The Fishing for Energy partnership provided commercial fishermen with no-cost solutions to dispose of derelict and retired fishing gear and offered competitive grants to reduce the impacts of derelict fishing gear on the environment. By helping prevent and remove derelict gear, Fishing for Energy restored the quality of marine and coastal habitats and supported communities and industries that rely on these resources.
Partners
Every year marine species, from lobsters and fish to sea lions and birds, become trapped or entangled in lost, abandoned or discarded fishing gear. This "derelict gear" (fishing line, nets, and pots) continues to capture fish and wildlife while at sea, even if no fishermen retrieves the catch. Lost gear can also accumulate over time, creating islands of metal and rope. Storms move these masses across the ocean floor, scouring fragile habitats like coral reefs and sea grass beds. Floating masses foul both vessels and active fishing gear, adversely impacting maritime industries.
The Fishing for Energy program was established in 2008 under a partnership between the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Marine Debris Program, ReWorld (formerly Covanta) and Radius Recycling (formerly Schnitzer Steel Industries). The Fishing for Energy program provided commercial fishermen with no-cost solutions to dispose of retired, unusable or lost in the marine environment, otherwise known as “derelict” fishing gear, and offered competitive grants to reduce the impacts of this gear on coastal waterways. By helping to prevent and remove derelict gear, Fishing for Energy restored the quality of marine and coastal habitats and supported the communities and industries that rely on these resources.
Read a summary report of the program's accomplishments here.
| Fishing for Energy Close-Out Report | Download the PDF |
Senior Program Director, Marine Conservation
Regional Program Coordinator
Related Species
Coho salmon
Coho salmon is one of five salmon species along the West Coast of the United States, from the Alaskan arctic to Santa Cruz, California. The species is anadromous and populations in the lower portion of its range are severely affected by barriers to stream passage and ocean conditions, freshwater availability and land-use practices.
Corals
Found in shallow, tropical waters around the world, coral reefs are among the most iconic and diverse ecosystems on earth. Despite covering less than 1 percent of the ocean, 25 percent of marine species rely on coral reefs, which are made up of many different species of coral. While corals are threatened by pollution, overfishing, disease and increasing ocean temperature resulting in widespread mortality, local conservation efforts coupled with advancements in coral restoration show promise for conserving this important ecosystem.
Elkhorn coral
Elkhorn coral are one of the most important reef building corals found in the Caribbean, where individual colonies can grow more than 6 feet in height and 12 feet in diameter. Elkhorn coral were listed as threatened following a severe disease outbreak that caused widespread mortality, decimating the population to less than 3 percent of its former abundance. Warming ocean temperatures are a further stress on these corals.
Green sea turtle
Green sea turtles are found around the world, nesting in more than 80 countries including on U.S. beaches, where sustained conservation efforts have contributed to increasing populations in Florida, Hawai'i and across all five U.S. territories. Reaching more than 300 pounds, these gentle giants feed almost exclusively on seagrasses and algae.
West Indian manatee
West Indian manatee have earned their nickname of “sea cows,” consuming about 32 pounds of aquatic plants each day and weighing more than 3,000 pounds. Found throughout the Caribbean, manatees are common in Florida where the populations have increased significantly in recent years, resulting in the species being downlisted from endangered to threatened in 2017.
Blue crab
With their distinctive bright blue claws, blue crabs are one of the most iconic species of the Chesapeake Bay, where an estimated 594 million were found in 2019. These bottom-dwelling omnivores have a very wide geographic distribution that supports an important blue crab fishery in the Gulf Coast.
Northwest Atlantic loggerhead
Migrating far distances throughout the Atlantic Ocean from the Caribbean to Canada to the Mediterranean Sea, 90 percent of nesting activity for northwest Atlantic loggerhead sea turtles occur in Florida and the southeastern United States. The northwest Atlantic population has grown over the years showing positive signs of recovery, but loggerhead sea turtles continue to face threats from fishing and coastal development.
