Accelerating a Transition to a Low-Carbon Fishing Fleet
Project Rationale
Recent record-high diesel fuel prices have prompted many fishermen to contemplate the future of their businesses in a world that is reducing its dependence on fossil fuels. As policy makers undertake ambitious programs to support decarbonization of every sector the U.S. economy, there is a need to swiftly assemble a set of well-grounded priorities and principles to ensure that the commercial fishing fleet is able to access this support. Fishing is a hard-to-decarbonize sector with no single “easy answer.” Around the coasts, fishermen and organizations are beginning to pilot technological innovations, but so far, there has been no concerted effort to make these innovations accessible to the masses. Through this project, the Fishery Friendly Climate Action Campaign is tapping into the collective expertise of commercial fishermen to ask: what kind of targeted public programs and policies are needed to enable bottom-up, locally appropriate innovation and put the fleet on track to a low-carbon future?
Phase 1 : Scoping opportunities and barriers (fishing vessel owner interviews)
A research team has interviewed over 140 fishing vessel owners and key informants in Alaska, the West Coast, and New England. The purpose of these interviews is to:
Assess opportunities and constraints related to four sets of strategies that can reduce fossil fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions from fishing vessels: replacing inefficient diesel or gasoline power systems with more efficient diesel or gasoline power systems; making vessels as a whole more efficient by reducing energy loads from propulsion, hydraulic, and electrical systems; transitioning to alternative liquid or gaseous fuels; and converting to electric or hybrid power systems.
Gather first-hand experiences from fishermen who have utilized existing public programs related to energy efficiency and reduction of greenhouse gas or air quality emissions, such as the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (EPA), Rural Energy for America Program (USDA), and California’s Carl Moyer program.
Collect recommendations for new or expanded public programs targeted at: supporting research, development, and field-testing of new low-carbon innovations; overcoming knowledge barriers by providing education and outreach to end users of low-carbon technologies and practices (fishing vessel owners and equipment installers); and enabling affordable adoption of the technologies and practices that work best for each vessel.
Phase 1 Collaborators:
Sarah Schumann, Fishery Friendly Climate Action (research lead); Erika de la Rosa (research assistant); Tim Rovinelli (research assistant); Hattie Train, Wharfside Associates (research assistant); Casey Merkle (research assistant); Noah Oppenheim, Homarus Strategies (policy advisor); and Chandler Kemp, Kempy Energetics (technical advisor).
Phase 2: Assessing the policy landscape (policy analysis)
A policy analysis will be provided through a collaboration with the Roger Williams University Law School Sea Grant Legal Program, made possible by the Massachusetts-based Energy Efficient Fisheries project. This analysis will include a scan of existing federal and state policies and programs relevant to the goals of supporting energy efficiency and/or reducing greenhouse gas and/or air quality emissions from fishing vessels. We will then compare existing programs with needs of the fleet identified in Phase 1 to identify gaps that could potentially be met through new or redesigned federal and state programs.
Phase 3: Constructing solutions
In Phase 3, the Fishery Friendly Climate Action Campaign will work with a panel of fishermen to design a policy platform showing how new programs, policies, and funding streams can best support innovation, testing, education, and adoption of technologies and practices to reduce fossil fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by commercial fishing vessels. This platform will be circulated to interested fishermen for feedback and endorsement prior to being submitted to policy makers.
Sources of support
Anchor funding for this project is provided by the Gloucester Fishermen’s Wives Development Program through its Energy Efficient Fisheries project, a four-year project supported by a generous federal earmark award made possible by Senators Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren. Additional funding is provided by Global Ocean Health, the Commercial Fisheries Center of Rhode Island, the Experiment Foundation, private donations, and an internship facilitated and funded by the National Working Waterfront Network.