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Conservation Partner Summary
 Fishing for Energy is a partnership
consisting of the Covanta Energy Corporation, the National Fish and
Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) and Schnitzer Steel Industries, Inc. which
provides a no-cost solution to fishermen to dispose of old, derelict
(gear that is lost in the marine environment) or unusable fishing gear
and works to reduce the amount of derelict fishing gear in and around
coastal waterways.
Launched in 2008, the partnership continues to work
closely with state and local agencies, community and fisherman groups,
and local ports to install bins at convenient and strategic locations
where fishermen can easily dispose of gear. When these bins fill up, the
gear is collected and transported to a nearby Schnitzer Steel facility
where the metal (ie. crab pots, gear rigging) is recovered for
recycling, and rope or nets are sheared for easier disposal. From there
it is brought to a nearby Covanta Energy-from-Waste (EfW) facility where
the gear is converted into clean, renewable electricity for local
communities.
A New Approach to Reducing Marine Debris
The NOAA Marine Debris Program has identified derelict
fishing gear as one of the major types of debris impacting the marine
environment. Marine debris in general threatens important living marine
resources and their habitat, as well as hinders navigational safety.
Derelict fishing gear has been known to continue to “fish”
commercially-valuable species targeted by fishermen and can snag on
active fishing gear and fishing vessels, creating unnecessary costs to
fishermen in both time and money. Derelict gear also catches
non-targeted species, including species that may be listed as endangered
or threatened. Marine mammals and sea turtles can become entangled and
drown, or their health may be impaired if they get caught in pieces of
line or net that can cause injury or prevent them from catching prey.
Marine habitats, which are smothered when derelict nets sink from the
weight of their catch, are further damaged when nets on the bottom are
shifted by storms.
This partnership, modeled on a successful multi-partner
project in Hawaii involving Covanta, NOAA and Schnitzer Steel, is
designed to give fishermen a place to dispose of derelict gear they come
across while on the water, and ease the burden of high costs associated
with disposing of old fishing gear into landfills. The program also
provides the fishing community with a means to become more actively
involved in addressing marine debris issues.
Over 250 tons or 500,000 pounds of gear has been
collected to-date.
Get involved in the Fishing for Energy program.
Bring Fishing for Energy to Your Community.
If you are interested in
partnering with Fishing for Energy, or you are an existing partner, Click
here to access important partnership documents.
New Funding Announcement!
We are looking to fund high-impact derelict fishing gear
removal and collection projects in the existing ports the program has
visited, or in new ports with a significant need for derelict fishing
gear collection or removal. Please see the Fishing for Energy Fund small grants program
RFP to apply for project funding.
Program Statistics To Date
(Data as of 1/05/2010)
Table
1: Total Gear Tonnage Received to
Date
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Port Location
|
Tons Collected
|
Lbs Collected
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New Bedford, MA
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18.31
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36,620
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Gloucester, MA
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9.16
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18,320
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Brookhaven, NY
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16.89
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33,780
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Hyannis, MA
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6.95
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13,900
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Scituate, MA
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6.2464
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12,493
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Newport, RI
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7.81
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15,620
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Cape May, NJ
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46.3
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92,600
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Provincetown, MA
|
7.65
|
15,300
|
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Wellfleet, MA
|
36.3557
|
72,711
|
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Point Judith, RI
|
19.4407
|
38,881
|
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Chatham, MA
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12.7168
|
25,434
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Sandwich, MA
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17.515
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35,030
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Portland, ME
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2.562
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5,124
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Garibaldi, OR
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12.09
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24,180
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Newport, OR
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45.19
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90,380
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Boston, MA
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TBD
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TBD
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Southampton, NY
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4.52
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9,040
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Newport News, VA
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TBD
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TBD
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TOTAL
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269.7
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539,413
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Figure 1: Total Gear
Tonnage Received to Date
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