NOAA: U.S. overfishing list drops to an all-time low of 15 stocks

NOAA Fisheries released three of its flagship annual reports on Oct. 30: the Status of Stocks for 2025, Fisheries of the United States 2024 and Fisheries Economics of the United States 2024. The headline from the stock report is that the number of U.S. stocks on the overfishing list fell from 23 to 15, the lowest since the agency began tracking. The overfished list held steady at 42 stocks.

NOAA says it tracked 522 stocks and completed 173 assessments in fiscal 2025. Of stocks with a known status, 96% of 372 were not subject to overfishing and 84% of 265 were not overfished. Atlantic blue marlin came off the overfishing list for the first time since 1998, and California's quillback rockfish was added to the rebuilt list, bringing the total rebuilt since 2000 to 52.

On the economic side, U.S. commercial and recreational fishing generated $321 billion in sales and supported 1.7 million jobs in 2024. Recreational fishing alone accounted for about 685,000 jobs, $146 billion in sales and $78.9 billion in value added. Commercial fishermen landed 7.7 billion pounds worth $4.9 billion.

Americans ate about 18.4 pounds of seafood per person. The U.S. imported $25 billion in edible seafood and exported $4.4 billion, while marine aquaculture produced 561 million pounds worth $1.3 billion.

Photo: Fishing boats at MacMillan Pier in Provincetown, Mass. Credit: NOAA Fisheries.

This is a The Gillnet news desk summary, not a reprint.

Source: NOAA Fisheries: NOAA Fisheries Releases Three Flagship Reports (Oct. 30, 2026).