Spatial restrictions inadvertently doubled the carbon footprint of Norway’s mackerel fishing fleet
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21520730 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Kim J N Scherrer, Kim Scherrer (0000-0001-6198-5745, University of Bergen, corresponding author), Tom J Langbehn (0000-0003-1208-4793, University of Bergen), Gabriella Ljungström (0000-0002-6766-7489, University of Bergen), Katja Enberg (0000-0002-0045-7604, University of Bergen), Sara Hornborg (0000-0003-0814-5258, RISE Research Institutes of Sweden), Gjert Dingsør, Gjert Endre Dingsør (0000-0001-5740-125X), Christian Jorgensen (0000-0001-6947-8094, University of Bergen) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 161 |
| Pages | 106014 |
| Publication date | 2024-03-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Marine Policy (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0308-597X • E-ISSN: 1872-9460 |
| Publisher | Elsevier BV (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.marpol.2024.106014 |
| OpenAlex | W4391373848 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 35 |
The ocean is increasingly used for industry, energy and recreation or protected for conservation, resulting in increasing spatial restrictions for fisheries. Simultaneously, producing seafood with a low climate footprint is becoming increasingly important. Despite this, the effects of spatial restrictions on the emissions of fishing fleets are poorly known. In the Northeast Atlantic, the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the EU (Brexit) meant that the UK regained autonomy in its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). This suddenly imposed a spatial restriction for several foreign fishing fleets targeting Northeast Atlantic mackerel (Scomber scombrus). Here, we use this natural experiment and open fisheries data to investigate how Brexit affected the performance and emissions of the Norwegian mackerel fishery. As the fleet was excluded from fishing grounds in the UK, the catch per fishing trip almost halved, while the number of trips per vessel doubled. As a result, fuel use intensity (FUI) more than doubled from ∼0.08 to ∼0.18 L fuel per kg mackerel. We estimate that this shift required an additional 23 million liters of fuel per year, causing additional fuel costs of ∼€18 million annually and emitting an additional ∼72,000 tonnes CO2 per year. The policy change undid ∼15 years of improved fuel efficiency in Norwegian pelagic fisheries. These findings provide rare empirical evidence on how spatial restrictions can undermine progress towards decreasing greenhouse gas emissions in fisheries, highlighting the need to monitor and account for emissions in fisheries management and consider these trade-offs in marine spatial management
Exclusive economic zone · Fish · Fish stock · Fisheries management · Fishery · Fishing · Geography · Greenhouse gas · Mackerel · Pelagic zone · Environmental Science · Marine and fisheries research · Marine Bivalve and Aquaculture Studies · Ocean Acidification Effects and Responses · Oceanography
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |