Newfoundland government with fishing vessel energy efficiency initiative
Canada: The Newfoundland Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture will provide CAD 99,000 toward a new fishing vessel energy initiative for the Newfoundland and Labrador fishing industry.
This funding will be provided by the department through the Fisheries Technology and New Opportunities Program. The initiative is being carried out in partnership with the Canadian Centre for Fisheries Innovation (CCFI) and the Fish, Food and Allied Workers (FFAW).
"This is a particularly important project for the harvesting sector at a time when energy prices are high," said the Trevor Taylor, acting Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture, in a recent press release. "The industry advises our government that soaring fuel prices have drastically impacted profitability of the harvesting sector in this province."
An advisory team has been put in place to guide the initiative. The team includes representation from the Provincial Government, CCFI, the FFAW, the Marine Institute, Memorial University, the National Research Council, and, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. This committee was formed earlier this year to design a strategy in terms of short, medium and long-term measures that can be implemented to assist the harvesting sector address fuel efficiency issues.
The project will have an initial phase to develop an in-depth program to be directed towards identifying solutions to very serious energy efficiency challenges facing the harvesting sector. The initial phase will identify short-term measures that can result in potential energy savings that can be implemented for the 2009 fishing season. A steering committee has been formed that will oversee this initial phase. In order to provide tangible targets, the steering committee has proposed a reduction in energy consumption by up to 20 per cent by 2009.
This project is the first step in addressing one of the major challenges facing the province's fishing industry - the high cost of fuel. The immediate goal of the project is to analyze the industry's fuel consumption patterns based on current practices. The team will then quantify potential fuel savings through specific energy efficient measures and identify areas where efficiency gains can be made in the short-term. The project will identify what harvesters are already doing and share energy efficiency measures between the inshore fishing fleet.
