FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 26, 2022
Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association receives
Seafood Industry Climate Award
In September 2022, Acme Smoked Fish Foundation announced the first grant recipients of the Seafood Industry Climate Awards. Each recipient will receive a $40,000 grant this year to support an innovation focused on lowering the carbon footprint within the seafood industry and/or increasing the leadership role of underrepresented groups in the industry. The first three award recipients are Aroostook Band of Mi’kmacs in Maine, Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association, and Luke’s Seafood.
Together with TD Bank as the catalyst sponsor, Acme’s awards program looks to support innovation that will mitigate the impacts of climate change, while featuring the work of underrepresented groups. In addition to funding, award recipients will have opportunities to work with leaders at Acme Smoked Fish Corp.
“We are deeply honored to receive this reward and thrilled to advance this important work to reduce our fleet’s carbon footprint,” said ALFA executive director Linda Behnken. “With the help of our project partners, we are poised to implement the first hybrid commercial fishing boats in our country; with this support from the Acme Foundation and TD Bank, that transition will begin.”
ALFA has launched a pilot project to convert the Alaska fishing fleet to hybrid diesel/electric as the next best step toward decarbonization. With support from the Energy Transitions Initiative Project Partnership, ALFA has been working with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Kemp Energetics to transfer technologies proven through other forms of transportation to small scale commercial fishing boats. The SICA award will be used to purchase equipment for ALFA’s hybridization/decarbonization project.
Hybrid boats make sense in the immediate future for many of our fleet,” Behnken added. “Our long-term goal is to completely decarbonize our fleet so we are doing our part to address climate change and ocean acidification. This award moves us closer to a carbon neutral future.”
Fuel usage in wild capture fisheries contributes significantly to carbon emission and high costs in the seafood industry. The ALFA Boat Energy Transition Accelerator (ALFA BETA) SICA Award takes on this challenge, piloting technology that will lead the fleet toward a lower carbon footprint.
For more information on the Acme Smoked Fish Foundation and the Seafood Industry Climate Awards, visit: https://www.acmesmokedfish.com/the-seafood-industry-climate-award