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On The Hook: Commercial Fishing Reaps Billions: Data Tables and Figures
Summary Data
- U.S. fisheries subsidies, by program
- U.S. fisheries subsidies, by program and year
- Regional distribution of subsidies
- Fish species distribution of subsidies
Detailed subsidy data
- State fuel subsidies
- State sales tax exemptions
- Tuna Access Agreement
- Buyback Program
- Disaster aid
- Seafood marketing
- Fisheries Contingency Fund
- Surplus Fish Purchase
Total U.S. fisheries subsidies, by program
| Fishing subsidy program | Subsidy value 1996-2004 (million US$) | Fraction of total (%) | Funding source(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 6,416 | 100% | 79% | 21% |
| Fuel subsidies | 2,825 | 44 | x | x |
| Fisheries research | 2,536 | 40 | x | x |
| State sales tax exemptions | 338 | 5 | x | |
| Disaster aid | 257 | 4 | x | x |
| Fishing access payments | 159 | 2 | x | |
| Surplus fish purchases | 117 | 2 | x | |
| Capital Construction Fund | 65 | 1 | x | |
| Seafood marketing | 61 | 1 | x | |
| Vessel/permit buybacks | 55 | 1 | x | |
| Fisheries Finance Program | 2 | <1 | x | |
| Fishermen's Contingency Fund | 1 | <1 | x | |
U.S. fisheries subsidies, by program and year
| Fishing subsidy program | Subsidy value (million US$) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | |
| Total | 697.3 | 702.5 | 701.5 | 736.9 | 741.4 | 705.9 | 682.7 | 756.6 | 691.6 |
| Fuel subsidies | 325.0 | 336.3 | 308.1 | 316.3 | 303.5 | 308.8 | 303.2 | 303.9 | 319.8 |
| Fisheries research | 281.8 | 281.8 | 281.8 | 281.8 | 281.8 | 281.8 | 281.8 | 281.8 | 281.8 |
| State sales tax exemptions | 43.3 | 45.2 | 37.7 | 41.1 | 36.8 | 36.1 | 34.6 | 31.9 | 31.9 |
| Disaster aid | 0 | 0 | 9.9 | 53.8 | 45.5 | 47.3 | 10.9 | 89.9 | 0 |
| Fishing access payments | 18.4 | 18.0 | 17.8 | 17.4 | 16.8 | 16.3 | 16.1 | 18.2 | 19.7 |
| Surplus fish purchases | 14.4 | 1.7 | 15.1 | 11.7 | 32.3 | 6.1 | 12.3 | 9.5 | 13.7 |
| Capital Construction Fund | 9.8 | 8.3 | 7.7 | 10.9 | 7.0 | 6.0 | 6.9 | 5.9 | 2.6 |
| Seafood marketing | 4.3 | 4.8 | 4.1 | 3.8 | 3.1 | 2.9 | 3.2 | 15.2 | 19.1 |
| Vessel/permit buybacks | 0 | 6.0 | 19.0 | 0 | 14.4 | 0.0 | 13.3 | 0 | 2.7 |
| Fisheries Finance Program | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.2 |
| Fishermen's Contingency Fund | 0.3 | < 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.2 |
Regional distribution of U.S. fisheries subsidies
| Fishing subsidy program | Subsidy value (million US$, 1996-2004) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Western Pacific | Alaska | Northern Atlantic | Southern Atlantic | Pacific Northwest | California | Gulf Coast | |
| Total | 508.3 | 420.0 | 283.4 | 196.0 | 159.9 | 145.2 | 80.6 |
| State fuel subsidies | 230.1 | 100.0 | 121.4 | 100.1 | 104.8 | 83.4 | 4.0 |
| State sales tax exemptions | 104.3 | 0 | 108.9 | 58.0 | 19.7 | 47.6 | 0 |
| Disaster aid | 9.1 | 161.9 | 22.9 | 27.6 | 3.9 | 2.1 | 29.7 |
| Fishing access payments | 158.7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Surplus fish purchases | 0 | 50.6 | 1.4 | 6.6 | 5.0 | 8.4 | 44.5 |
| Capital Construction Fund | 5.6 | 34.2 | 13.3 | 1.5 | 5.6 | 3.6 | 1.1 |
| Seafood marketing | 0 | 51.3 | 0.3 | 2.2 | 1.6 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| Vessel/permit buybacks | 0 | 21.8 | 14.4 | 0 | 19.3 | 0 | 0 |
