Vol. 14, No. 7 / Economic Contributions of the Mississippi Seafood Industry in 2022

ABSTRACT

This newsletter provides a detailed summary of the most recent estimates of economic contributions of the Mississippi seafood industry in Mississippi. The seafood industry comprises commercial harvesting, processing, importing, wholesaling, and seafood retailing. The newsletter also shows the shares of the Mississippi seafood industry concerning the entire U.S. seafood industry.

KEYWORDS

Economic contribution; Mississippi seafood industry; commercial fishing; Seafood processing; Seafood wholesaling; Seafood importing; Seafood retailing.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This newsletter is a contribution of the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station and the Mississippi State University Extension Service. This material is based upon work that is supported in part by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Hatch project under accession number 081730, and Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium using federal funds under Grant NA24OAR4170090 from the National Sea Grant Office, NOAA, U.S. Dept. of Commerce. The statements, findings, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Sea Grant Program, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce. This newsletter is a Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Publication number MASGP-24-057-07.

COMPONENTS OF SEAFOOD INDUSTRY

The seafood industry comprises commercial harvesting, processing, importing, wholesaling, and retailing establishments.

• Commercial harvesting or fishing corresponds to finfish fishing and shellfish fishing. It comprises commercial fishermen using various gears onboard large vessels and small boats.
• Seafood processing primarily corresponds to seafood canning and fresh and frozen seafood processing. It involves plants engaged in the primary wholesale and processing of seafood products.  
• Seafood imports were added to the seafood industry in 2007. It comprises establishments that buy seafood products from countries of origin outside the United States.
• Seafood wholesaling corresponds to fish and seafood merchant wholesalers. It includes secondary wholesale and processing of seafood products.
• Seafood retailing includes seafood and fish markets and seafood restaurants.
• Seafood and fish markets correspond to the retail trade of fish and seafood products.
• Seafood restaurants include the retail trade of seafood products by eating and drinking places.

The 2012 estimates of the economic contributions of the seafood industry were compiled from the NOAA Fisheries website. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/resource/document/fisheries-economics-united-states-report.

COMPONENTS OF ECONOMIC IMPACTS

• The total economic impact is the sum of direct, indirect, and induced impacts.
• Direct impacts express the economic impacts in the sector where the expenditure was initially made.  
• Indirect impacts result from changes in the economic activity of other industrial sectors that supply goods or services to the sector being evaluated.
• Induced impacts are the result of industry employees' personal consumption expenditures.

TYPES OF ECONOMIC IMPACTS

• There are four types of economic impacts – output or sales, jobs, income, and value-added. These impacts are not additive. Each type represents a specific economic activity reported.
• Income, value-added, and output impacts are expressed in dollars for the year specified by the user.
• Output or sales are the gross sales by 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 in terms of a mix of both full-time and part-time jobs.

ECONOMIC CONTRIBUTIONS OF MISSISSIPPI SEAFOOD INDUSTRY

• The seafood industry comprises commercial harvesting, processing, importing, wholesaling, and retailing establishments.
• The Mississippi seafood industry produced $329 million in sales in 2022. This amount represents about 0.18% of the overall U.S. seafood industry.
• A total of 6,954 jobs were created in Mississippi by the seafood industry in 2022, adding 0.44% of the total U.S. seafood industry.
• The Mississippi seafood industry generated labor income amounting to $127 million in 2022, contributing 0.27% to the total U.S. seafood industry.
• The total value-added by the Mississippi seafood industry reached $165 million in 2022, about 0.22% of the total U.S. seafood industry.

ECONOMIC CONTRIBUTIONS OF MISSISSIPPI COMMERCIAL FISHING

• Commercial fishing corresponds to finfish and shellfish fishing in the North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS).
• Finfish fishing comprises establishments primarily engaged in the commercial catching or taking finfish (e.g., menhaden, redfish, snapper, seatrout, flounder, mullet, and sheepshead) from their natural habitat.
• Shellfish fishing comprises establishments primarily engaged in the commercial catching or taking shellfish (e.g., blue crab, oyster, shrimp) from their natural habitat.
• Recent natural disasters and economic events adversely affected annual commercial landings and dockside values. Annual commercial landings reached 311 million pounds in 2022, valued at over $55 million.
• Since 2019, no commercial landings of oysters were reported in Mississippi. The public oyster reefs were decimated during the massive and prolonged freshwater intrusions in 2019.
• Commercial fishing produced $78 million in sales in 2022. This amount represents 24% of the total sales contributions of the seafood industry in Mississippi.
• Commercial fishing created 1,646 full-time and part-time jobs in 2022, contributing about 24% of the overall jobs contributions of the seafood industry in Mississippi.
• Commercial fishing generated $25 million in labor income in 2022. This income represents about 19% of the total sales contributions of the seafood industry in Mississippi.
• Commercial fishing generated $35 million in value added in 2022, adding about 21% of the overall value-added contributions of the seafood industry in Mississippi.

