Reducing Climate Impact from Fisheries

Few doubt the impact from human activities on global warming and the negative consequences of rising temperatures for both terrestrial and marine ecosystems. Efficient policy instruments are needed to change the development. This report uses empirical models to analyse how CO2 emissions, fleet structure, economic performance, and employment opportunities are affected by imposing management instruments to reduce climate impacts. These instruments include both fisheries management such as larger stock levels and more efficient fleets, and energy policy such as fuel taxes or CO2 trading schemes. To get a representative view of the Nordic fisheries, the analysis contains case studies from all the Nordic countries: Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Greenland, the Faroe Islands and Finland. The fleet segments analysed range from coastal small-scale trap nets to large off-shore trawlers.