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TROUT

Released March 3, 2003

NEW YORK TROUT SALES DOWN

New York trout producers sold a total of 144,000 pounds of trout valued at $567,000 during the 12 months ending December 31, 2002. This production, which includes foodsize fish, stockers, and fingerlings, was down 5 percent from the production total of a year earlier. Value of production was down 20 percent from a year ago.

The 2002 output included 90,000 pounds of foodsize trout averaging $3.63 per pound in value, 48,000 pounds of stocker trout averaging $4.13 per pound, and 6,000 pounds of fingerlings. Foodsize fish averaged 1.0 pounds in weight, while stockers averaged .40 pounds. Poundage of foodsize trout sold was up 8 percent from 2001, while stocker poundage was down 27 percent.

TROUT: Sales by Number, Liveweight, and Value, January 1 to December 31, 2001 and 2002

Item Unit New York Pennsylvania United States
2001 2002 2001 2002 2001 2002
Foodsize Trout Sold
Number of head (000) 80 90 1,740 1,400 54,565 50,231
Liveweight pounds (000) 83 90 1,640 1,410 56,908 54,451
Total dollar value (000) 354 327 4,100 3,722 64,482 58,334
Avg. wt./fish lb. .96 1.0 .94 1.0 1.04 1.10
Avg. price/lb. $ 4.27 3.63 2.50 2.64 1.13 1.07
Stocker Trout Sold
Number of head (000) 145 120 540 550 7,748 7,343
Liveweight pounds (000) 66 48 232 221 2,263 2,167
Total dollar value (000) 312 198 742 774 5,428 5,420
Avg. wt./fish lb. .46 .40 .43 .40 .29 .30
Avg. price/lb. $ 4.72 4.13 3.20 3.50 2.40 2.50
Fingerling Trout Sold
Number of head (000) 160 180 220 220 9,020 8,963
Liveweight pounds (000) 3 6 6 7 205 163
Total dollar value (000) 41 42 52 66 1,287 1,397
Total Trout Sold
Number of head (000) 385 390 2,500 2,170 71,333 66,537
Liveweight pounds (000) 152 144 1,878 1,638 59,376 56,781
Total dollar value (000) 707 567 4,894 4,562 71,197 65,151
Avg. wt./fish lb. .39 .37 .75 .75 .83 .85
Avg. price/lb. $ 4.65 3.94 2.61 2.79 1.20 1.15
Number of producers 1/   33 30 49 51 403 378
1/ Number of producers is for January 1, 2002 and January 1, 2003.

Approximately 4 percent of New York's foodsize trout went to restaurants and other retailers. People engaged in fee fishing or recreational establishments accounted for 26 percent, while 37 percent was direct sales to consumers. Other sales accounted for 33 percent of total sales. Fee fishing and recreational establishments took 39 percent of the stocker trout sold during 2002, while other producers took 8 percent and live haulers took 13 percent.

Pennsylvania trout sales for 2002 amounted to 1.638 million pounds, down 13 percent from 2001. Foodsize trout sales of 1.41 million pounds were down 12 percent from last year, while stocker sales, at 221,000 pounds, decreased 5 percent. Foodsize trout in the Keystone State averaged $2.64 per pound, while stockers averaged $3.50 per pound.

Trout growers in the United States sold a total of 56.8 million pounds of trout valued at $65.2 million during 2002, compared with 59.4 million pounds of trout valued at $71.2 million a year earlier. Foodsize fish accounted for 86 percent of the total pounds sold, with an average live weight of 1.10 pounds and an average value of $1.07 per pound. Stocker trout averaged .30 pounds live weight, with an average value of $2.50 per pound. U.S. growers sold 69 percent of their foodsize trout to processors, while fee fishing and recreational establishments took 54 percent of the stocker trout.

TROUT: Foodsize and Stocker Sales by Outlet, Percent of Total Sold, January 1 to December 31, 2001 and 2002

Sales Outlet   Foodsize   Stocker 
 New York   United States   New York   United States 
 2001   2002   2001   2002   2001   2002   2001   2002 
 Percent   Percent 
  Live Haulers    0    0    1   0.9    11    13    7   5.0 
  Fee & Recreation    31    26    19   20.2    59    39    59   54.2 
  Other Producers    0    0    2   1.7    17    8    14   14.5 
  Government Agencies    0    0    1   1.4    5    0    11   11.9 
  Direct to Consumers    56    37    3   2.3    0    7    3   5.7 
  Processors    0    0    68   68.8    0    0    1/   0.1 
  Restaurant or Retailers    8    4    5   4.2    0    4    1/   3.9 
  Other    5    33    1   0.5    8    29    5   4.7 
  TOTAL SALES   100   100   100   100   100   100   100   100
Cause of Loss   New York   United States 
 No. Lost (000)   Percent of Total   No. Lost (000)   Percent of Total   No. Lost (000)   Percent of Total   No. Lost (000)   Percent of Total 
 2001   2002   2001   2002 
  Disease   17    18   74    57   33,135    74   29,143   83.3 
  Theft/Vandalism   0   0   1/    1/    392    1    134    0.4 
  Chemical Contamination   0   0   1/    1/    83    1/    16    0.1 
  Drought    6    6   12    9    858    2    1,443    4.1 
  Flood   0   0   1/    1/    168    1/    51    0.1 
  Predators   38    39   18    14    5,973    13    2,716    7.8 
  Other   36    37   1/    1/    3,994    9    1,465    4.2 
  TOTAL LOSSES   97   100   130   100   44,603   100   34,968   100 
 1/ Less than one percent or not disclosed