Thursday May 19, 2022
Fisherman’s News —
A newly released 2021 “Status of Stocks” report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration concludes that more than 90% of stocks in the U.S. are not subject to overfishing, which means when the annual rate of catch is too high.
The report, which was released in mid-May, shows the number of stocks on the overfished list holding steady at 26 (out of a total of 296) and the number of overfished stocks, where the population size is too small, increasing slightly to 51, up from 49.
The report also states that in 2020, seafood landings in the U.S. were down 10% — likely due to the impact of the COVD-19 pandemic – and that overall annual seafood consumption fell slightly from the previous year to 19 pounds per individual.
For the first time, Fisheries of the United States data is now available via a new interactive web portal at fisheries.noaa.gov that includes a detailed historic record of economic analysis of seafood consumption, landings totals and imports and exports of fishery products. The portal allows for more frequent updates throughout the year to improve data sharing and collaboration.