Fishing for Energy has collected one million pounds of old fishing gear and marine debris since the program''s inception in 2008.
A partnership among Covanta Energy Corporation, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Marine Debris Program, and Schnitzer Steel Industries, Inc. set out to provide a solution to the mounting problem of disposal of used fishing gear and the mass accumulation of marine debris. Working together with local port partners, the organisations have established collections points at more than 20 commercial fishing ports across the United States, significantly reducing the financial burden placed on commercial fishermen as they routinely dispose of retired fishing gear and providing a place to discard retrieved marine debris.
The collections help to prevent gear from becoming derelict and provide a place for easy disposal of gear that is retrieved from the water. Old gear and marine debris can threaten marine life, impact navigational safety, and have economic repercussions on fishing and shipping enterprises and coastal communities.
Rex McKinsey, the Provincetown, MA Harbormaster, has been part of the program since 2009. "Joining the program was timely and all positive. It is great for the environment and if it weren't for this program, all the fishermen in Provincetown would have to pay to have the gear removed themselves due to ever-shrinking municipal budgets," he said.
The gear collected from commercial fishing ports and retrieved from coastal waterways have been stripped of metals for recycling with the help of Schnitzer Steel and processed into clean, renewable energy at a Covanta Energy-from-Waste facility. Each ton of gear processed at a Covanta facility produces enough electricity to power one home for 25 days.
The Fishing for Energy program provides grant funding to groups that commit to removing derelict fishing gear from US coastal waters.
