Commercial fishermen who harvest monkfish, also known as American goosefish, have had substantial landings for most of the period 1974 through 2011. However, the recent rapid decline since the peak in 2005 is troubling and may signal several year of closure unless the resource rebounds.
As usual, prices per pound rise with declining landings. They have doubled since 1998.
Monkfish Landings 1974-2016
Monkfish Price per Pound 1974-2016
| YEAR | POUNDS | VALUE | PRICE/LB |
| 1974 | 104,072 | $3,819 | $0.04 |
| 1975 | 400,856 | $29,607 | $0.07 |
| 1976 | 908,044 | $86,224 | $0.09 |
| 1977 | 1,553,384 | $172,410 | $0.11 |
| 1978 | 2,203,546 | $255,559 | $0.12 |
| 1979 | 2,421,392 | $338,866 | $0.14 |
| 1980 | 2,639,826 | $448,519 | $0.17 |
| 1981 | 2,354,599 | $427,226 | $0.18 |
| 1982 | 3,234,573 | $578,921 | $0.18 |
| 1983 | 3,780,278 | $639,619 | $0.17 |
| 1984 | 3,795,959 | $679,951 | $0.18 |
| 1985 | 3,797,392 | $853,126 | $0.22 |
| 1986 | 3,692,596 | $1,376,317 | $0.37 |
| 1987 | 5,517,143 | $2,951,862 | $0.54 |
| 1988 | 4,647,459 | $2,425,100 | $0.52 |
| 1989 | 4,126,245 | $2,096,826 | $0.51 |
| 1990 | 3,619,588 | $1,900,864 | $0.53 |
| 1991 | 4,137,906 | $2,979,811 | $0.72 |
| 1992 | 6,229,473 | $3,187,862 | $0.51 |
| 1993 | 8,661,320 | $4,684,875 | $0.54 |
| 1994 | 9,361,533 | $4,657,153 | $0.50 |
| 1995 | 9,582,432 | $4,710,443 | $0.49 |
| 1996 | 9,392,857 | $4,573,793 | $0.49 |
| 1997 | 8,107,412 | $4,086,652 | $0.50 |
| 1998 | 6,237,090 | $3,133,417 | $0.50 |
| 1999 | 7,628,858 | $5,207,031 | $0.68 |
| 2000 | 8,601,299 | $8,875,864 | $1.03 |
| 2001 | 10,983,433 | $7,990,779 | $0.73 |
| 2002 | 11,127,249 | $6,248,135 | $0.56 |
| 2003 | 13,290,830 | $7,852,098 | $0.59 |
| 2004 | 10,566,510 | $6,840,097 | $0.65 |
| 2005 | 7,115,213 | $6,220,142 | $0.87 |
| 2006 | 3,666,084 | $3,237,700 | $0.88 |
| 2007 | 2,376,334 | $2,400,533 | $1.01 |
| 2008 | 1,177,908 | $1,468,539 | $1.25 |
| 2009 | 603,017 | $524,771 | $0.87 |
| 2010 | 404,156 | $393,097 | $0.97 |
| 2011 | 532,639 | $577,738 | $1.08 |
| 2012 | 1,075,116 | $1,047,307 | $0.97 |
| 2013 | 874,262 | $726,155 | $0.83 |
| 2014 | 632,918 | $560,931 | $0.89 |
| 2015 | 740,104 | $612,448 | $0.83 |
| 2016 | 542,412 | $453,244 | $0.84 |
Source: http://www.maine.gov/dmr/commercial-fishing/landings/documents/monkfish.table.pdf (accessed January 29, 2018)