At our “The Future of Fuel for Fishing” event, we heard from speakers from a range of organisations and backgrounds, who offered their insights into how the fishing industry can be supported in the short-term to cope with fuel prices, and how in the longer-term, fishing fleets could switch to alternative energy sources altogether.
Attendees heard from:
Arina Motova - Chief Economist / Interim Head of Economics - Seafish
Barrie Deas - Chief Executive - National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations (NFFO)
Alistair Bally Philp - National Coordinator - Scottish Creel Fishermen's Federation (SCFF)
Dr Magnus Johnson - Senior Lecturer in Environmental Marine Science - University of Hull
Tom Rossiter - Head of Precision Fishing - Safety Net Technologies
A full recording of the online event can be found here:
Following the presentations, Parliamentarians and attendees put their questions to the panel. Written summaries of all questions and answers are provided below. Please note that these answers reflect the views of the panelists, rather than the APPG Secretariat or its Members.
Are further details available on the recent research carried out by Dr Magnus Johnson on appetite for electrification of the UK’s small scale fleets? (David Duguid MP, fisheries envoy for the Prime Minister)
Dr Magnus Johnson said that the research, as well as figures on retrofitting costs, would be published in due course.
ROLE OF THE FISHING INDUSTRY IN ACHIEVING DECARBONISATION TARGETS
How will we ensure that ambitious timelines and policy are implemented for sustainable fuel, to speed up progress towards net zero by 2050?
Barrie Deas said that to ensure this, it was vital for the marine planning system to balance the needs of nature conservation, offshore wind energy production, and the fishing industry. He observed that the government’s re-evaluation of its energy policies in the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and its desire to rapidly expand offshore wind energy presented major spatial challenges for fishing. He advised that the fishing industry should be involved in the design of offshore wind farms where co-location was viable, and where it was not, there should be “food security areas” where wind farms could not be built.
Alistair Bally Philp reiterated that the fishing industry was being spatially squeezed, with this and lack of profitability being the main barriers to investing in the decarbonisation of vessels. He said that making fleets profitable was a necessary first step, as any grants and subsidies to facilitate upgrading or replacing vessels were unlikely to cover all costs or provide long-term solutions. He also said that in some cases, decommissioning of some parts of fishing fleets might be preferable to investing in new vessels or energy sources.
Dr Magnus Johnson noted that the fishing industry’s fuel consumption was relatively low in comparison to that of other sectors such as onshore and offshore transport, but that technological developments in these sectors for improving fuel efficiency or enabling transitions to other energy sources could be adopted by the fishing industry in the future.
Tom Rossiter explained that significant investment and technological developments were still required to make transitions to alternative energy sources viable for the fishing industry - for example, with the energy density of batteries currently being twenty times lower than marine diesel oil (MDO), more space was needed onboard for batteries, which then reduced the amount of space for storing fish. While the UK needed to start building the fishing fleets of the future now, in the short term, fishing fleets needed to be made more efficient to reduce the amount of carbon generated per kilo of seafood harvested.
A key barrier towards decarbonisation through moving to electric and hybrid sources is financial support. What incentives are there to support fishers to make the change and the timetable to deliver upon this?
Dr Magnus Johnson said there was a need for exemplar vessels across the country to demonstrate that current technologies can work - for example, Sarah Ready’s electric potting vessel in Brixham. However, he said that there are no “off the shelf solutions” for fishing vessels, and that in general, port infrastructure to provide sufficient charging capacity is not yet in place. He also noted that fishermen often did not want to switch their engines off while at sea because of safety concerns, so any alternative fuel sources would need to be completely reliable.
Barrie Deas said that while funds were available for fishing industries in the UK, for example England’s Fisheries and Seafood Scheme (FaSS), they were not necessarily tailored to provide necessary support for decarbonisation, and repurposing of some funds might be required.
Sheryll Murray MP (Chair) noted that the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee was currently holding an inquiry into FaSS, with an open call for evidence from stakeholders closing on 10 May 2022.
Tom Rossiter said that the aquaculture industry was leading the exploration of decarbonisation options, and that there was an opportunity for the fishing industry to learn from its experiences.
