February 28, 2020 — The Fisheries of the United States 2018 report recently released by NOAA Fisheries highlighted a recurring annual trend nationally of overall commercial landings declining while the overall value of those landings increased.
In 2018, total landings at U.S. ports declined 5.3% to 4.3 million metric tons as compared to 2017. The value of those landings, however, rose 2.8% to $5.6 billion in 2018.
The port of Gloucester didn’t precisely mirror that trend in 2018.
While landings here declined 7.8% to 59 million pounds as compared to 2017, the value of those landings remained at $53 million — the same as 2017 and a $1 million increase from 2016
Massachusetts saw its landings decline 0.3% to 109,442 metric tons in 2018, but the statewide value of those landings — $647.2 million — was second only to Alaska’s catch value of $1.78 billion. The 2018 value of Massachusetts landings represented a 6.9% increase from 2017.