Overfishing List Falls to a Record Low of 15 Stocks: NOAA Releases Three Flagship Fisheries Reports, With $321 Billion in 2024 Industry Sales
NOAA Fisheries, part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), on October 30 released three flagship reports: the Status of Stocks 2025 annual report to Congress, the 2024 Fisheries of the United States, and the 2024 Fisheries Economics of the United States, covering the state of U.S. marine fisheries and their economic impact.
NOAA Fisheries tracks 522 stocks or stock complexes. In fiscal year 2025, it conducted 173 stock assessments and made two first-time stock status determinations resulting from improved or new scientific work.
The trends are positive: the number of stocks on the overfishing list fell from 23 to 15, an all-time low, and of the 372 stocks with a known overfishing status, 96 percent are not subject to overfishing. The number of stocks on the overfished list remained at 42; of the 265 stocks with a known overfished status, 84 percent are not overfished. A total of 52 stocks have been rebuilt since 2000. Notably, Atlantic blue marlin was removed from the overfishing list for the first time since 1998, and California's quillback rockfish was added to the rebuilt list in 2025.
On the economy, U.S. commercial fishing, seafood, and recreational fishing together generated $321 billion in sales and supported 1.7 million jobs in 2024. Commercial fisheries landed 7.7 billion pounds worth $4.9 billion, supporting 1 million jobs and $175 billion in sales, while recreational fishing supported 685,000 jobs and $146 billion in sales.
The reports also show U.S. seafood consumption at 18.4 pounds per person. In 2024 the United States imported $25 billion in edible seafood products and exported $4.4 billion, while aquaculture produced 561 million pounds of farmed seafood valued at $1.3 billion. The full datasets are available in NOAA Fisheries' Fisheries One Stop Shop database.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：Massachusetts州 Provincetown 的 MacMillan 码头渔船（NOAA Fisheries 官方图，公共领域）。 / Image: Fishing boats at MacMillan Pier in Provincetown, Massachusetts (NOAA Fisheries, public domain).
