America’s Fishing Industry Economy

Fisheries play an enormous role in the U.S. economy. In 2012, U.S. commercial fishermen landed 9.6 billion pounds of seafood valued at $5.1 billion. Fish processors, icehouses, restaurants, grocery stores, bait and tackle shops, fuel stations, and a multitude of other businesses benefit from healthy commercial fishing.

Breaking down the numbers a little more, the value chain of the commercial fishing industry—harvesters, processors, dealers, wholesalers, and retailers—generated $141 billion in sales, $39 billion in income and supported 1.3 million jobs in 2012. According to the latest data issued by NOAA Fisheries (Fisheries Economics of the U.S. 2012 and Status of U.S. Fisheries 2013), we continue to see positive economic impacts from commercial U.S. fisheries as well as progress in rebuilding our nation’s fish stocks.