Transition to a Low-Carbon Fleet Open Meeting

Powering Vessels in a Post-Diesel World: The Fishing Industry Leads the Way

Recent record-high diesel fuel prices prompted many fishermen to contemplate the future of their businesses in a world that is reducing its dependence on fossil fuels. Fishing is a hard-to-decarbonize sector with no single “easy answer.” Around the coasts, fishermen and organizations are beginning to pilot technological innovations, and a project led through 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?

In this workshop, researchers affiliated with the project will present initial findings from interviews with fishing vessel owners throughout Alaska, the West Coast, and New England. Attendees will be invited to engage in a vigorous discussion about the options to power Bellingham's fishing vessels in a world where diesel may become scarcer and more expensive. Participants will be asked to consider what kinds of public policies may be needed to build a bridge from today's diesel-powered fleet to a low-carbon fleet of the future. Ideas generated during the workshop will inform the findings of the upcoming report on "Accelerating a Transition to a Low Carbon Fishing Fleet” and will ensure that fishermen are in the driver’s seat of their own energy transition.

Intended audience: commercial fishermen; commercial fishing vessel owners; marine technicians serving the fishing fleet; other interested parties

Contact: Sarah Schumann, Director, Fishery Friendly Climate Action Campaign, fisheryfriendlyclimateaction@gmail.com, (401)297-6273

Registration encouraged, but not required. Please register if you are able to help us plan.