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North Carolina Seafood
North Carolina is known for several types of seafood. The saltwater bays are home to shrimp, blue crabs, stone crabs, bay scallops, clams, oysters and fish. North Carolina inshore commercial fishermen harvest redfish, Spanish mackerel, king mackerel, bluefish, flounder, striped bass, croaker, speckled trout, gray trout, spot and other fish.
Ocean seafood comes to port in North Carolina including hundreds of types of fish, crabs, shellfish and other seafood items. North Carolina is best known for its pelagic fisheries, including tuna, mahi mahi, wahoo, king mackerel, swordfish, sharks and others. The deeper waters produce several species of snapper, grouper, sea bass, tilefish, triggerfish and other bottom dwelling fish.
The total value of North Carolina seafood in 2006 was over 70 million dollars. The most valuable species included blue crabs, shrimp, croakers and flounder.
North Carolina harvested 9.42 million pounds of shrimp in 2008, valued at $19.2 million. Shrimp is the second most valuable of NC commercially harvested species, both in pounds and in value. Shrimp landings include 4 species: white shrimp, pink shrimp, brown shrimp and rock shrimp. Shrimp ranks number one in volume among seafood's consumed in the United States. Each American eats about 4.1 pounds of shrimp per year.
North Carolina is the second largest producer of freshwater trout in the United States.
The North Carolina Seafood Festival is held annually to recognize the importance of seafood to North Carolina. The festival is held in Morehead City, N.C. on the first weekend in October.
North Carolina Seafood Links
North Carolina Seafood Markets
North Carolina Seafood Festival