Source: NCDA&CS, 10/7/14

Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler sits down each week with Southern Farm Network’s Rhonda Garrison to discuss “Today’s Topic.”

When we think of October, we think of pumpkins, the State Fair and Halloween. But we can also think about seafood.
You see, October is National Seafood Month, and we want people to support our fishermen and aquaculture operators by purchasing seafood that’s caught or raised in North Carolina.

The state’s seafood and aquaculture industries have a significant impact on local economies. According to data on wild catch from the state Division of Marine Fisheries and aquaculture figures from N.C. State University, the combined value of the industry is nearly $130 million.

The NCDA&CS supports the industry through its seafood marketing programs and aquaculture development services. In fact, the department’s seafood marketing staff was very involved in the 2014 North Carolina Seafood Festival in Morehead City, where vendors proudly displayed bright yellow flags indicating they were using North Carolina seafood.

Seafood is a statewide business, with commercial fishing concentrated on the coast and aquaculture operations in the mountains, Piedmont and East. North Carolina farm-raised seafood includes trout, tilapia, freshwater prawns, hybrid striped bass, catfish and shellfish. It may surprise people to learn that North Carolina ranks second nationally in the number of trout sold. In 2012, that number reached 3.3 million pounds.

Click HERE to listen to Commissioner Troxler and Rhonda discuss N.C. seafood.