How to Read NOAA's Fisheries of the United States — Landings, Angling, Trade and Seafood Consumption
NOAA FUS 2024: landings at 50-state ports incl. at-sea catch credited to states 7,722,674 thousand lb (Table 1), $4.9 billion; estimated per capita use 18.4 lb (Table 12).
Key figures (NOAA Fisheries, Fisheries of the United States 2024)
As of 8 November 2026, 01:22 KST (retrieved by this page at that time); latest listed on the agency page at retrieval: Fisheries of the United States, 2024, a 24-page yearbook dated October 2026 from the NOAA Fisheries Office of Science and Technology, Fisheries Statistics Division. The report page shows Last updated on 10/30/2026. Primary source: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/s3/2026-10/fus-2024-final.pdf[1][2]
| Indicator (thousands of pounds unless noted; landings at ports in the 50 states, including at-sea processed fish credited to the nearest state) | Previous: 2023 (as printed in the 2024 report) | Current: 2024 | Change vs previous (this page's calculation from the table) | Change vs year ago: annual report, so this column gives the comparison sentence printed in NOAA's text (may differ from Table 1) | Evidence type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commercial landings, all (Table 1) | 8,497,214 | 7,722,674 | -774,540 (-9.1%) | 7.7 billion pounds; decrease of 775.3 million pounds (9.2 percent) | NOAA Fisheries, Fisheries of the United States 2024, Table 1 and text |
| Edible landings (Table 1) | 6,933,727 | 6,209,030 | -724,697 (-10.5%) | 6.3 billion pounds; decrease of 662.9 million pounds | NOAA Fisheries, Fisheries of the United States 2024, Table 1 and text |
| Non-edible (industrial) landings (Table 1) | 1,563,488 | 1,513,644 | -49,844 (-3.2%) | 1.5 billion pounds; decrease of 154.1 million pounds | NOAA Fisheries, Fisheries of the United States 2024, Table 1 and text |
| Imports, all (Table 1, live weight) | 13,305,025 | 13,527,610 | +222,585 (+1.7%) | Text gives edible imports of 6.4 billion pounds in product weight, a different basis | NOAA Fisheries, Fisheries of the United States 2024, Table 1 and Foreign Trade section |
| Per capita consumption, pounds per person (Table 12) | 19.1 | 18.4 | -0.7 | declined to 18.4 pounds from 19.1 pounds | NOAA Fisheries, Fisheries of the United States 2024, Table 12 |
| Recreational angler trips, thousands (Table 5) | not given in this report | 193,723 | not calculable | not stated | NOAA Fisheries, Fisheries of the United States 2024, Table 5 |
Comparison basis: Table 1 is in thousands of pounds, live weight, except mollusks, which are in meat weight; NOAA's text rounds to millions or billions of pounds. The fourth column is this page's subtraction of the Table 1 values, rounded to one decimal for percents; the fifth column gives NOAA's own sentences about the same change, which in several rows do not match Table 1 (see Reading in pairs).[1]
In three lines
1. NOAA's annual yearbook covers commercial landings, recreational catch, aquaculture, processing, trade and per capita consumption of seafood.
2. Commercial landings at ports in the 50 states (including at-sea processed fish credited to the nearest state) were 7,722,674 thousand pounds in 2024 (Table 1), against 8,497,214 thousand in 2023.
