Commercial Fishing in Texas

Commercial fishing is a vital industry in Texas and one regulated by the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department. The total Texas coastwide landings in 2014 were 74.7 million pounds of seafood, valued at more than $262.6 million. Updated 2 years ago
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Vessels of the Fishing Industry

Vessels of the Fishing Industry

An oyster boat returns to Fulton. Photo by Robert Plocheck

Total Texas coastwide landings in 2014 were 74.7 million pounds of seafood, valued at more than $262.6 million. In 2015, there were 80.4 million pounds of seafood, valued at more than $173.4 million. Shrimp accounted for most of the weight and value of all seafood landed.

 
 Top Fishing Ports in Texas 2015 
RankPortPounds (000)Value Dollars (000)
1Brownsville–Port Isabel24,700$ 55,100
2Galveston16,40042,000
3Palacios15,40031,200
4Port Arthur13,60026,900

 

 Top Fishing Ports in U.S. 2015 
RankPortValue Dollars (000)
1New Bedford, MA$ 321,900
2Dutch Harbor, AK218,200
3Kodiak, AK137,500
4Aleutian Islands (other), AK111,300
5Empire-Venice, LA110,900
   
18Brownsville–Port Isabel, TX55,100

 

Texas Commercial Fishery Landings by Species, 2015 
SpeciesPoundsValue Dollars
Shrimp, Brown52,552,655$ 96,897,374
Shrimp, White16,644,17545,591,742
Snapper, Red2,151,5879,387,187
Oyster, Eastern1,582,6858,232,088
Crab, Blue3,914,2285,109,692
Drum, Black1,812,6172,003,383
Grouper, Yellowedge294,5241,266,425
Snapper, Vermillion306,820919,931
Croaker, Atlantic90,084745,856
Total, including others80,356,029$ 173,418,614

 

 Texas Commercial Fishery Landings by Species, 2014 
SpeciesPoundsValue Dollars
Shrimp, Brown43,815,522$ 149,892,082
Shrimp, White18,138,96371,536,722
Oyster, Eastern4,128,91019,221,247
Snapper, Red1,796,8377,617,401
Shrimp, marine, other931,7453,722,431
Crab, Blue2,234,4703,050,132
Drum, Black1,747,2641,980,566
Grouper, Yellowedge220,446938,947
Snapper, Vermillion202,623603,801
Total, including others74,687,129$ 262,605,432

 

Source: National Ocean Economics Program and National Marine Fisheries Service, 2016. 

 

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