Total sales of U.S. aquaculture products in 2018 was $1.5 billion, an increase of 10.5% from 2013, according to the 2018 Census of Aquaculture released in December by USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. In 2018, there were 2,932 aquaculture farms with sales in the United States, down 5% from 2013. In Florida the total number of farms that reported aquaculture sales was 325, accounting for 11% of farms in the U.S. However, the number of Florida farms was down by 17% from the previous census in which 393 farms were reported.
The total sales of mollusks in the nation was $441.8 million, an increase of 34% from 2013. In Florida, 115 farms reported $16 million in sales of mollusks down by 18% from the 2013 sales value of $19.6 million. This reflected the shortage of seed that occurred over this timeframe as well as impacts by hurricanes over the past few years on open-water farms. Hard clams accounted for 89% of the sales with 95 farms reporting sales of $14.3 million, while 16 farms reported sales of eastern oysters at $1.25 million.
To access the 2018 Census of Aquaculture results and other agriculture census data, click here.
