Seafood Economics

Mississippi Commercial Crab Industry

Mississippi Commercial Blue Crab Landings

The annual Mississippi commercial blue crab landings and the nominal dockside values from 1950 are shown below (Fig. 1). From 1950 to 1961, yearly landings averaged about 2.2 million pounds, valued at $120,000 (Fig. 2). Lower annual landings were reported from 1962 to 1987, averaging 1.5 million pounds, but valued higher at $285,000 per year. Since 1988, commercial landings declined to 649,000 pounds, valued higher, averaging $704,000 annually.

Figure 2 shows the average annual Mississippi commercial blue crab landings (in pounds) and landing values (in dollars) from 1950 to 2022.

Economic Contributions by Major Species

In response to requests by state regulatory agencies and seafood organizations, the 2009 (and later) economic contributions of the Mississippi seafood industry by major species were imputed from state estimates published by NOAA Fisheries. Extension and research publications were developed to document the economic contributions of Mississippi's major seafood species that landed, processed, sold, and consumed.

This report includes four types of economic impacts: sales, jobs, income, and value-added. These impacts are not additive. Each type represents a specific economic activity reported. Income, value-added, and sales impacts are expressed in dollars for the year specified by the user. Sales are the gross sales of businesses within the economic region affected by an activity. Labor income includes personal income, such as wages and salaries, and proprietors' income, or income from self-employment. Employment impacts are expressed as a mix of full-time and part-time jobs.

Mississippi Crab Industry in 2009

The economic contributions of the crab industry in 2009 are shown in the table below (Table 1). The sales contributions reached $8.18 million in 2009, generating 244 full-time and part-time jobs. Income contribution was $3.55 million, and value-added created was $4.52 million. The industry added tax impacts, reaching $0.52 million.

Table 1 shows estimates of the 2009 economic contributions of the Mississippi crab industry (MAFES Bulletin 1209).

Mississippi Crab Industry in 2011

Lower economic contributions of the Mississippi crab industry were estimated in 2011, as shown in the table below (Table 2).

The crab industry's sales contributions reached $7.15 million and generated about 217 full-time and part-time jobs. Income contributions reached $3.14 million, and value added was $3.98 million. The industry made tax impacts totaling $0.82 million. These lower values are attributable to the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in 2010 and the Bonnet Carré Spillway disaster in 2011.

Table 2 shows estimates of the 2011 economic contributions of the Mississippi crab industry.

Mississippi Crab Industry in 2015

The 2015 estimates of the economic contributions of Mississippi's combined crab and oyster industry are shown below (Table 3). Because the 2015 data are confidential, NOAA Fisheries combined estimates for the two species. The combined sales contributions totaled $35 million and generated 831 full-time and part-time jobs. Pooled income contributions were $14.8 million, and the value added created was $18.9 million.

Table 3 shows the estimates of the 2015 economic contributions of the combined Mississippi crab and oyster industry.

Mississippi Crab Industry in 2020

Below are the 2020 estimates of the economic contributions of Mississippi's combined crab and oyster industries (Table 4). Due to the confidentiality of the 2015 data, NOAA Fisheries combined estimates for the two species. The combined sales contributions were lower, totaling $24.6 million, and generated 542 full-time and part-time jobs.

Pooled income contributions were $10.4 million, and the value added created was $15.2 million. These lower values are attributable to the 2019 Bonnet Carré Spillway disaster and the global pandemic.

Table 4 shows the combined estimates of the 2020 economic contributions of Mississippi crabs and oysters.

Mississippi Crab Industry in 2023

Table 4 presents the breakdown of the Mississippi commercial crab industry's contributions to the state economy in 2023. The crab industry added $5.5 million in sales, created 112 jobs, generated a total personal income of $2.3 million, and added $3.0 million in value-added contributions to the state economy. Retailing (39.4%) and harvesting (11.5%) were the most significant parts of the state crab industry in 2023.

Table 5 shows the combined estimates of the 2023 economic contributions of the Mississippi crab industry.

Overall, the Mississippi crab industry has not yet fully recovered from the damages associated with recent disasters, especially the 2019 Bonnet Carré Spillway disaster and the global pandemic. These estimates are not additive. Separate measures like sales, output, and value-added track the same underlying dollars through different lenses, meaning they overlap rather than stack. Combining separate event estimates counts the same transactions more than once, i.e., double counting.

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