Unalaska, AK – For two decades, the port of Dutch Harbor been number one in landings. And now, for the 21st consecutive year, it's come out on top again according to an annual report released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Just over 500 million pounds of fish and shellfish passed through Unalaska in 2009. The next busiest port is found in Louisiana's Plaquemines Parish, where 412 million pounds of seafood crossed the docks.

In addition to Dutch Harbor, there were 10 other Alaskan ports that made the list of 50. Kodiak was fourth in terms of poundage, with 282 million pounds. And Naknek-King Salmon, Sitka, Ketchikan, and Petersburg all rounded out the top 20. But there was one Alaskan community that wasn't included in the report that probably should have, according to Unalaska resource analyst Frank Kelty.

"Akutan would probably be in the top five," he says. "But there's only one processor - Trident Seafoods - so they can't list them because of confidentiality."

Kelty also points out that the poundage numbers for Alaskan towns should also be a bit higher since the report does not include the seafood processed by the offshore fleet in the Bering Sea.

The report isn't all good news for Alaska though. Kodiak saw an increase in landings, but Dutch Harbor had its worst year since 1989 - even though it's still the nation's most active port. Last year, 612 million pounds were landed, and the year before that, there the total was 777 million.

That's mostly because the pollock quota has been reduced. Because there wasn't a major increase in pollock's value during that time, revenue brought in from seafood also declined as well - from $195 million to $160 million. Kelty thinks the recession is largely responsible for the drop.

"This had to do with the economic situation in the world and fish values being down," he says. "These numbers are a year behind, so we'll probably see similar numbers for 2010"

Still, Dutch Harbor had the second highest value overall. New Bedford, Massachusetts came in first with landings valued at $249 million. Even though New Bedford was only 8th in terms of poundage, it brings in plenty of high-value seafood like lobster and swordfish.

Overall, seafood landings in the United States last year were 7.9 billion pounds, with a total value of $3.9 billion dollars.