Report finds that America is catching and eating a little less fish

abcnews.go.com:

The volume and value of America’s commercial fishing industry both fell according to newly released federal figures, though members of the industry said the decline was to be expected following a spike in supply

PORTLAND, Maine — The volume and value of America's commercial fishing industry both fell according to newly released federal figures, though members of the industry said the decline was to be expected following a recent spike in supply.

The catch at U.S. ports in the 50 states fell 2.6% to 8.4 billion pounds in 2022, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's “Fisheries of the United States” report, which the agency released this month. The same report said the catch was worth $5.9 billion at the docks in 2022, the most recent year with available statistics, and that was a drop of 11%.

America also ate a little bit less seafood in 2022, as per capita consumption fell about 3% to 19.8 pounds in 2022, the report said. However, 2021 was a historically high year for seafood consumption, and the supply of available seafood surged, said Gavin Gibbons, chief strategy officer with the National Fisheries Institute in Reston, Virginia.

A dip following a record year was not unexpected, Gibbons said Monday. He said there are other encouraging trends, such as that the top ten most consumed species make up 79% of total consumption.

“This illustrates that U.S. consumers are continuing to diversify their palate. For many years those 10 choices made up closer to 90% of total consumption,” Gibbons said.

The fisheries report comes out every year and is intended as a snapshot of the size and scope of the U.S. fishing industry. The report also stated that imports and exports of edible seafood both increased,