NOAA Fisheries provides science-based conservation and management for sustainable fisheries and aquaculture, marine mammals, endangered species, and their habitats.
NOAA
NOAA Fisheries provides science-based conservation and management for sustainable fisheries and aquaculture, marine mammals, endangered species, and their habitats.
NOAA Fisheries tracks 473 fish stocks managed by 46 fishery management plans. We have rebuilt 40 stocks since 2000 as a result of our fishery management process. Overfishing and overfished numbers remained near all-time lows in 2015.
129 species
NOAA Fisheries has jurisdiction over 129 endangered and threatened marine species, including 42 foreign species.
15.5 pounds
The average amount of fish and shellfish Americans ate in 2015, a 0.9-pound increase from 2014. U.S. dietary guidelines recommend eating 8-12 ounces of
seafood each week.
8.9 million
The number of anglers who took 61 million recreational fishing trips in 2015, which resulted in a catch of more than 350 million fish with 57 percent
reported released.
4.4 million square miles
The total area that NOAA Fisheries is responsible for monitoring and enforcing marine fisheries, the largest Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the world.
9.7 billion
The number of pounds of seafood that U.S. commercial fishermen landed in 2015 valued at $5.2 billion.
608 million
The number of pounds of seafood generated by the U.S. aquaculture industry in 2014 valued at $1.3 billion.
1.8 million
The number of jobs that marine and coastal fisheries support across the nation.
Our work is guided by two core mandates—to ensure the productivity and sustainability of fisheries and fishing communities through science-based decision-making and compliance with regulations, and to recover and conserve protected resources including whales, turtles, and salmon. We have five regional offices, six science centers, and more than 20 laboratories around the United States and U.S. territories.
