January 21, 2021 — The Southeast commercial fisheries were not immune to COVID-19. That’s according to a new report from NOAA that was released on Friday.
NOAA’s report was created to show the impacts from COVID-19 on Southeast Fisheries. In order to show the impact of the pandemic on the Southeast commercial fisheries, NOAA’s analysts reviewed data from January through June 2020. The analysts found that landings revenue for selected federally-managed species (excluding shrimp and menhaden) was down 23% during the first six months of the year when compared to the same period in 2019. According to the report, landings revenue declined 11% in January and February, but then dropped March through May, with April experiencing the largest monthly decline at 48%.