ECONOMIC CONTRIBUTIONS OF MISSISSIPPI SEAFOOD PROCESSING

• Seafood processing primarily corresponds to "seafood canning" and "fresh and frozen seafood processing." It involves plants engaged in the primary wholesale and processing of seafood products.
• An online list of Mississippi seafood dealers can be viewed on the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources website. Species and levels of seafood trade groups categorize the listed seafood businesses.
• An online directory of registered seafood businesses is available on the Mississippi MarketMaker website. An online list of seafood-related businesses is shown when you type "seafood" in the search box.
• The major seafood species processed in Mississippi include catfish, shrimp, oysters, blue crabs, and other food fish species. In addition, menhaden are processed into fish meal and oil.

• Seafood processing produced $108 million in sales in 2022. This amount represents 33% of the total sales contributions of the seafood industry in Mississippi.
• Seafood processing created 1,451 full-time and part-time jobs in 2022, contributing about 21% of the overall jobs contributions of the seafood industry in Mississippi.
• Seafood processing generated $43 million in labor income in 2022. This income represents about 34% of the total sales contributions of the seafood industry in Mississippi.
• Seafood processing generated $54 million in value-added in 2022, adding about 32% of the overall value-added contributions of the seafood industry in Mississippi.

ECONOMIC CONTRIBUTIONS OF MISSISSIPPI SEAFOOD IMPORTING

• Seafood imports were added to the seafood industry in 2007. It comprises establishments that buy seafood products from countries of origin outside the United States.
• Seafood importing produced $14 million in sales in 2022. This amount represents 4% of the total sales contributions of the seafood industry in Mississippi.
• Seafood imports created 50 full-time and part-time jobs in 2022, contributing about 1% of the overall job contributions of the seafood industry in Mississippi.
• Seafood importing generated about $2 million in labor income in 2022. This income represents about 2% of the total sales contributions of the seafood industry in Mississippi.
• Seafood importing generated about $4 million in value-added in 2022, adding about 3% of the overall value-added contributions of the seafood industry in Mississippi.

ECONOMIC CONTRIBUTIONS OF MISSISSIPPI SEAFOOD WHOLESALING

• Seafood wholesaling corresponds to "fish and seafood merchant wholesalers." It includes secondary wholesale and processing of seafood products.
• An online list of Mississippi seafood wholesalers is posted on the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources website.
• An online directory of registered seafood businesses is available on the Mississippi MarketMaker website. An online list of seafood-related businesses is shown when you type "seafood" in the search box.
• Seafood wholesaling produced $15 million in sales in 2022. This amount represents 5% of the total sales contributions of the seafood industry in Mississippi.
• Seafood wholesaling created 161 full-time and part-time jobs in 2022, contributing about 2% of the overall jobs contributions of the seafood industry in Mississippi.
• Seafood wholesaling generated $5 million in labor income in 2022. This income represents about 4% of the total sales contributions of the seafood industry in Mississippi.
• Seafood wholesaling generated $7 million in value-added in 2022, adding about 4% of the overall value-added contributions of the seafood industry in Mississippi.

ECONOMIC CONTRIBUTIONS OF MISSISSIPPI SEAFOOD RETAILING

• Seafood retailing includes seafood and fish markets and seafood restaurants.
• Seafood and fish markets correspond to the retail trade of fish and seafood products.
• Seafood restaurants include the retail trade of seafood products by eating and drinking places.
• Seafood retailing produced $115 million in sales in 2022. This amount represents 35% of the total sales contributions of the seafood industry in Mississippi.
• Seafood retailing created 3,646 full-time and part-time jobs in 2022, contributing about 52% of the overall jobs contributions of the seafood industry in Mississippi.
• Seafood retailing generated $52 million in labor income in 2022. This income represents about 41% of the total sales contributions of the seafood industry in Mississippi.
• Seafood retailing generated $65 million in value-added in 2022, adding about 40% of the overall value-added contributions of the seafood industry in Mississippi.

CONCLUSIONS, LIMITATIONS, AND IMPLICATIONS

• The Mississippi seafood industry produced about $329 million in total sales impacts in 2022. Seafood retailing, which includes seafood restaurants and seafood and fish markets, contributed 35%, followed by seafood processors (33%), commercial fishermen (24%), seafood wholesalers (5%), and seafood importers (4%).
• The Mississippi seafood industry created 6,954 jobs in 2022. Seafood retailing, which includes seafood restaurants and seafood and fish markets, contributed 52%, followed by commercial fishermen (24%), seafood processors (21%), seafood wholesalers (2%), and seafood importers (1%).
• The estimates compiled from NOAA Fisheries from 2006 to 2022 showed that natural and technological disasters severely impacted the entire Mississippi seafood industry in 2005, 2010, and 2011.
• The Mississippi seafood industry suffered from the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and has not yet fully recovered.
• Although not presented here, the openings of the Bonnet Carre Spillway in 2019 have severely impacted specific components of the Mississippi seafood industry.

For accessibility assistance please contact Ben Posadas at ben.posadas@msstate.edu