According to a recent federal report, the US seafood industry has never been more sustainable, with the fewest overharvested fish stocks ever recorded.
The report, ‘Status of the Stocks’ was published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and it also shows the strength of an industry that’s worth $8 billion a year.
94% of fish stocks in the US oceanic and gulf waters are not being overfished, according to the report, an all-time high after the number climbed slightly from last year.
The NOAA keeps a list of all the fisheries in the country that are subject to overfishing, and the agency said it has recently removed several species: a Gulf of Maine and Cape Hatteras stock of Atlantic mackerel and the Gulf of Mexico stock of cubera snapper.
2022 saw the removal of the Atlantic coast bluefish and a Washington Coast stock of coho salmon.
“By ending overfishing and rebuilding stocks, we are strengthening the value of U.S. fisheries to the economy, our communities, and marine ecosystems,” said Rick Spinrad, NOAA’s administrator.
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GNN recently reported that after decades of overfishing in the northwest Atlantic Ocean, hake fisheries off the coast of Spain are as large as ever thanks to timely and targeted conservation measures.
Additionally, Maine’s Penobscot River recently saw record numbers of Atlantic salmon returning to spawn, but the real trendsetters that far north have been blueback river herring and alewives, which entered the Penobscot in numbers that more than double the previous record.
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