Industry Profiles

Fishing

A 2005 study commissioned by National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration-Fisheries (NOAA-Fisheries) identified communities in Texas that were associated with the state’s commercial and recreational fishing industry.¹⁵ According to this report, 67 communities along the Texas coast have ties to the fishing industry. Approximately one-third of these communities, 21 cities from Refugio County to Cameron County, are located in the South Texas region.

According to NOAA, Brownsville is the only urban area along the Texas coast that is extensively engaged in the fishing industry. While the city is home to industries not directly associated with fishing, the city has a broad set of infrastructure and services that support its fishing industry (Exhibit 11).

The Port of Brownsville has one of the largest shrimp trawl fleets in the country.¹⁶ In fact, data from the NOAA-Fisheries commissioned study revealed that Brownsville and the neighboring city of Port Isabel were home to 210 Gulf shrimp permit holders in Texas in 2003. These two communities accounted for approximately 38 percent of all Gulf shrimp permit holders along the Texas coast.¹⁷

Not only is the Brownsville area home to a significant shrimp fishing industry, it is also one of the leading commercial fishing ports in the U.S. in terms of ex-vessel value of landings, which is the value of finfish and shellfish that are caught and unloaded at port. According to NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service, the Brownsville-Port Isabel area ranked as the seventh-largest commercial fishing port in 2006.¹⁸ In that year, the port landed 30.5 million pounds valued at $52 million. This volume and value accounted for 29 percent of Texas’ total commercial landings and ex-vessel value in the same year.

Exhibit 11

Infrastructure and Services that Support the Brownsville Fishing Industry, 2003

Source: National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.