Commercial fishing is measured both by what vessels land and by the economic activity that follows at docks, processors, restaurants, and markets. In the United States, commercial fishermen landed 8.449 billion pounds worth $5.076 billion in 2023. Worldwide, capture fisheries produced 92.3 million tonnes in 2022, while aquatic-food trade reached $195 billion.
Contents
- U.S. landings and dockside value
- Where U.S. commercial fishing is concentrated
- The species leading by volume
- The species and ports leading by value
- Jobs and the wider seafood economy
- Sustainability and the outlook for seafood
- Global fishing livelihoods, food, and trade
U.S. landings and dockside value
The United States commercial fishing picture in 2023 combined very large physical landings with a lower revenue result than the prior year. Fishermen landed 8.449 billion pounds, valued at $5.076 billion at the dock. The total includes edible fish and shellfish as well as landings directed to reduction and other industrial purposes.
Edible fish and shellfish accounted for 6.9 billion pounds in the 50 states. Landings for reduction and other industrial purposes totaled 1.6 billion pounds. Compared with 2022, edible landings increased by 149.9 million pounds, and industrial-purpose landings increased by 45.5 million pounds. Yet commercial landings revenue fell 16% from 2022 to 2023. These measures describe different parts of the market: more pounds landed did not translate into more total dockside revenue.
Longer-term price context also matters. Inflation-adjusted U.S. commercial landings revenue in 2023 was 28% lower than in 2014. The value trend therefore looks weaker than a simple comparison of physical volume alone would suggest.
Finfish made up 88% of U.S. commercial landed weight in 2023, but only 45% of commercial landings revenue. That contrast indicates why seafood value cannot be inferred from weight without knowing the species and its market price.
These national figures come from Fisheries of the United States, 2023, which reports U.S. commercial landings and dockside value for 2023.
Where U.S. commercial fishing is concentrated
U.S. commercial fishing is heavily concentrated in a few regions, although the regional pattern changes when landings are compared with value. The North Pacific led by volume in 2023, while New England ranked close to the top by value despite landing far fewer pounds.
| Region | 2023 landings | 2023 value | Share of U.S. landings |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Pacific | 5.282 billion lb | $1.613 billion | 62.5% |
| Gulf of America | 1.265 billion lb | $794.263 million | 15.0% |
| Pacific | 864.711 million lb | $617.316 million | 10.2% |
| Mid-Atlantic | 494.772 million lb | $404.779 million | 5.9% |
| New England | 415.967 million lb | $1.351 billion | 4.9% |
| South Atlantic | 97.539 million lb | $171.271 million | 1.2% |
| Western Pacific | 28.922 million lb | $124.052 million | 0.3% |
The North Pacific landed 5.282 billion pounds valued at $1.613 billion, accounting for 62.5% of U.S. commercial landings. The Gulf of America followed with 1.265 billion pounds and $794.263 million, or 15.0% of national volume. The Pacific region contributed 864.711 million pounds valued at $617.316 million, representing 10.2% of landings.
The Mid-Atlantic landed 494.772 million pounds worth $404.779 million, or 5.9% of U.S. volume. New England landed 415.967 million pounds, only 4.9% of national volume, but its $1.351 billion value was nearly as high as the North Pacific total. The South Atlantic landed 97.539 million pounds valued at $171.271 million, while the Western Pacific landed 28.922 million pounds valued at $124.052 million.
The regional values and percentages are reported in Fisheries of the United States, 2023. The geography is the source’s regional classification; the Gulf region is named “Gulf of America” in the supplied 2023 statistics.
The species leading by volume
Alaska pollock was the largest U.S. commercial species by volume in 2023, with 3.2 billion pounds landed. Menhaden ranked second at 1.3 billion pounds. These two species alone represent a substantial share of the national landed-weight picture, but their uses and markets are not identical.
Other leading species included salmon at 856.7 million pounds, Pacific hake—also called whiting—at 471.0 million pounds, and Pacific cod at 373.8 million pounds. The list shows how strongly U.S. commercial volume is shaped by North Pacific species, while also illustrating the importance of species-specific fisheries outside the leading region.
The volume leaders were measured for U.S. commercial landings in 2023 and are documented in Fisheries of the United States, 2023. Landed weight is not the same as edible yield, retail sales, or restaurant servings, so these numbers should be read as a measure of commercial landings rather than prepared food output.
