Lobster, the undisputed king of Maine’s fisheries, holds its title in the 2003 federal landings statistics and boosted Port Clyde into the ranks of New England’s “major” fishing ports for the first time.
The 2003 lobster harvest of $285.6 million represented a 2.6 percent decrease in value from 2002, but a 12.1 percent increase over 2001, with Maine landings accounting for 70.7 percent of the total.
Port Clyde joined the list of 18 major fishing ports in New England, a status determined when port revenues exceed $10 million. Eleven of the 18 major ports showed increases in revenues, while six showed declines. Port Clyde joined the list for the first time, and Southwest Harbor rejoined the list. Another Maine port, Harpswell, was on the 2002 list but dropped off for 2003.
“Changes in harvests and revenues from one year to the next stem from several causes, including changes in the underlying populations of sought-after fisheries species and in the effort of fishermen to catch various species as determined by market demand, government regulations, etc.,” said Greg Powers with NOAA fisheries in Gloucester, Mass.
Massachusetts landings were second, accounting for 18.3 percent of 2003 lobster revenues. New Bedford remained in first place among ports for ex-vessel revenues, with 2003 revenues of $176.2 million, a 4.3 percent increase over 2002, and a 17.1 percent increase over 2001. The top five revenue-producing species landed in New Bedford in 2003 were sea scallops ($102.8 million), yellowtail flounder ($9.5 million), haddock ($9.2 million), Atlantic cod ($8.3 million), and monkfish — also known as goosefish or anglerfish — ($7.5 million).
“Some data on 2003 harvests and revenues will continue to trickle in throughout 2004; such data will be added to the 2003 harvest and revenue database, but will generally represent a very small change to the totals reported here,” stated a NOAA press release.
The region’s 10 coastal states are Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia.
In nominal dollars, the 2003 commercial fisheries revenues were 0.2 percent higher than adjusted 2002 revenues, and 3.6 percent higher than adjusted 2001 revenues. In real dollars (recomputed to account for inflation), the 2003 commercial fisheries revenues were 1.4 percent lower than adjusted 2002 revenues, and 0.3 percent higher than adjusted 2001 revenues, the release explained. All landings revenue reported by NOAA is reported in nominal dollars. Massachusetts retained its first place among states in ex-vessel revenues with 2003 revenues of $292.5 million, a 1.6 percent decrease over 2002, and a 4.1 percent increase over 2001.
The top five revenue-producing species landed in Massachusetts in 2003 were sea scallop ($106.9 million), American lobster ($52.3 million), Atlantic cod ($22.1 million), monkfish ($15.6 million), and haddock ($14.5 million). Monkfish is not only harvested for its flesh, but also for its liver, which is considered a delicacy in the Far East export market.
Four states showed increased commercial fisheries revenues: Connecticut ( 7.2 percent), New Jersey ( 7.0 percent), Virginia ( 5.9 percent), and New York ( 0.6 percent).
Five states showed decreased revenues: Massachusetts (-1.6 percent), Maine (-1.9 percent), Rhode Island (-2.5 percent), New Hampshire (-9.6 percent), and Delaware (-14.8 percent). Maryland showed no change in revenues from 2002 to 2003.
Maine’s landings for the 2003 scallop fishery were not even in the running regionally, although the fishery for sea scallop took second place in ex-vessel revenues. The $228.6 million from the 2003 sea scallop harvest was a 13.8 percent increase over 2002, and a 32.4 percent increase over 2001. Massachusetts accounted for 46.8 percent, Virginia for 29.9 percent, and New Jersey for 19.0 percent. Of the 46 species or species groups which each provided more than $1 million in ex-vessel revenues last year, 23 showed an increase over 2002, 22 showed a decrease, and one showed no change.
Among the top dozen species in 2003 revenue, sea scallop ( 13.7 percent), summer flounder ( 10.3 percent), softshell clam ( 5.4 percent), goosefish ( 3.5 percent), and ocean quahog ( 2.0 percent) showed increased revenues over 2002; Atlantic menhaden (-0.4 percent), Atlantic surf clam (-0.8 percent), blue crab (-1.5 percent), American lobster (-2.6 percent), northern quahog (-8.6 percent), Atlantic cod (-10.4 percent), and longfin inshore squid (-15.3 percent) showed decreased revenues.
Ocean quahog, a large bivalve mollusk, is most often used in prepared seafoods such as clam chowder. Atlantic menhaden (also called pogy) is a small, oily, non-seafood fish species used primarily for production of meal, oil and solubles, and secondarily for livestock feed and for bait by commercial and recreational fishermen. Atlantic surf clam is a typical ingredient in fried clam strips. Northern quahog (also called hard clam) is a major item in the U.S. fresh seafood market. Longfin inshore squid (also called loligo) is a major export item, especially to Mediterranean markets.
Landings in pounds are a totally different story, according to NOAA. Two low-value species, Atlantic menhaden and Atlantic herring, dominated harvested poundage. More than 399 million pounds of menhaden were harvested in 2003, a 0.5 percent increase from 2002, and a 23.1 percent decrease from 2001.
More than 200 million pounds of herring were harvested in 2003, a 33.0 percent increase from 2002, and a 6.1 percent decrease from 2001. Herring is not only a seafood species, but also a bait species; it is used extensively in the trap fisheries for lobster. Atlantic salmon, since it is not harvested by commercial fisheries but raised in commercial aquaculture, is not included in the NOAA tables and descriptions. However, in 2003 there were 13.2 million pounds of Atlantic salmon worth $28.2 million dollars produced in the Northeast.