{"id":17299,"date":"2023-05-12T16:34:55","date_gmt":"2023-05-12T20:34:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/?page_id=17299"},"modified":"2024-02-15T11:40:23","modified_gmt":"2024-02-15T16:40:23","slug":"a-primer-on-north-carolinas-seafood","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/a-primer-on-north-carolinas-seafood\/","title":{"rendered":"A Primer on North Carolina\u2019s Seafood"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n

North Carolina has about 322 miles of ocean shoreline and the second largest estuarine system (bays, sounds and wetlands) in the country, which amounts to almost 12,009 miles of estuarine coastline. In total, the state has 12,331 miles of coastal shoreline. Learn more from UNC-TV\u2019s \u201cTracing the Coastline.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the coast, there are both wild-caught and mariculture producers. Harvesting occurs in the ocean, near the shore, and in sounds such as the Albemarle and Pamlico sounds. There are over 70 wild marine species that North Carolina fishermen catch in coastal environments. Many of the businesses that support the fisheries and seafood processing are also located in the coastal regions of the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soft-shell crabs<\/a> are a popular and lucrative part of North Carolina\u2019s coastal aquaculture sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crabbers select Atlantic blue crabs that are just about to naturally shed their hard shells, a process that makes way for new growth. The crabs are placed in special trays that recirculate seawater and held there until they shed. The new shell is soft and edible at this stage. The soft crabs are promptly removed from the trays for processing, packing and transport to retail seafood stores and restaurants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2019, North Carolina produced nearly 851,000 pounds of soft crabs, according to statistics from the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cultivated oysters<\/a> are another profitable delicacy, particularly for the half-shell market in restaurants. In 2019, North Carolina shellfish growers produced almost 850,000 pounds of cultivated oysters, DMF reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Further inland from the coast, several freshwater finfish are raised as food sources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tilapia<\/a> is a subtropical fish that is cultivated indoors and sold live to Asian metropolitan markets along the East Coast. North Carolina tilapia growers produce over 1 million pounds of tilapia annually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

