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Economic contributions of the Mississippi-Alabama seafood industry

By: Ben Posadas / Published: May 18, 2017

The seafood industry one of the major marine industries served by research and extension programming by the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium under its focus area on Sustainable Seafood and Aquaculture. The seafood industry consists of the commercial harvesting, processing, wholesaling, and retailing of seafood products. NOAA Fisheries started reporting the economic contributions of the seafood industry since 2006. The long-term estimates of the economic contributions of the seafood industry are shown below. The negative impacts of Hurricane Katrina and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill are clearly exhibited in the dips of the levels of economic activities in the seafood industry in 2006, 2010 and 2011.

Output or sales is the gross sales by businesses within the economic region affected by an activity. The total economic contribution or impact is the sum of direct, indirect and induced impacts. The total sales impacts of the seafood industry are shown in Figure 1. The combined economic contributions of the seafood industry in Mississippi and Alabama rose to $967 million in 2015. Mississippi reached its highest level in 2015 at $465 million while Alabama achieved the peak in 2014 at $661 million.

Figure 1. Source: NOAA Fisheries.
Figure 1. Source: NOAA Fisheries.

Employment or jobs impacts are expressed in terms of a mix of both full-time and part-time jobs. The total economic contribution or impact is the sum of direct, indirect and induced impacts. The total jobs impacts of the seafood industry are shown in Figure 2. The collective job creation contributions of the seafood industry in Mississippi and Alabama reached 19,446 jobs in 2015. Mississippi reached its record level in 2015 at 9,491 jobs while Alabama attained the highest in 2014 at 15,069 jobs.

Figure 2. Source: NOAA Fisheries.
Figure 2. Source: NOAA Fisheries.

The commercial fishing or harvesting sector includes the “finfish fishing” and “shellfish fishing” sectors in the North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS). The finfish fishing industry comprises establishments primarily engaged in the commercial catching or taking of finfish from their natural habitat. The shellfish fishing industry comprises establishments primarily engaged in the commercial catching or taking of shellfish from their natural habitat. The major species commercially harvested in Mississippi and Alabama were shrimp, oyster, blue crab, and finfish.

The seafood dealers and processors or the seafood processing sector primarily includes the “seafood canning” and the “fresh and frozen seafood processing” sectors in NAICS. The seafood canning industry comprises establishments primarily engaged in canning seafood and marine fats and oils and/or smoking, salting, and drying seafood. The “floating factory ships” that are engaged in the gathering and processing of seafood into canned seafood products are included in this industry. The fresh and frozen seafood processing industry comprises establishments primarily engaged in one or more of these activities: eviscerating fresh fish by removing heads, fins, scales, bones, and entrails; shucking and packing fresh shellfish; manufacturing frozen seafood; and processing fresh and frozen marine fats and oils.

The seafood wholesalers and distributors or seafood-wholesaling sector corresponds to the “fish and seafood merchant wholesalers” sector in NAICS. The fish and seafood merchant wholesalers industry comprises establishments primarily engaged in the merchant wholesale distribution of fish and seafood (except canned or packaged frozen).

The seafood-retailing sector corresponds to the “fish and seafood markets” and “restaurant establishments” serving seafood products in NAICS. Fish and seafood markets include establishments primarily engaged in retailing fresh, frozen, or cured fish and seafood products. The restaurant sector corresponds to the “full-service restaurants” and “limited service restaurants” in NAICS. 

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