Kodiak Still Amongst Top Fishing Ports

Casey Kelly/KMXT

Kodiak is once again amongst the top fishing ports in the nation, both in terms of tons of fish landed and the value of the catch.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released its annual list of the top fishing ports today (Thursday). For 2007, Kodiak ranked fourth in the nation for landings with about 320 million pounds of fish crossing the docks. That’s the same position the city was in on the 2006 list, even though about 13-million less pounds of fish was landed last year compared to the year before.

For the 19th consecutive year Dutch Harbor was far and away the number one port for landings with more than 777-million pounds of mostly pollock hitting shore. Reedville, Virginia and Empire-Venice, Louisiana were also ahead of Kodiak with 421-million and 323-million pounds respectively, while Intercoastal City, Louisiana rounded out the top five, with nearly 300-million pounds.

The value of Kodiak’s catch increased despite the poundage going down. Last year, Kodiak’s fisheries were worth about 126-million dollars, up from 101-million in 2006. That ranked the city third in the nation, the same as in 2006.

For the eighth year in a row New Bedford, Massachusetts and its lucrative scallop fishery netted the number one spot for value at 268-million dollars. Dutch Harbor came in number two at 174-million, while Empire-Venice had 73.5-million dollars worth and Hampton Roads area, Virginia rounded out the top five at about 70-million.

NOAA’s report, Fisheries of the United States 2007, will be available online Friday (today).

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