Connecticut’s commercial fishing industry saw revenue increase 15 percent last year to just short of $20 million, just off the pace for New England as a whole.
U.S. seafood landings reached a 17-year high, at more than 5 million tons and a market value of $5.3 billion, according to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS).
On Sept. 13, the U.S. Department of Commerce issued a disaster declaration covering New England’s groundfish stocks, determining that several key species were not rebuilding and with potentially major ramifications for the region’s fishing fleet. The department also issued for portions of Alaska’s salmon industry, and Mississippi’s oyster and blue crab fishery, which were impacted by flooding in the Mississippi River last spring.
Including oysters and other shellfish, Connecticut’s catch totaled 3.5 tons in 2011, NMFS calculated, the third lowest total of any maritime state after Hawaii and Delaware. In New England, Maine surpassed Massachusetts to have the largest haul at 61 tons, but Massachusetts fishermen had the best performance at market with total revenue of $571 million thanks to New Bedford’s burgeoning scallop fishery.
NMFS reported the average American ate 15 pounds of fish and shellfish in 2011, less than the 2010 figure of 15.8 pounds. Altogether, Americans consumed 4.7 billion pounds of seafood, making the United States second only to China in seafood consumption.
Connecticut’s all-time best haul occurred in 1930, when fishermen netted 88 tons of seafood.
