The number of fish on the governments overfishing list sunk to a new low last year in a sign of healthy U.S. fisheries

The number of fish on the government’s overfishing list sunk to a new low last year in a sign of healthy U.S. fisheries, federal officials said. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released an updated analysis of American fisheries late last week via its annual “Status of the Stocks” report, which provides an assessment of the populations of the seafood species fishermen catch and customers buy. The report states that 94% of fish stocks are not subject to overfishing, which is slightly better than a year ago. The U.S. was able to remove several important fish stocks from the overfishing list. They include the Gulf of Maine and Cape Hatteras stock of Atlantic mackerel and the Gulf of Mexico stock of cubera snapper. NOAA’s report arrives as international governments and non-governmental organizations have tried to crack down on illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing around the worldwide ocean. The removal of species from the overfishing list shows the U.S. is making progress The U.S. has made progress in removing fish species from the overfishing list in recent previous years, also. NOAA said it was able to remove Atlantic coast bluefish and a Washington coast stock of coho salmon from the overfished list. The agency said it also added a few species, including Mid-Atlantic summer flounder, to the lists. Commercial fishermen harvested more than 8 billion pounds of seafood valued at nearly $6 billion in 2022, the agency said.