Contact:  Jean Fitch                 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
          301-713-2259                  8/17/94

HONOLULU SIXTH IN NATION'S FISHING PORTS FOR 1993

Commercial fisherman landed $48.7 million worth of fish and shellfish at the port of Honolulu in 1993 -- making it the port with the sixth highest dollar value of fish landings in the country, the Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced today.

Using data from the Hawaii Division of Aquatic Resources, officials at NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service said the value of landings, primarily for high quality tuna, ranks Honolulu as one of the top ten ports in value for the second year in a row. The landings of 18.9 million pounds ranked Honolulu at the 36th position in volume.

The top 10 leading U.S. ports in value of fish and shellfish for 1992 and 1993 are:

                               VALUE

                (figures are in millions of dollars)


PORT                             1992                1993


Dutch Harbor-Unalaska, AK      194.0*              161.2

New Bedford, MA                151.8               107.5

Kodiak, AK                      90.0                81.5

Empire-Venice, LA               58.7                52.3

Portland, ME                    43.6                49.1

Honolulu, HI                    45.8                48.7

Dulac-Chauvin, LA               52.8                48.0

Brownsville-Port Isabel, TX     54.9                46.6

Cape May-Wildwood, NJ           34.9                36.2

Point Judith, RI                36.6                35.2