Chapter Ill: Marine Fisheries 
Characteristics and Status of U.S. Fisheries 
U.S. Fishing Effort 
Compared to other countries, the United States 
is a relatively minor fishing nation, ranking sixth in 
terms of total catch for 1976. In 1976, total world 
landings were about 73.5 million metric tons 
(tonnes).1 (References to metric tons appear as 
“tonnes” in this chapter conforming with the Inter- 
national System of Units guidelines.) Of this total, 
Japan harvested about 15 percent (10.6 million 
tonnes); the U.S.S.R. harvested 14 percent (10.1 
million tonnes); and the U.S. share was about 4 per- 
cent (3.0 million tonnes). 
In terms of value, the major U.S. commercial 
catches are shrimp, salmon, and tuna. These three 
groups account for about 50 percent of the total 
value of the U.S. catch. Other important groups in- 
clude menhaden, clams, crabs, lobsters, oysters, and 
scallops. Tuna are caught primarily in international 
waters; salmon, clams, crabs, and shrimp often come 
from nearshore waters. 
In 1977, foreign operations within United States 
waters have been distributed among 12 nations: Bul- 
garia, Canada, Cuba, East Germany (GDR), Italy, 
Japan, South Korea, Poland, Republic of China 
(Taiwan), Romania, Spain, and the U.S.S.R. Of this 
group Japan, U.S.S.R., South Korea, and Poland are 
the foreign nations with the major fishing activities 
in United States waters. 
The United States imports edible and nonedible 
fishery products from over 32 countries in every 
continent of the world. Canada and Japan are the 
largest North America exporters of edible products 
to the United States, while Japan supplied 45 per- 
cent of total imports from Asia in 1977. Similarly, 
Canada, Japan, Mexico, and United Kingdom are 
the major markets for United States fishery products. 
Commercial Fishery ? 
The U.S. commercial fishing industry primarily 
comprises four interrelated activities: harvesting, 
processing, transporting, and distributing/marketing. 
LS 
Harvesting 
The harvesting segment lands between 1.8 and 
2.4 million tonnes of finfish and sheilfish annually— 
or an approximate annual average of 2.14 millon 
tonnes in recent years. Commercial fishery landings, 
fresh and marine, by domestic fishers at U.S. ports 
in 1977 were 2.4 million tonnes (5.2 billion pounds) 
valued dockside at $1.5 billion. U.S. landings have 
remained essentially stable in recent years despite 
the increased U.S. fish consumption and change in 
catch composition. 
The 1977 harvest cf edible species (roundweight, 
or live weight as caught) in the United States was 
about 131.5 million tonnes with a value of $1.4 bil- 
lion, the largest since 1951. These landings included 
1U.S. Depariment of Commerce, National Marine Fisheries 
Service. Fisheries of the United States 1977. NMFS Current 
Fishery Statistics No. 7500, p. 28, April 1978. 
* Ibid. : 
a record harvest of shrimp (216,208 tonnes) and 
increased landings of crabs (180,776 tonnes), sal- 
mon (152,246 tonnes), flounder (76,931 tonnes), 
and clams (43,617 tonnes). However, landings of 
tuna at U.S. ports in 1977 decreased about 30 per- 
cent to 156,594 tonnes, down from 220,234 tonnes 
in 1976. Landings of tuna by U‘S. fishers at foreign 
ports also decreased by about 30 percent during this 
same period. 
Landings at U.S. ports for industrial processing 
(mainly conversion to animal feed) were 1.04 mil- 
lion tonnes with a value of $111 million in 1977. 
Processing * 
In 1977, the total value of processed edible and 
industrial fishery products was about $3.9 billion. 
Edible products increased to $3.5 billion (up 13 
percent over 1976), whereas the value of industrial 
fishery products decreased to $372 million, a 
decline of 5 percent compared with 1976. This 
decline is attributed to a reduction in the value of 
3 Tbid., pp. iv, 22-36, and 69. 
