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New Bedford Fishing Fleet number one again
New City port hauls in top revenue
By Joao Ferreira, Standard-Times staff writer
 NEW
BEDFORD — New Bedford is the No. 1 money-making fishing
port in the nation for the sixth consecutive year.
New Bedford fishermen landed $282.5 million in fish in
2005, an increase of $75 million from 2004, according to
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's
Fisheries Service.
Again, Dutch Harbor-Unalaska, Alaska, ranked second at
$166.1 million in landings.
New Bedford's No. 1 position remains intact, despite a
decrease in landings from 175.1 million pounds in 2004
to 153.4 million pounds in 2005, a 30 percent drop.
Jim Kendall, a fishing industry consultant from New
Bedford, called the results "heartening" in the face of
the ever-tightening days-at-sea regulations.
"With less days you would expect it to be worse all the
time, but the stocks appear to be a little better than a
lot of people think," he said. "It's quite a bit of
honor to be the number one port."
He estimated the fishing industry has a $1.6 billion
impact on the local economy — a spin-off value of six
times the catch value.
Scallops once again were the main contributor to the
city's valuable catch, but groundfish prices have jumped
due to low supply and high demand.
"Groundfish prices right now compared to last year,
they've got to be up 40 percent," said Richie Canastra,
co-owner of the New Bedford Seafood Auction. "The demand
has been strong for fresh fish. It's bad news for the
consumer because prices are high."
Scallops sold for about $8 per pound at the New Bedford
Seafood Auction yesterday.
Prices spiked last December at $9 to $10 per pound.
"Obviously, scallops probably played the biggest role,"
Mr. Kendall said.
The further tightening of days-at-sea regulations, with
a further 18 percent cut of days at sea for groundfish
possible in 2008, could have an impact on the industry
in the coming years.
Mr. Canastra said new regulations "could be bad news,"
but he still predicts that New Bedord will remain the
top revenue port in the nation.
"I believe that we will stay number one with the
scallops," he said. "In groundfish, the volume is going
to be about the same."
With fewer days to fish, New Bedford dropped from
seventh to eighth in 2005 in terms of the amount of fish
landed.
Gloucester, the only other Massachusetts port on the
list, ranked 10th in pounds of fish landed.
Dutch Harbor-Unalaska remained the top port for landings
for the 17th consecutive year with 887.6 million pounds
of fish and shellfish unloaded in 2005. That represents
a 1.2 million-pound increase in landings over 2004.
Reedville, Va., slipped into the No. 3 position with
373.4 million pounds, down from 400.5 million pounds in
2004. Intracoastal City, La., jumped from fifth to the
No. 2 position with 464 million pounds in 2005, up from
301.8 million pounds in 2004.
The port in Los Angeles is new to the top 10 list,
ranking ninth with 139.2 million pounds.
The total domestic commercial landings for 2005 were 9.6
billion pounds, valued at $3.9 billion, the fisheries
service said.
Contact Joao Ferreira at
jferreira@s-t.com
Date of Publication: February 03, 2007 on Page A05 |
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