WASHINGTON – Commercial fishermen unloaded 9.6 billion pounds of fish and shellfish, valued at $2.9 billion, at U.S. ports in 2005, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) today reported.
New Bedford was number one in value of landings in 2005, as it was the year before, and the city marked its sixth straight year of increases in landing value.
The port’s total catch was valued at a record $282.5 million, or $75 million more than in 2004, eclipsing the previous record of $224 million set by the Alaskan port of Dutch Harbor-Unalaska in 1994.
The year’s largest catch by weight was in Dutch Harbor-Unalaska, for the 17th consecutive year. Commercial fishermen unloaded 887.6 million pounds of fish and shellfish at the port in 2005, 1.2 million pounds more than in 2004.
The Alaskan port ranked second in value of landings, at $166.1 million.
NOAA, an agency of the U.S. Commerce Department, this year is celebrating 200 years of science and service to the nation. It traces its roots back to the establishment of the Survey of the Coast by Thomas Jefferson in 1807. Additional information is available at www.nmfs.noaa.gov.
