion pounds in 2011. Sales of menhaden at Louisiana docks jumped from the $47.9 million average to $100 million.
The herring-like species mainly is used for fish meal, oil, and solubles, often for poultry and swine feed.
In terms of national fisheries’ catch, Alaska led all states in volume with 5.4 billion pounds. Louisiana came in second with 1.5 billion pounds, followed by California’s 515.6 million pounds, Virginia’s 493.4 million pounds, and Washington’s 487.8 million pounds.
But in terms of the money garnered for its landings, Louisiana came in fourth, trailing Alaska, Massachusetts and Maine. Louisiana earned $339.3 million from its overall fisheries landings compared to Alaska’s $1.9 billion, Massachusetts’s $570.7 million and Maine’s $426.5 million.
The oyster numbers for Louisiana show 11.1 million pounds in 2011 compared to the 12.6 million pound annual average since 2001. But, the amount garnered for that catch was up from the 10-year average of $36 million to $41.6 million in 2011.
Overall, U.S. oyster landings yielded 28.5 million pounds valued at $131.7 million – an increase of 424,000 pounds and $14.1 million compared to 2010. The Gulf region led in production with over 18.2 million pounds of oyster meat, nearly 64 percent of the national total.
The average price per pound of oyster meat nationally was $4.62 in 2011, compared with $4.19 in 2010.
Louisiana shrimp catch in 2011 did drop compared to the 10-year average but white shrimp sales were about $5 million above the decade average, according to National Marine Fisheries Service data.
Louisiana white shrimp catch fell from its 10-year average of 64.3 million pounds of head-on weight to 52.6 million pounds in 2011, but the amount garnered at the dock for that catch jumped from the $93.7 million annual average to $98.3 million in 2011.
Louisiana brown shrimp catch also dropped from the 10-year average of 43.5 million pounds to 39.2 million pounds in 2011. And brown shrimp sales also fell, declining from the $43 million average to $34.5 million in 2011. But despite those brown shrimp declines, the 2011 numbers still are much greater than the three previous year totals and, like all fisheries catch, variation is very common year to year.
The total U.S. shrimp catch was about 312.7 million pounds, valued at almost $518 million – an increase of 53.6 million pounds and $104 million compared to 2010, according to the recent National Marine Fisheries Service report.
Gulf region shrimp catch was the nation’s largest with 212 million pounds, or almost 68 percent of the national total. Louisiana led all Gulf states with almost 92.6 million pounds, followed by Texas’s approximately 79.3 million pounds, Alabama’s 19.2 million pounds, the west coast of Florida’s nearly 10.8 million pounds, and Mississippi’s 10.1 million pounds.
Read the full story in the Times Picayune