Alistair Bally Philp added that financial incentives alone would not drive decarbonisation, and that “opportunity incentives” such as preferential access to certain fishing grounds would also be needed.
INDIRECT IMPACTS OF HIGH FUEL COSTS
Do any of the speakers have concerns for the safety implications for rising fuel prices, and is there any anecdotal evidence on skippers or owners reducing crew numbers on board to offset fuel prices, which could increase workloads and thus risk?
Barrie Deas had not heard of any such cases, but noted that when there was an economic squeeze on the fishing industry, one of the first indicators was numbers of crew members falling. He added that owners of vessels under economic pressure ‘are likely to look at cutting corners’. He also noted that recent extensions of safety rules to parts of the small-scale fleet which had previously not been required to implement these were causing anxiety and stress.
Arina Motova said that safety issues on vessels had occurred in the past as a result of fuel costs, and that if vessel owners cut back on repairs and maintenance, this would affect safety in both the short and long term.
Alistair Bally Philp agreed with the other speakers and added that ‘if you’re not replacing your engine or vessel as often as you should, it will catch up’. He noted that the bulk of the UK fleet is over 30 years old, and in particular the majority of the inshore fleet was using old boats and with tight profit margins.
INCREASING FUEL EFFICIENCY
What are the speakers’ opinions on gears such as the 'Sumwing' beam trawl which has been trialled locally in Devon by Margaret of Ladram to see if it had an impact on fuel consumption? A trial of this gear in the Netherlands found significant fuel savings, and if results are similar in the UK, the government could support the use of more fuel-efficient gears.
Barrie Deas welcomed adoption of the beam trawl gear, in terms of both its efficiency and ability to fish more selectively. He said further research and development would likely generate new ideas and gear modifications, although the right conditions needed to be in place to enable adoption in the fishing industry.
Tom Rossiter agreed with Barrie and added that there was significant scope for gear innovation and energy savings in other areas - for example, reducing the amount of steel needed for fishing gear.
Dr Magnus Johnson added that positive change could also be incremental, citing ‘quick short wins’ such as promoting behavioural change, and installing more fuel-efficient propellers on vessels.
ELECtricity and other energy sources for fishing fleets
Similar research on appetite for electrification of vessels has been done with inshore fishermen, with a surprising number of them being interested in this. Would the speakers like to know more about this?
Dr Magnus Johnson expressed interest in this research and noted that a number of people had been in contact with him on the subject.
Alistair Bally Philp said it would be helpful to see figures on the cost effectiveness of hybrid or electric systems, noting that as a skipper, his biggest expense after crew wages was fuel; costs were even greater for demersal fishing vessels. He said that if the savings were shown to be great enough, and fishermen could be confident in having lower running costs and a good lifespan for the new vessel or engine, these would justify risks such as obtaining a loan to adopt electrification.
How do we power small boats that work from beaches and coves? We can supply harbours with electricity, but beaches will be very difficult.
Dr Magnus Johnson said that special buoys had been developed for charging boats. Current models were large, but in theory could be made smaller to enable charging in locations such as coves. He noted that for hybrid vessels, access to charging points would be less of an issue.
We often get feedback from fishermen that the MMO will not support a licence change to permit them to use electric or hybrid vessels. Can speakers comment on this?
Dr Magnus Johnson said that approvals were done on a risk assessed basis, as each vessel is different, and there were specific risks with Lithium-ion batteries that required them to be stowed safely and securely in case of fire.
We have a project to make an electric fishing boat and provide it to a fisherman to use to get real-world data, but have trouble accessing funding as Innovate UK directs us to Defra, and Defra directs us to Innovate UK. Can speakers comment on this?
Dr Magnus Johnson said that he was having a similar issue. He drew attention to a project in Shetland which has achieved funding for an electric barge.
Is there an existing cost-benefit analysis (or plans to undertake one) comparing electrification to biodiesel?
Dr Magnus Johnson said that as far as he knew, no such analysis was planned but would be useful to do.
Hydrogen as a 'dual fuel' with diesel in existing internal combustion engines is coming fast. Is this being considered for fishing?
Dr Magnus Johnson was of the opinion that pure hydrogen or hydrogen hybrid engines were the future. Some hydrogen dual fuel systems could be beneficial, as some used the engine itself to hydrolise water.