Commercial Fishing Industry in Cape May County

The Commercial fishing industry is one of the oldest and longest running industries in Cape May County and it continues to be one of the largest employers and revenue producing sectors in the county.

The combined port of Cape May/Wildwood is the County's second largest industry in terms of revenue generated, is the largest commercial fishing port in New Jersey and is one of the largest on the East Coast.

Find out about Cape May County’s Revolving Fishing and Boating Loan Program

The 2019* dollar values are as follows:
Port of Cape May/Wildwood
Ex-vessel - $90 million / 94.5 million pounds
Local income -$270 million

*Latest data available.

Ex-vessel value is represented by the dollars the dealer pays to the fisherman for his fish.  It is common to ‘multiply’ that value to create a ‘local income value’ to the community, which includes the value of wages, widgets, groceries, etc. paid by the dealer, the fisherman and his crew and all their families.

This ‘local income’ value is commonly represented using a multiplier of 3, this value is used to more fully understand the local value to the County of fish landed in the County.

When those pounds of fish are distributed outside of the region, to domestic wholesale and retail markets and export markets, and depending upon the species, the ex-vessel value can be inflated by as much as a factor of 10, which is the case for the Loligo squid produced in Cape May County.   

As an example, the NSF-supported Science Center for Marine Fisheries published a paper on the value of the region’s Loligo fishery https://scemfis.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/LFS_EI_Report.pdf , which found that the $20-30 million fishery (which occurs primarily in New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island) produces $243.56 million in regional economic impact across all sectors. 

To compare the value to other NJ fishing ports, use the information from the National Marine Fisheries Service found here: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/sustainable-fisheries/commercial-fisheries-landings