ALABAMA A&M and AUBURN UNIVERSITIES

ALABAMA SEAFOOD INDUSTRY HAS POSITIVE IMPACT ON STATE'S ECONOMY:
 

AUBURN, AUG. 13---The Alabama Gulf Coast is known for many things. Images of Mobile Bay, the Battleship U.S.S. Alabama, sugar-white beaches and Mardi Gras immediately come to mind. However, no description of Coastal Alabama would be complete without including the seafood industry. Far from the Forrest Gump persona portrayed in the movies, Alabama’s commercial seafood industry is a broad-based  multifaceted vertically integrated endeavor.

Alabama’s 1998 commercial fishery landings totaled more than 30 million pounds worth nearly $47 million. The table below lists 1998 poundage and dollar values for the four most important seafood commodities landed in Alabama:

Seafood Commodity Landings Value

(Million Pounds)/(Million Dollars)

Shrimp (Heads On) 20.1/ 42.2

Fish 6.1/ 2.1

Blue Crabs 3.5/ 1.9

Oysters (Meats) 0.4/ 0.7

Totals 30.1/ 46.9

Those figures represent only exvessel values, or the volume and value of seafood actually landed at Alabama docks. But that is only part of the story. Economists estimate the value added by processing those basic seafood commodities into finished products doubles the economic impact of Alabama’s commercial fishery landings. This means commercial fishermen in Coastal Alabama were actually responsible for producing nearly $100 million worth of finished seafood products in 1998!

Impressive? Consider the fact many Alabama processors import three to four times that amount from other states and countries. Recent estimates indicate the Alabama commercial seafood industry actually manufactured and distributed approximately $400 million worth of finished products in 1998.

Blue Crab harvesting and processing represent growing strengths among the many commercial seafood activities occurring in Coastal Alabama. Alabama Blue Crab landings and values increased from 2.5 million pounds worth $1.2 million in 1993 to 3.5 million pounds worth over $2 million in 1997. This placed the Alabama Blue Crab industry ahead of other well-known Blue Crab producing powerhouses such as Louisiana, Virginia and Maryland. Alabama is now second only to North Carolina in Blue Crab production.

The number of people employed directly by the Alabama seafood industry is noteworthy. Approximately 350 large gulf shrimp boats (over 5 net tons) employ more than 1,000 commercial shrimpers. Some 300 smaller vessels operating in Alabama’s nearshore and inshore waters provide employment for another 500 commercial fishermen who harvest shrimp, oysters, Blue Crab and various species of fish. And, Alabama’s 120 processors provide more than 1700 jobs.

Coastal Alabama’s strategic location in the North-Central Gulf of Mexico, combines with this large and readily available labor force plus a diversity of available processing capabilities, to make the Alabama seafood industry a powerhouse despite the small portion of coast it occupies. The bulk of Alabama’s seafood industry is concentrated in two small coastal communities, Bayou La Batre (in Mobile County) and Bon Secour/Gulf Shores (in Baldwin County). This clustering affords Alabama processors the unique advantage of providing two large labor pools located just 35 nautical miles apart.

The Alabama seafood processing community is diverse. A vast array of fresh, frozen and breaded shrimp products is produced in Alabama. A diversity of fish species (among them flounder, mackerel, mullet and trout) are processed and marketed fresh and frozen. Both shellstock oysters (live, in the shell) and oyster meats are produced and sold. And, hand-picked Blue Crab meat (a fully cooked ready-to-eat product) is produced in several market forms.

Additional economic impacts are generated by peripheral, or support industries. Facilities responsible for the manufacture, sale or maintenance of boats, engines, fishing gear, electronic equipment, fuel, ice and groceries are all important economic multipliers.

If that weren’t enough, Alabama’s seafood industry still has room to expand and improve. The U.S. consuming public’s ever-increasing desire for convenience foods will certainly result in the development of such value-added products as frozen, microwaveable seafood entrees or new and different products nobody has thought of yet. Whether existing processors or new business entrants will address that emerging need, is anybody’s guess. However, you can rest assured the Alabama seafood industry will rise to the occasion.

Next time you visit a seafood market or supermarket seafood counter, look closely at the label on the package of seafood you are preparing to purchase. There is a very good chance it came from Alabama.
 

SOURCE: Brian E. Perkins, Extension seafood technologist, Alabama Cooperative Extension System, (334) 438-5690.