The species and ports leading by value
The value ranking differs from the volume ranking. Crabs produced the highest U.S. commercial landings value in 2023 at $703.1 million, followed closely by lobsters at $697.5 million. Alaska pollock generated $523.6 million, salmon generated $453.0 million, and sea scallops generated $359.9 million.
| Value leader | 2023 U.S. commercial landings value |
|---|---|
| Crabs | $703.1 million |
| Lobsters | $697.5 million |
| Alaska pollock | $523.6 million |
| Salmon | $453.0 million |
| Sea scallops | $359.9 million |
The comparison between pollock and lobster is especially useful for understanding commercial fishing economics. Pollock led by weight at 3.2 billion pounds, but its $523.6 million value was below the value reported for crabs and lobsters. A smaller landed weight can therefore support a larger dockside value when the species has a higher value per pound.
Port rankings add another view of the industry. Dutch Harbor, Alaska, was the leading U.S. port by seafood volume for the 26th consecutive year in 2023. New Bedford, Massachusetts, was the leading U.S. port by catch value for the 23rd consecutive year. The two rankings are not interchangeable: one emphasizes volume, while the other emphasizes value.
All species and port figures in this section are from Fisheries of the United States, 2023 and refer to 2023.
Jobs and the wider seafood economy
Commercial fishing’s economic footprint extends beyond vessels and landings. In 2023, the U.S. commercial fishing and seafood industry generated $173.4 billion in sales impacts, $43.9 billion in income impacts, and $69.2 billion in value-added impacts. It supported 1 million full- and part-time jobs.
State-level figures show why coastal seafood economies can be important even when their landing totals differ. Alaska’s commercial fishing and seafood industry supported 57,414 full- and part-time jobs, including 41,499 commercial harvester jobs. California’s industry supported 160,939 jobs; Massachusetts supported 172,826; and Florida supported 132,776. New Jersey’s commercial fishing and seafood industry generated $11 billion in sales impacts.
These are impact measures for the commercial fishing and seafood industry, not a count of only people working aboard fishing vessels. They include the broader activity connected to seafood. The measurements are from Fisheries Economics of the United States, 2023 and refer to 2023.
For a coastal kitchen, that wider footprint helps explain why dockside landings matter beyond the first sale. Harvesting, handling, processing, distribution, and food service can connect one fishery to many kinds of work, although the supplied economic figures do not break out restaurant activity separately.
Sustainability and the outlook for seafood
Global capture fisheries produced 92.3 million tonnes in 2022. Marine capture fisheries contributed 81.0 million tonnes, and inland capture fisheries contributed 11.3 million tonnes. These are global production measures for 2022, not forecasts.
The Food and Agriculture Organization estimated that 62.3% of monitored marine stocks were fished within biologically sustainable levels in 2021. When weighted by production, 76.9% of 2021 landings from monitored stocks came from biologically sustainable stocks. The two percentages use different weighting approaches, so they should not be treated as duplicates.
For the United States, approximately 94% of managed stocks or stock complexes did not exceed annual catch limits in 2023. U.S. fisheries also reached 50 stocks rebuilt under management measures by 2023. The U.S. status measures and the global FAO stock measures use different scopes and assessment systems; neither should be used as a single score for every fishery.
FAO reported that 89% of aquatic animal production was used for direct human consumption in 2022. Looking forward, FAO projects aquatic animal production to increase 10% by 2032, reaching 205 million tonnes. It also projects global apparent aquatic-food consumption to reach 21.3 kilograms per person in 2032. Those figures are forecasts, not observed 2032 outcomes.
The global production and outlook statistics are from the FAO Report: Global fisheries and aquaculture production reaches a new record high. U.S. catch-limit and rebuilding measures are from Status of Stocks 2023.
Global fishing livelihoods, food, and trade
An estimated 61.8 million people worked in the primary fisheries and aquaculture sector worldwide in 2022. That was down from 62.8 million in 2020. Fisheries accounted for 54% of primary-sector workers in 2022, compared with 36% in aquaculture, while Asia accounted for 85% of global primary-sector fisheries and aquaculture jobs.
Women represented 24% of the global fisheries and aquaculture workforce in 2022. Their share was much higher in the processing subsector, where women represented 62% of workers. These figures distinguish the overall workforce from processing employment and show why a single workforce percentage can hide major differences within the seafood supply chain.
Global apparent consumption of aquatic animal foods reached 162.5 million tonnes in 2021, and apparent aquatic-food consumption reached 20.7 kilograms per person in 2022. Over the longer period from 1961 to 2021, apparent consumption per person rose from 9.1 kilograms to 20.6 kilograms. International trade in aquatic products was valued at $195 billion in 2022.
The global numbers come from the FAO Report: Global fisheries and aquaculture production reaches a new record high. The consumption figures are apparent-consumption measures, not a direct tally of the amount each person physically ate, and the employment figure covers the primary fisheries and aquaculture sector rather than every job connected to seafood.