Landings

The menhaden fishery is one of the United States' oldest and most valuable fisheries, with landings dating to the late 1800s. Data for the fishery are incomplete prior to World War II.  Landings generally increased through the 1960s and 1970s, although there was considerable annual variation.  Peak landings occurred during the mid-1980s, when for six consecutive years (1982-1987) over 800,000 metric tons (mt) of gulf menhaden were landed.

Record landings occurred in 1984 when 985,000 metric tons were harvested.  Landings generally declined during the 1990s, and fell to a 20-year low of 432,000 mt in 1992. Consolidation within the menhaden industry (plant closures and fewer vessels) and low product prices were major contributing factors to declining landings during the 1990s.  The most recent declines in landings are credited to the active tropical season in 2004 and the two major hurricanes, Katrina and Rita in 2005, which severely damaged all four active plants and a number of vessels. 

Since 2000, four menhaden reduction factories have been active on the Gulf coast: one in Mississippi and three in Louisiana (Empire, Abbeville, and Cameron).  Pre-storm landings ranged between 500,000 to 600,000 mt  (Table) and can be separated into two components:  the reduction fishery and the bait fishery.  In the Gulf, most of the catch occurs in coastal waters of Louisiana and Mississippi, with a lesser amounts coming from Texas and Alabama .  The average percentage of catch by state for 2002-2006 is shown below.

TX

LA

MS

AL

2002

5.1%

90.4%

3.8%

0.7%

2003

0.8%

92.3%

7.0%

0.0%

2004

2.3%

92.3%

5.3%

0.0%

2005*

3.9%

94.7%

1.4%

0.0%

2006*

2.6%

91.2%

6.3%

0.0%

 5-Year Average

2.9%

92.2%

4.8%

0.1%

        *  preliminary value