The New Bedford fishing fleet includes:

• 113 scallop vessels (fish primarily for scallops)
• 150 draggers or ground fish vessels (fish primarily for cod, flounder and haddock),
• 50 smaller vessels or day boats, lobster vessels and quahoggers

Statistical Information:

• Home to New England's first electronic display auction process whereby, fish buyers have the ability to bid on fish directly from a closed loop system of purchasing and selling, known as the Whaling City Display Auction and BASE (Buyers And Sellers Exchange)
  
  
• Well developed shoreside seafood processing, marketing and delivery channels are world renown. Each day a wide variety of fish is landed, processed and trucked to major US cities as well as exported to many parts of the world.
  
  
• Average annual income for fishermen according to 1997 employment records is $43,833
  
  
• New Bedford won the top valued port in the nation status from 1983 to 1991 for 8 of the 10 years. It still remains the richest on the east coast with a total landing value of $90 million from the 40 million pounds of seafood landed in 1997.
  
  
• The top national average occurred in 1990, when over $160.4 million worth of seafood was landed in New Bedford as recorded by the National Marine Fisheries Service.
  
  
• The price for sea scallops in 1938 was 14 cents a pound compared to today's $6.66 a pound.
  
  
• Over 8.6 million pounds of ground fish species of haddock, cod and flounder was landed in New Bedford in 1997, worth over $10 million.
  
  
• The sea scallop still remains the most valued catch of New Bedford fishermen accounting for $44.9 million from 6.7 million pounds landing in 1997.
  
  
• The New Bedford fishing industry makes of one-third of the city's economy, generating $4 on land for every $1 in landings.
  
  The average days at sea for a ground fishing vessel (fish primarily for cod, flounder and haddock) from New Bedford is eight days with a 3 to 5 man crew working a variety of shifts as they tow their nets for two to three hours at a time.
  
  
• The sea scallop fleet (fish primarily for sea scallops) fishes for much longer periods, up to 18 days at sea with their seven man crews, tow two heavy steel 15 foot dredges along the sea bottom where scallops are found.
  
  
• Up to 40% of the fishermen labor force is over 45 years of age., 44% born outside the United States with two-thirds immigrating since 1960.
  
  
• Over 60 businesses, registered as buyers and processors of seafood operate out of New Bedford.