Commercial seafood harvests registered good growth in 2010 as the increase is a surprise considering increased regulations, including many seasonal closures, imposed by the federal councils and the National Marine Fisheries Service, as well as restrictions from the sea turtle lawsuit settlement. N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries Director Louis Daniel said that the rise in fuel and commodity prices stunted the growth and actually cause the numbers to decline in 2009.
According to the information commercial fishermen had brought in 72 million pounds of fish and shellfish, with a dockside value of $80 million in 2010. That was a 3 percent increase from the previous five-year landings average of 70 million pounds. The increased harvest came with a 3 percent decrease in the number of commercial fishing trips. Commercial fishermen took 152,084 fishing trips in 2010.
Authority states that oystermen sold more than 1 million pounds of oyster meats (196,661 bushels), with a dockside value of about $5 million, to North Carolina seafood dealers in 2010. The landings were 125 percent higher than the previous five-year average and corresponded to a 139-percent increase in the use of oyster dredges.
Blue crab landings increased in 2010, as well. Fishermen sold 30.7 million pounds of blue crabs at the docks, a 2 percent increase from 2009. The landings had a dockside value of $26.5 million.
Recreational harvests also posted growth from 13.6 million pounds in 2009 to 14.4 million pounds in 2010, according to the division’s Coastal Angling Program. The increased harvest corresponds to a 7 percent rise in the overall number of recreational fishing trips.
