Objectives

1) To provide New England fishermen with an objective and scientific assessment of alternatives that may improve their fuel and operational efficiencies

2) To provide a forum where fishermen can share experiences exploring ways to reduce their fuel and maintenance costs

3) To integrate our results with those from other efforts in the region to improve operational efficiency

The overall goal is for fishermen to lower their fuel and operational costs while reducing their carbon footprint

The Green-Fit Project

Motivation

Recent upward trends in diesel prices have sent a warning shot across the bow of New England’s fishing fleet.  Many fishermen are looking for ways to reduce the costs for fuel and oil to their businesses. There are many options available to fishermen, but it is often difficult to tell whether benefits promised by retailers can be trusted and which strategies make sense for a particular vessel.

The Program

Jeff Steele (an environmental consultant) is refiting New Hampshire fisherman, David Goethel's trawling vessel (FV Ellen Diane) with a number of modifications that are designed to improve operational efficiency while reducing the carbon footprint while David fishes (a Green Re-Fit).  A holistic approach will be taken with the Green Re-Fit, as all the engine's systems interact to improve the overall efficiency and environmental impacts of the vessel. The Green Re-Fitted FV Ellen Diane will then serve as an educational platform so that New England fishermen can explore both behavioral and technical options that could reduce operational costs.

The Scientific Approach

The first step of the Green-Fit Project will be to collect baseline information.  How often is David currently changing his oil?  How much does he spend on oil?  What are emissions from his boat?  How much fuel is he burning under his normal fishing operations and how much does it cost?  The next step will be to install the new equipment on the FV Ellen Diane.  Data (accurately measured fuel consumption, maintenance records, oil quality and emissions tests) will be collected before and after each piece of equipment is operational so that we can compare the benefit of adding each component of the system and the for the entire system of components. 

In addition to the Green Re-Fitting, we will also stockpile testimonials of people who have explored improving their operational efficieny in various ways and integrate our results with other similar efforts in the region.