3. U.S. per capita seafood consumption was 18.4 pounds in 2024 (Table 12), and NOAA estimates 82 percent of consumption came from imports.[1]
What the yearbook measures
Scope. "The focus is not on economic analysis, although value of landings, processed products, and foreign trade are included." "The most current and updated data is available through the Fisheries One Stop Shop (FOSS) data portal, which includes a highlights page featuring many of the summary statistics in this report." Commercial landings are those at ports in the 50 states: "Data do not include landings by U.S.-flag vessels at Puerto Rico and other ports outside the 50 states." Landings outside the 50 states added 222.9 million pounds valued at $190.6 million in 2024. The 50-state figures include fish processed at sea: "Catches of Alaska pollock, Pacific whiting, and other Pacific groundfish that are processed at-sea aboard U.S. vessels in the northeastern Pacific are credited as “landings” to the state nearest the area of capture." "These at-sea processed fishery products, on a round (live) weight basis, totaled 2.9 billion pounds in 2024 and made up around 38 percent of the U.S. total domestic landings."[1]
Units. "Landings are reported in round (live) weight for all items except univalve and bivalve mollusks such as clams, oysters, and scallops (which are reported in weight of meats, excluding the shell)." Foreign trade is reported in product or shipping weight, and its values are in real 2024 dollars: "All values presented within this section are in real 2024 dollars (inflation-adjusted)." The landings values in Tables 3 and 4 carry no such note, while Figure 3 plots landings revenue in real 2024 dollars, so check which basis a value uses before comparing.[1]
Recreational estimates. These are NOAA's estimates for saltwater fishing in the continental U.S. and Hawaii covered by this report. "Anglers caught an estimated 1 billion fish, of which 68 percent were released." Table 6 gives 319,302 thousand fish harvested and 692,984 thousand released, a released share of 68.5% (this page's calculation). "Noted states use different survey methods and caution should be taken when comparing effort and catch numbers with other states." For the release share, note: "Texas and Louisiana only report harvest, no weight or release data are available." Their release cells are NA.[1]
Per capita consumption. "The NOAA Fisheries calculation of per capita consumption is based on a “disappearance” model." It takes supply of imports and landings in edible weight, minus exports and industrial uses, divided by the population. "The model used to calculate consumption does not take into account inventories of products on hand at the beginning and end of the year, so all production is assumed to be consumed in the year it is produced." "For 2024, the estimated percentage of consumption coming from imports is 82 percent." "Because of the many inputs and great complexity of this calculation we do not attempt to quantify the variance of this estimate, but we do prefer to report the figure as a range of 75 to 90 percent."[1]
Symbols and withheld detail. Table 1 prints NA for non-edible shellfish imports and exports without a note explaining it, and a dash in Tables 7 and 8 marks regions where mussels are not farmed. "Certain leading ports have not been included or have been grouped together to avoid disclosure of private enterprise information."[1]
Reading in pairs
Text vs Table 1. The text gives a decrease of 775.3 million pounds (9.2 percent) in all landings; Table 1 gives 774,540 thousand pounds (-9.1%). For edible landings the text says: "Edible fish and shellfish landings in the 50 states were 6.3 billion pounds (2.8 million metric tons) in 2024—a decrease of 662.9 million pounds (300.7 thousand metric tons) compared with 2023." Table 1's All edible row gives 6,209,030 thousand pounds and a decrease of 724,697 thousand. For industrial landings the text gives 1.5 billion pounds and a decrease of 154.1 million pounds, while Table 1 gives a decrease of 49,844 thousand. The report does not explain these differences; whether the text and table use different definitions or vintages is not established by the report (see claims).[1]
Year labels as printed. The processed products overview gives industrial products of $721.5 million in 2024, while the industrial products paragraph says: "The value of industrial products was $721.5 million in 2023, down 25.1 million (3.4 percent) from 2023." The same paragraph says body oil decreased slightly from 2024. Table 11 shows body oil at 137,064 thousand pounds in 2023 and 125,632 thousand in 2024. These are reported as printed.[1]
Typography in tables. Table 4 prints Washington's 2023 volume as 6,5353 metric tons and Table 1 prints non-edible shellfish landings for 2024 as 23168, as printed. Table 12's 2023 components (15.1 + 3.8 + 0.3) add to 19.2 against a printed total of 19.1 (this page's calculation), consistent with components rounded to one decimal.[1]
Prices and value. "The 2024 average ex-vessel price paid to fishermen was 64 cents per pound, 4 cents more than in 2023." "Finfish accounted for 88 percent of the total landings and 45 percent of the total value." Total landings value was $4.9 billion in 2024, down $177.8 million (3.6 percent), while volume fell by more; the report does not decompose the change.[1]
Ports. Dutch Harbor, Alaska, landed 784 million pounds (Table 2) and New Bedford, Massachusetts, $305.2 million (Table 3) in 2024; NOAA describes these as the 27th and 24th consecutive years as the leading ports for volume and value.[1]
Edition, dates and next report
Dates. The report is dated October 2026 and the report page was last updated on 10/30/2026. The previous edition (2023) is listed as a 24-page PDF.[1][2]
Next report. The yearbook is annual; the release date of the 2025 report is not established by these sources. NOAA points to its FOSS data portal for the most current data.[2]
Verified facts
Each fact is labelled with its evidence typeEach fact in this section carries its evidence type — either cross-checked against independent sources, or confirmed from a single authoritative record.
