On page 19 of this issue, you’ll find an article about the number of annual landings by Oregon’s commercial fishing industry in 2023. I won’t go into too much detail about the story here, but data show that landings in the state increased from 2022, but below the average landings and revenue of the previous five years (2018-2022).
The reason why I mention the article here is that there’s more information about the impact of the annual landings that we couldn’t include on page 19 due to space limitations. But we have space here, so I’m happy to share the information with you.
Regarding the landings’ effect on employment in the state, Oregon Employment Department (OED) data show that an estimated 1,212 commercial fishers—not including tribal fishermen—worked in Oregon on an annual average basis in 2023.
The total was a slight decrease (-15 people) from the number of fishers in 2022, but very similar to the annual average of fishers in Oregon since 2020. It had been about 100 to 200 higher before the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, estimating employment in fishing is more difficult than measuring the harvests. In 1999, legislation allowed most fishers to be exempt from unemployment insurance coverage, which is the primary source of employment data.
The Oregon Employment Department now estimates the number of fishers based on a combination of survey data and the number commercial fish landings made in the state. This method was new for 2014 data and resulted in a lower employment estimate than before.
Notably, Oregon vessels or crews making landings outside of Oregon are not included in the estimates.
The estimated number of fishers in the state last year varied from a high of 1,590 in May to a low of 515 in November.
“Fishing employment often peaks in the summer, but the past couple years have shown a subdued summer season and a peak in the spring,” OED explained in a statement.
The most important fisheries for direct employment in the state are crab, salmon and pink shrimp. The estimates of employment by species represent the minimum number of people in that fishery annually. Landings are counted by only the most valuable species landed that trip. Commercial fishers harvested about 100 different species in 2023, data show.
Regarding revenue, the number of fishing vessels has been somewhat stable since the late 1990s, but still fluctuates by a couple hundred, according to the OED, and the past seven years have been a period of declining numbers of vessels.
There were 796 vessels with at least one landing in 2023, down from 861 in 2022, data show. They averaged about $224,000 each in landed value in Oregon in 2023, up by 42% from the previous year. Each vessel supported about 1.5 workers on an annual average basis; many vessels have landings only part of the year.
Regarding the jobs that commercial fishing provides for seafood processors, there were 1,092 such jobs in Oregon in 2023, according to the OED, and records show that there were 39 seafood processors in Oregon that had employees last year.
“This is the highest number of seafood processors in recent history, surpassing the previous high point of 36 in 2019,” the agency said. “Some processors also use temporary help firms to round out their staffing, but these employees are counted in the business services industry.”
The processing industry paid more than $49 million in wages in 2023.
For more information on the topic, please see the aforementioned story on page 19, or view the data the OED’s website: https://tinyurl.com/4txcbb8z.
Managing Editor Mark Nero can be reached by phone at (619) 313-4351 or via email at mark@maritimepublishing.com.