Oregon’s Commercial Fishing in 2023
July 19, 2024Oregon’s commercial fishing industry landed 301 million pounds of seafood onshore worth $178 million in 2023. This was an increase from 2022, where 286 million pounds of seafood worth an inflation-adjusted $136 million was caught, but below the average landings and revenue of the previous five years (2018-2022) of 319 million pounds and $189 million.
Individual Fisheries
Crab harvests in 2023 were 37.2 million pounds versus 4.9 million pounds in 2022. Typically, the crab season begins in December, with most of the catch occurring at the beginning of the season. Because the crab season in Oregon didn’t fully open until February 1, 2023, 2022’s crab harvest was incredibly low compared with historical trends. On the other hand, 2023’s crab harvest was twice as large as the previous five-year average of 18.3 million pounds. Unfortunately, low crab prices hurt the overall revenue of the industry, resulting in a total revenue of $104 million. The average landed price per pound for Dungeness crab was $2.80 in 2023, the lowest seen since 2013’s $2.74.
Salmon landings fell 18% in 2023, to 1.7 million pounds. This was more than the previous five-year average of 1.4 million pounds, but below the average of the 2000s and 2010s. The average price declined as well, leading to a decrease in total landed value of 32% to $5.2 million. The long-term trend of low levels of salmon harvest continued in 2023, and the U.S. Secretary of Commerce issued a disaster declaration for the 2023 Oregon ocean troll salmon fishery.
The pink shrimp harvest was 44 million pounds in 2023, an increase of 7% from 2022, and above the average of the previous five years. Unfortunately, shrimp prices fell to 42 cents per pound in 2023, their lowest level since 2010. Even with the higher landings, the overall revenue was essentially unchanged from 2022 at $18.7 million. Oregon pink shrimp was certified as a sustainable fishery by the Marine Stewardship Council in 2007 and reassessed as sustainable in 2011.
The amount of whiting landed fell for the fourth year in a row, dropping 3.7% in 2023 to 164 million pounds. Whiting accounted for 60% by weight of all wild seafood landed in Oregon, but it has a low value. The price, 9 cents per pound, was equal to the five-year average leading to a total landed value for this fishery of $14.9 million. Much of Oregon’s whiting is made into surimi for use in making artificial crab meat, while the carcasses are used to make fishmeal.
The value of groundfish landed, pacific whiting excluded, decreased 13% in 2023 to $26.3 million. This represented a total landing weight of 47.7 million pounds, a decrease of 4.7% from 2022. The average price fell five cents to 55 cents per pound.
The albacore tuna harvest declined in 2023 to its lowest level since the early 2000s. Just 2.45 million pounds of albacore were landed in Oregon in 2023, the lowest volume since 1991. Prices also dropped, averaging $1.44 in 2023 leading to a total revenue of $3.5 million.
Smaller fisheries also had some changes. Pacific halibut landings totaled $1.6 million with a weight of nearly 269,000 pounds. Razor clams decreased from a peak in 2022 to 18,000 pounds harvested in 2023 with a value of $235,000.
Employment
An estimated 1,212 commercial fishers (excluding tribal fishing) worked in Oregon on an annual average basis in 2023. This was a slight decrease (-15) from the number of fishers in 2022, but very similar to the annual average of fishers in Oregon since 2020. It had been about 100 to 200 higher before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Estimating employment in fishing is more difficult than measuring the harvests. Legislation in 1999 allowed most fishers to be exempt from unemployment insurance coverage – the primary source of employment data. The Oregon Employment Department now estimates the number of fishers based on a combination of survey data and the number commercial fish landings made in Oregon. This method was new for 2014 and resulted in a lower employment estimate than before. Oregon vessels or crews making landings outside of Oregon are not included in these estimates of employment in Oregon.
The estimated number of fishers in 2023 varied from a high of 1,590 in May to a low of 515 in November. Fishing employment often peaks in the summer, but the past couple years have shown a subdued summer season and a peak in the spring. Five coastal counties – Clatsop, Coos, Curry, Lincoln, and Tillamook – had 95% of the total employment, based on where landings occur. Perhaps even more surprising is that non-coastal Jefferson County had any commercial fishing employment. These jobs are sometimes based on crayfish harvests.
The most important fisheries for direct employment are crab, salmon, and pink shrimp. The estimates of employment by species represent the minimum number of people in that fishery on an annual basis. Landings are counted by only the most valuable species landed that trip. Oregon’s largest fishery by volume, Pacific whiting, was the 10th largest by direct employment. But whiting is very important for the processing industry and its employment. Commercial fishers harvested about 100 different species in 2023.
Revenue
The number of fishing vessels has certainly declined from historic highs. It has become somewhat more stable since the late 1990s, but still fluctuates by a couple hundred. The past seven years have been a period of declining numbers of vessels. Fishing began generating more revenue per boat after the turn of the century, albeit with plenty of fluctuations. There were 796 vessels with at least one landing in 2023, down from 861 in 2022. They averaged about $224,000 each in landed value in Oregon in 2023, up by 42% from the previous year. Each vessel supported about 1.5 workers on an annual average basis; many vessels have landings only part of the year.
In addition to direct employment, commercial fishing provides the resource for seafood processors. There were 1,092 jobs in the industry in 2023. Records show that there were 39 seafood processors in Oregon that had employees in 2023. This is the highest number of seafood processors in recent history, surpassing the previous high point of 36 in 2019. Some processors also use temporary help firms to round out their staffing, but these employees are counted in the business services industry. The processing industry paid more than $49 million in wages in 2023, which clearly shows the benefit of adding value to raw natural products.