North Carolina also produces over 2 million pounds of cultivated catfish<\/a> every year. In 2019, nine producers harvested nearly 11,000 pounds of crawfish<\/a>, according to data presented at the 2020 N.C. Aquaculture Development Conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the late 1880s, western North Carolina has sustained a dynamic freshwater rainbow trout<\/a> fishery. North Carolina is second in the nation for the production of trout for food markets. In 2019, producers harvested nearly 5 million pounds of trout, according to data presented at the 2020 N.C. Aquaculture Development Conference. Most North Carolina trout is raised through aquaculture or cultivated in concrete raceways, but some producers grow trout in earthen ponds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other finfish cultivated in the state are hybrid striped bass, striped bass<\/a> and Russian sturgeon<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Seafood Supply Chain<\/strong><\/h2><\/a>
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The basic supply chain for North Carolina seafood starts with the fishermen who often work for themselves as small businesses, using their own equipment to harvest a number of marine species during the year. Once they reach their harvest limit on any given trip, fishermen travel to a fish house to offload their catch. In most cases, watermen already have a business relationship with a certain fish house and return to the same fish house over and over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next steps in the seafood supply chain are fish houses and their wholesale customers. Generally, fish houses do minor processing, such as heading shrimp or filleting finfish. In some cases, they add substantial value to seafood, such as cooking crabs and picking the meat, and maybe taking the next step to produce heat-and-serve crab cakes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fish houses typically sell their seafood to coastal restaurants and seafood markets, but North Carolina seafood becomes less available to consumers the farther their local retail markets and restaurants are from the coast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some watermen and fish houses sell directly to consumers through family-run roadside stands or to community supported fisheries or community supported agriculture programs. Learn more in this North Carolina Sea Grant’s inventory of N.C. fish houses<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A 2012 supply chain analysis by North Carolina Sea Grant<\/a> showed distribution north along the U.S. East Coast is highly developed. Routes north from the North Carolina coast into markets such as Washington, D.C.; Baltimore; Norfolk and the Chesapeake Bay; Philadelphia; New York City; and Boston are mature and well-established.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Impact on North Carolina\u2019s Economy<\/strong><\/h2><\/a>
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From 2016 to 2019, the total dockside value of North Carolina seafood, estimated by the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries<\/a> (DMF), ranged from $77.9 million to $86.6 million. The volume of all species landed by fishermen ranged from 45.8 million pounds to nearly 53 million pounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DMF calculates a ballpark monetary value of all wild-caught species that fishermen harvest, which represents the average prices fish-house owners pay to fishermen when they unload seafood at their docks. These commercial landing figures approximate the economic value of commercial marine species before they are distributed to and sold by retailers and wholesalers to the final customer, the seafood consumer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2019, the state\u2019s most valuable wild, commercial fisheries were live Atlantic blue crabs followed by shrimp, flounder and then shellfish, including clam and oyster meats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bulk of the wild-caught and mariculture seafood industry is located in 20 counties in proximity to the Albemarle and Pamlico sounds or the Atlantic Ocean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New research<\/a> published in 2021 estimated both the demand for North Carolina seafood and the impact of the state\u2019s commercial-fishing industry on local economies and the state overall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The study found the North Carolina wild-caught seafood industry contributes nearly $300 million in value and 5,500 jobs to the state\u2019s economy. Consumer demand for North Carolina seafood appears strong across the state, and they have a preference for seafood from North Carolina and U.S. sources over imported seafood. As a result, the commercial industry has opportunities to increase its market share through targeted marketing, home-preparation guidance, new supply chains and prepared-seafood meals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2012 study by North Carolina Sea Grant<\/a>\u00a0estimated that 40 to 60 percent of the state\u2019s seafood is transported to Northeastern U.S. markets. The majority of these out-of-state markets are wholesale consortiums in Washington, D.C., Baltimore, and New York City (e.g., the Fulton Fish Market).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For context for the state\u2019s seafood industry, it helps to look at the seafood industry in the nation as a whole.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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U.S. Seafood Industry<\/strong><\/h2><\/a>
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In 2019, the average per person availability of seafood for consumption in the United States, including fish and shellfish, was 19.2 pounds, according to the National Fisheries Institute<\/a>. By comparison, the average per person availability of beef for consumption was 57.9 pounds and was 95.8 pounds for chicken, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The United States was the world\u2019s fourth largest seafood exporter and the largest importer of seafood by value in 2016, according to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations<\/a>. China was the world\u2019s largest exporter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2019 this country imported 6.0 billion pounds of fishery products valued at $22.2 billion, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)<\/a>. The quantity of imported seafood that is consumed in the United States is between 70 percent and 85 percent; however, a sizable volume of this imported seafood is caught by American fishermen, is exported overseas for processing, and then is reimported to this country<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to NOAA<\/a>, fishermen across the United States harvested 9.3 billion pounds of seafood in 2019 worth $5.5 billion. Finfish comprised about 89 percent of total harvests, and the average price paid to fishermen was $0.59 per pound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most profitable marine fisheries were salmon ($707 million), lobster ($668 million), crabs ($636 million), scallops ($572 million) and shrimp ($467 million).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alaska led all states in volume landings in 2019 with over 60% of the total catch, followed by the Gulf of Mexico (15%), Atlantic (13%), and Pacific regions (11%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The U.S production of freshwater and marine cultivated fish and shellfish was about 680 million pounds worth $1.5 billion in 2018, an increase of 49 million pounds from 2017. Catfish, crawfish, and trout dominated freshwater production, while the top species for finfish aquaculture is Atlantic salmon. Oysters are the primary species produced in shellfish aquaculture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The volume of wild fish and shellfish harvested from U.S. waters is about eight to 10 times greater than that produced by aquaculture in this country. The U.S. ranks 17th<\/sup> worldwide in aquaculture production; however, over half of the imported seafood that is consumed in this country is estimated to come from aquaculture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, in 2019, the value of processed seafood products in the U.S. was over $11 billion. The primary items produced were canned seafood (salmon, tuna, clams, oysters and shrimp), fresh and frozen fillets and steaks, breaded fish portions, and breaded shrimp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the National Fisheries Institute, the five most popular seafood<\/a> in the U.S. from 2007 to 2018 have been shrimp, salmon, canned tuna, tilapia, and Alaskan pollock. In 2019, NOAA revised its consumption model to more accurately reflect improvements in processing seafood. As a result, Alaska Pollock and tilapia now rank fourth and fifth, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other popular species are pangasius \u2014 a freshwater fish imported from Asia and often used in fish and chips \u2014 as well as cod, crab, catfish and clams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shrimp has been the most popular seafood since 2006. Clams and crab have continued to rank among the top 10 since the middle of the last decade.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Cultural Heritage<\/strong><\/h2><\/a>
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The waters of North Carolina are a public trust, meaning that certain natural and cultural resources are preserved for public use, and that the government owns and must protect and maintain these resources for the public\u2019s use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many early residents of the Outer Banks migrated to North Carolina\u2019s coast from the Tidewater region of Virginia and the shores of Maryland, including groups who originally immigrated from southwest England and Ireland\u2019s Ulster province. Traits of Irish and British English remain in the local dialect, creating a distinctive regional character. Today, \u201cCarolina Brogue\u201d<\/a> is recognized as a vital part of the state\u2019s coastal culture. Read about Ocracoke’s Brogue<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seafood has been important to North Carolina\u2019s coastal heritage and economy for over four centuries. Families who can trace their lineage to the earliest coastal settlers now commercially fish for hard crabs<\/a>, oysters, and a variety of finfish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And they created unique recipes with the seafood they caught, such as fish cakes, fried fresh mullet, oyster dressing, shrimp pie, stewed hard crabs, Hatteras clam chowder<\/a>, and Calabash-style seafood<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Traditionally, community events along the coast, such as Day at the Docks<\/a>, the North Carolina Oyster Festival, the Outer Banks Seafood Festival, the North Carolina Seafood Festival and the Sneeds Ferry Shrimp Festival<\/a> celebrate not only seafood culinary traditions of the coast but also avant-garde preparations by well-known chefs from across eastern North Carolina and beyond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The North Carolina seafood industry has a strong impact on the state\u2019s economy. It not only supports the livelihoods of commercial fishermen and their families, but also seafood processors and packers, seafood retailers, and independent restaurants \u2014 not just those along the coast but also in metropolitan areas such as Greenville, Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill, and in Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York and Boston.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

North Carolina Cultural Heritage Resources (Videos)<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n