U.S. commercial landings at ports in the 50 states (including at-sea processed fish credited to the nearest state) were 7,722,674 thousand pounds in 2024, against 8,497,214 thousand in 2023 (Table 1).[1] 1 source · authoritative record
Commercial landings were valued at $4.9 billion in 2024, and the average ex-vessel price was 64 cents per pound.[1] 1 source · authoritative record
Anglers took 193,723 thousand saltwater fishing trips in the continental U.S. and Hawaii in 2024, per NOAA estimates (Table 5), and caught 1,012,287 thousand fish (Table 6).[1] 1 source · authoritative record
U.S. per capita seafood consumption was 18.4 pounds in 2024, against 19.1 pounds in 2023 (Table 12).[1] 1 source · authoritative record
Statements and readings
Not counted as facts — each item shows what kind of statement it isFrom here on: statements not counted as facts — single-source reports, the issuing body’s own statements, and this page’s own readings, each labeled.
The text's changes in edible and industrial landings (662.9 and 154.1 million pounds) do not match Table 1 (724,697 and 49,844 thousand pounds); the report does not say why, so the reason is not established.[1] Stated by the issuing body itself (primary source) · not independently verified · inference from comparing NOAA's text with Table 1
Released fish were 68.5% of total recreational catch in Table 6, consistent with NOAA's rounded 68 percent; harvested plus released gives 1,012,286 against a printed total of 1,012,287 thousand, a one-unit difference consistent with rounding.[1] Stated by the issuing body itself (primary source) · not independently verified · inference from this page's calculation with Table 6
The sentence giving industrial products of $721.5 million in 2023 sits beside an overview giving the same value for 2024; which year label is intended is not established by the report.[1] Stated by the issuing body itself (primary source) · not independently verified · inference from comparing the report's text and Table 11
Timeline
- 2026-10-30
NOAA's Fisheries of the United States report page is updated with the 2024 report.[2]
What this page could not establish
These are questions this page tried to answer and could not. The gaps are left open rather than filled with a guess.- Why do the text's edible and industrial landings changes differ from Table 1?
- When will the 2025 report appear?
- Model
- claude-opus-5
- Time
- 11/08/2026, 01:22
- Body characters
- 8,750
- Sources
- 2 sources adopted
- Model
- ChatGPT (checked sources on the web)
- Time
- 11/08/2026, 01:39
- Verdict
- Revision required
Show revision history (3)
| 11/08/2026, 09:00 | First authored (claude-opus-5) | Created |
| 11/08/2026 | First version. Read in full NOAA's Fisheries of the United States, 2024 and the report page; quotations are complete sentences matched against the source text. | Updated |
| 11/08/2026 | Revised after review: landings are described as landings at ports in the 50 states including at-sea processed fish credited to the nearest state, with NOAA's sentences quoted; recreational figures are described as NOAA's estimates for the continental U.S. and Hawaii, with the Texas and Louisiana release-data note quoted; per capita consumption is described as a disappearance-model estimate; the fifth column is labeled as NOAA's printed comparison sentence; the PDF metadata references are removed. | Updated |
Frequently asked
How much seafood did U.S. commercial fishermen land in 2024?
7,722,674 thousand pounds (about 7.7 billion) at ports in the 50 states, including at-sea processed fish credited to the nearest state, valued at $4.9 billion (Table 1).[1]
How did 2024 landings compare with 2023?
Table 1 shows a decrease of 774,540 thousand pounds (-9.1%, this page's calculation); NOAA's text says 775.3 million pounds (9.2 percent).[1]
What is NOAA's estimated per capita U.S. seafood consumption in 2024?
18.4 pounds per person (Table 12), against 19.1 pounds in 2023; it is a disappearance-model estimate that does not account for inventories on hand, so all production is assumed to be consumed in the year it is produced.[1]
How much of U.S. seafood consumption is imported?
An estimated 82 percent in 2024, which NOAA prefers to report as a range of 75 to 90 percent.[1]
Do the landings figures include Puerto Rico?
No: landings at Puerto Rico and other ports outside the 50 states (222.9 million pounds in 2024) are reported separately; the 50-state total does include at-sea processed fish credited to the nearest state (2.9 billion pounds in 2024).[1]
When is the next Fisheries of the United States report?
The 2024 report is dated October 2026; the date of the 2025 report is not established by these sources.[2]