Americans ate more seafood last year than they did in 2014

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - The government says the average American ate nearly a pound more seafood in 2015 than they did the previous year.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released the statistic Wednesday along with its annual Fisheries of the United States report. It says per capita consumption of seafood grew to 15.5 pounds in 2015. It was 14.6 pounds in 2014.

The growth brings per capita consumption of seafood to its highest point since 2010. It's also the biggest jump of its kind in at least 25 years.

NOAA says the jump corresponds with a catch increase. Fishermen brought 9.7 billion pounds of fish and shellfish ashore in 2015. That's an increase of a little more than 2 percent from 2014.

New Bedford, Massachusetts, had the highest-valued catch from one port.