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Commercial fishermen sold 42.9 million pounds of fish and shellfish to North Carolina seafood dealers in 2020, a decrease of 19% from 2019 and about a 23% decrease from the previous five-year average, according to a press release from the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries.

Recreational fishermen landed 53.5 million finfish weighing 24.9 million pounds from state coastal and estuarine waters in 2020. The total weight harvested was about 4.6% higher than 2019 and a 4% increase over the previous 5-year-average.

The decrease in commercial harvest was tied to a 41.3% decrease in hard blue crab landings from 2019 that may have been partly due to impacts from COVID-19. The Division of Marine Fisheries heard from several fishermen who said they found it difficult to move blue crabs at the beginning of the state’s stay-at-home order when many restaurants were closed, stated the release.

Even with the decrease, hard blue crabs remained the state’s top commercial seafood in terms of pounds landed, while shrimp brought the most money to fishermen at the docks. The top five species by weight landed commercially from North Carolina coastal and estuarine waters in 2020 were:

Species	Pounds Landed	Estimate Dockside Value (Ex-Vessel)
Hard Blue Crabs	13.1 million	$19.1 million
Shrimp	9.7 million	$22.3 million
Summer Flounder	1.8 million	$3.7 million
Spiny Dogfish	1.5 million	$205,016
Striped Mullet	1.3 million	$651,104

The top five species landed recreationally from North Carolina coastal and estuarine waters in 2020 were:

Species	Pounds Landed	Number of Fish Landed
Spotted Seatrout	3.6 million	2.1 million
Yellowfin Tuna	2.4 million	83,766
Dolphin	2.1 million	262,372
Bluefish	2.1 million	2.1 million
Spanish Mackerel	1.8 million	1.3 million

Anglers took 16.4 million fishing trips in North Carolina coastal and estuarine waters in 2020, about 1.1 million fewer than in 2019.

The Division of Marine Fisheries’ Trip Ticket Program collects commercial fishing landings statistics through statutorily-mandated reporting of all commercial fisherman to dealer transactions.

The division estimates recreational fishing harvests through the Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP). The data for MRIP is gathered by port agents talking to fishermen at recreational access sites such as piers, boat ramps, charter docks and on the beach. Data is also gathered through mail surveys to license holders. The estimates do not include recreational landings of shrimp, crabs and shellfish.

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