| Fisheries Finance Program | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.8 | 0 | 0 | < 0.1 | 0.1 |
| Fishermen's Contingency Fund | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 | 1.2 |
Fish species distribution of U.S. fisheries subsidies
| Fishing subsidy program | Subsidy value (million US$, 1996-2004) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salmon | Tuna | Groundfish | Shellfish¹ | Other | |
| Total | 200.6 | 189.2 | 187.5 | 118.3 | 17.7 |
| Capital Construction Fund | 5.9 | 3.5 | 24.7 | 24.1 | 6.4 |
| Fisheries Finance Program | < 0.1 | 2.3 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 0.5 |
| Disaster aid | 79.4 | 4.5 | 96.4 | 71.5 | 5.4 |
| Vessel/permit buybacks | 7.1 | 0 | 45.9 | 2.4 | 0 |
| Surplus fish purchases | 95.8 | 17.4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Seafood marketing | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 | 0.3 |
| Fishing access payments | 0 | 158.7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
¹Category includes abalone (Haliotidae), clams (primarily Mactridae and Arcticidae), crab, lobster, octopus (Octopodidae), oysters (Ostreidae), scallops (Pectinidae), sea cucumbers (primarily Holothuridae and Stichopodidae), sea urchins (Echinoidea), shrimp, and squid (primarily Loliginidae), plus additional species that might be captured within NOAA's general "shellfish" category.
State fuel subsidy breakdown
| State | Subsidy value 1996-2004 (US$) |
|---|---|
| Total | 743,611,000 |
| Alaska | 99,946,000 |
| Oregon | 40,280,000 |
| Washington | 64,483,000 |
| California | 83,370,000 |
| Maine | 32,827,000 |
| New Hampshire | 2,176,000 |
| Massachusetts | 34,927,000 |
| Rhode Island | 24,051,000 |
| Connecticut | 3,186,000 |
| New York | 8,108,000 |
| New Jersey | 16,075,000 |
| Delaware | 0 |
| Maryland | 9,764,000 |
| Virginia | 56,600,000 |
| North Carolina | 25,321,000 |
| South Carolina | 1,686,000 |
| Georgia | 657,000 |
| Florida | 22,806,000 |
| Hawaii | 3,980,000 |
| Texas | 13,122,000 |
| Lousianna | 171,032,000 |
| Mississippi | 25,768,000 |
| Alabama | 3,446,000 |
State sales tax exemption breakdown
| State | Subsidy value 1996-2004 (US$) |
|---|---|
| Total | 338,410,000 |
| Alabama | 966,000 |
| Alaska | 0 |
| California | 47,559,000 |
| Connecticut | 2,333,000 |
| Delaware | 0 |
| Florida | 10,351,000 |
| Georgia | 41,000 |
| Hawaii | 0 |
| Louisiana | 83,881,000 |
| Maine | 26,008,000 |
| Maryland | 2,456,000 |
| Massachusetts | 29,332,000 |
| Mississippi | 6,702,000 |
| New Hampshire | 0 |
| New Jersey | 31,048,000 |
| New York | 4,612,000 |
| North Carolina | 21,202,000 |
| Oregon | 0 |
| Rhode Island | 15,549,000 |
| South Carolina | 275,000 |
| Texas | 5,093,000 |
| Virginia | 31,304,000 |
| Washington | 19,698,000 |
Tuna Access Agreement
| State | U.S. Government Payments | Fishing Industry Payments |
|---|---|---|
| Total | $158,673,554 | $41,686,859 |
| 1996 | $18,442,345 | $5,269,242 |
| 1997 | $18,028,685 | $5,151,053 |
| 1998 | $17,752,172 | $5,072,049 |
| 1999 | $17,368,571 | $4,962,449 |
| 2000 | $16,803,740 | $4,801,069 |
| 2001 | $16,338,814 | $4,668,233 |
| 2002 | $16,084,514 | $4,595,575 |
| 2003 | $18,159,911 | $3,884,723 |
| 2004 | $19,694,801 | $3,282,467 |
Please note that tables for Buyback Program, Disaster aid, Seafood marketing, Fisheries Contingency Fund and Surplus Fish Purchase are not located on the page you are currently seeing. Please click the links to view these tables.