November 2, 2015 — The volume and value of U.S. seafood landings remained flat in 2014, while the declines locally in volume and value have leveled off from the ear-popping decline experienced the previous year, according to NOAA’s Fisheries of the U.S. report.

According to the annual report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Gloucester held serve at No. 22 among U.S. ports in volume of landings, but declined to 26th (from 25th last year) in the value of its landings.

New Bedford, riding the lucrative success of its scallop fishery, was ranked as the nation’s top revenue-producing port for the 15th consecutive year. It generated $329 million from the 140 million pounds of fish landed in 2014, but that was down 13.2 percent from the $379 million in value from 2013.

Dutch Harbor, Alaska, reported a catch of 762 million pounds, and came in second for value, at $191 million.

Nationally, U.S. ports landed 9.5 billion pounds of fish in 2013 worth $5.4 billion. That represents a 4 percent decline in landings and less than 1 percent decline in value.

“The overall trends from landings and value for U.S. wild-caught fish is positive even though landings and value are down slightly from last year,” said NOAA Chief Scientist Richard Merrick, who said the declines all fall within the range of statistical error.

Local data

For Gloucester, the report’s data produced a mixed bag, with a slight decrease in landings offset by a slightly higher value from those landings that NOAA primarily attributed to a strong pricing year for lobsters.

A year after losing about 25 percent of both the volume and the value of its landed catch, Gloucester in 2014 landed 61 million pounds of fish, down slightly from the 62 million pounds landed in 2013 and drastically below the 83 million pounds landed here in 2012, before the current slide commenced.

Read the full story at Gloucester Daily Times