NEW BEDFORD — The city is No. 1, again.
For the 10th consecutive year, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, New Bedford is ranked first in the nation in revenue gained from fish landings.
The stats are based on calendar year 2009 numbers, when the value of fish landings was estimated to be $249.2 million, nearly $90 million more than the second-ranked port, Dutch Harbor-Unalaska, Alaska, which pulled in $159.7 million worth of catch that year.
The city saw the value of its catch increase by almost $8 million from 2008.
New Bedford, meanwhile, ranked eighth in terms of pounds of landings with 170 million in 2009. That figure was up from 146.4 million in 2008. Dutch Harbor-Unalaska ranked first in that category with 506.3 million in 2009.
Fishermen and government officials alike attribute the city's cash haul to the scalloping industry.
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