Fishing and Martha's Vineyard go hand in hand, both in reality and the popular imagination, and have done so forever. From the time when Native Americans pursued whales in canoes to the present when both commercial and recreational fishermen use high-tech gear to locate and capture their prey, fishing has played a central part in the lives and livelihoods of Islanders.
Now, in an effort to quantify the economic impact of fishing, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has published a volume called "Fisheries Economics of the U.S., 2006," a year in which saltwater fishing contributed approximately $185 billion to the U.S. economy and supported more than two million jobs. Of the $185 billion in sales, the commercial fishing industry was responsible for $103 billion, compared to $82 billion for the recreational fishing industry, or 55.6 to 44.4 percent.
The report is available from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which oversees NMFS.
Surfcasters on South Beach.
File photo by Tyson Trish
According to its preface, "This report covers the 1997-2006 time period and includes descriptive statistics on commercial fisheries landings, revenue, and price trends and economic impacts of the commercial fishing industry in 2006; recreational fishing catch, effort, and participation rates and 2006 angler expenditures and economic impacts of saltwater angling; and employer and non-employer establishment, payroll, and annual receipt information for fishing-related industries."
Nationally, commercial landings had an ex-vessel value of $4.1 billion in 2006, as compared to $3.6 billion in 1997, a decline of three percent when adjusted for inflation. (Ex-vessel value is the amount paid to fishermen for their raw catch.)
Shrimp, walleye pollock, American lobster, sea scallops, and Pacific salmon accounted for almost 50 percent of landings revenue in 2006. Sea scallop revenues increased 330 percent in the period covered by the report.
Landings of American lobster increased from 82 to 92 million pounds between 1997 and 2006 and the price per pound increased from $3.29 to $4.27 on average.
While sea scallop landings increased from 13.6 to 59 million pounds, the price was almost the same, $6.56 to $6.52. Tuna landings fell from 83.5 to 49.8 million pounds, but the price increased, from $1.32 to $1.74.
Menhaden, regarded by many experts as the most important forage fish along the Atlantic coast, fell off from 2 to 1.3 billion pounds, and the price fell from 6 to 5 cents over the period of the report.
Meanwhile, the number of recreational fishermen increased from 8.9 to 13.6 million between 1997 and 2006, and they took more trips, 87.1 to 68.5 million. In 2006, 43 million trips were aboard private or rental boats, up from 34 million trips in 1997, 40 million trips were on shore (29 million in 1997), and 3.8 million were aboard charter or party boats, down from five million in 1997.
Nationwide, anglers harvested 2.6 million striped bass in 2006 (up from 1.5 million in 1997) while the released 25.9 million (15.9). The harvest of summer flounder (fluke) fell from 7.1 to 4.2 million fish in the report's period, while release increased from 12.8 to18 million fish. Little tunny (known locally as false albacore) and Atlantic bonito, which were tallied together in the report, fell from 449,000 to 310,000 harvested, while release of the two species increased from 616,000 to 829,000. Harvest of large Atlantic tunas increased from 424,000 to 610,000, while release dropped from 194,000 to 97,000.
Of particular interest to local wheelhouse loafers - and Squid Row squatters and Memorial Wharf rats - are the data pertaining to fishing and fisheries in Massachusetts and in New England. The ex-vessel value of fish landed by commercial fishermen in New England was $953 million in 2006, 23.2 percent of the national total and an increase of 66 percent from 1997 when it was $573 million. In weight, landings only increased from 647 to 700 million pounds, or 8 percent.
Massachusetts was responsible for $437 million of New England landings revenue in 2006, Maine for $361m, followed by Rhode Island ($98m) and Connecticut ($37m). Lobster and sea scallops accounted for $769 million, or 70 percent, of the total.
By weight, landings of several important commercial species declined between 1997 and 2006. Cod and haddock fell from 31 to 20 million pounds, flounders from 32 to 19 million pounds, and bluefin tuna from 2.1 million to 274,000 pounds. Sea scallops showed the biggest increase, from 8.3 to 40.5 million pounds. Lobster poundage also increased, from 72.7 to 90.8 million.
A dragger bound for port at Menemsha.
Photo by Susan Safford
On the recreational side, 2.8 million anglers took 9.7 million fishing trips in 2006, up from 7.6 million in 1997. Shore fishing accounted for 4.5 million trips, 4.6 million were aboard private or rental boats, and 458,00 were on party or charter boats. They spent $438 million on fishing trips and $1.4 billion on fishing-related equipment, including tackle, boats, and vehicle expenses.
The number of striped bass killed by anglers in New England increased from 375,000 to 585,000 between 1997 and 2006, while the number released increased from 8.4 to 16.3 million. Bluefish harvest increased from 1 to 1.5 million fish, and release increased from 1.2 to 3 million. The harvest of summer flounder (fluke) fell from 718,000 to 592,000 fish, but release increased from 950,000 to 2.5 million fish.
In Massachusetts, total landings revenue from commercial fishing jumped from $224 to $437 million between 1997 and 2006, with sea scallops accounting for almost the entire increase ($47 to $234 million). Because of the thriving sea scallop fishery, shellfish made up 74 percent of total landings revenue. Cod, haddock, and flounders accounted for approximately half the total finfish landings, in terms of revenue, both at the beginning and end of the report period.
In poundage, total commercial landings in Massachusetts increased from 229 million pounds in 1997 to 348 million in 2006, almost all of the increase due to an enormous jump in the amount of Atlantic mackerel landed (1.2 to 89.5 million pounds) and a five-fold increase in the amount of sea scallops (7 to 36 million pounds).
Recreational fishing increased from 4.1 million trips taken in 1997 to 4.7 million in 2006. Of these 2.4 million were on private and rental boats, 2 million from shore, and 24,000 aboard charter or party boats. These anglers spent $347 million on trip expenditures and $514 million on equipment, including boats tackle and vehicles.
In terms of the number of fish caught, Atlantic mackerel led the way in Massachusetts both in 1997 (1.5 million) and 2006 (4.3 million) although there were some lean years in between (700,000 in 2004).
Striped bass harvest increased from 199,000 in 1997 to 340,000 in 2006, while release increased from 5.4 to 8.65 million fish.
More bluefish were killed in 2006 (686,000) than in 1997 (316,000), while release of bluefish increased from 644,000 to 1.5 million fish.
The harvest of Atlantic cod decreased from 340,000 to188,000 fish over the period, although release increased, from 364,000 to 534,000 fish.
The harvest of fluke was the same at both ends of the period, 220,000 fish, but it spiked at 379,000 fish in 2000.
The harvest of scup fell from 810,000 to 314,000 between 1997 and 2006, but there were banner years in 2003 and 2005 (1.6 and 1.5 million fish, respectively).
