Analysis of environmental-economic sustainability of fishing vessels and its improvement by alternative powering options in projected decarbonization scenarios

Abstract

The fishery sector faces various environmental challenges to ensure its sustainability, particularly regarding Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions originating from fishing activities. Several measures are aimed at improving the energy efficiency of vessels, from technical measures (alternative fuels, hull modification and maintenance…) to operative ones (journey planning, draft and trim optimization…) and market based measures (incentives, green shipping practices, carbon taxation, etc). This paper develops an environmental-economic sustainability index to address challenges in assessing the sustainability of fishing fleets. The index considers all costs, revenues, as well as potential carbon taxation, ensuring its applicability across various regions, fishing gear, and fuels. The application of the sustainability index is presented in the case of the Croatian large-scale fishing fleet, using real-time data on fuel consumption and exact data on the catch rate according to the type of fishing gear. The results show that while most vessels operate profitably under current regulations, the inclusion of carbon taxation may make them unsustainable. To examine the possibility of using alternative fuels, a life-cycle cost assessment of battery-, methanol- and biodiesel-powered systems was conducted. The results showed that certain solutions can become sustainable but the catch rate must be taken into account when investigating their applicability. Full electrification, although the most environmentally friendly, requires very high investment costs making it unsustainable without incentives.