Factors affecting greenhouse gas emissions in fisheries: evidence from Iceland's demersal fisheries

Abstract

Abstract Fishing produces low CO2 emissions per unit output compared to other animal protein sources. However, emissions from fishing grew by 28% from 1990 to 2011 and fishing currently contributes about 4% of the emissions of world food production. The purpose of this paper is to identify the relationship between various factors and emissions in fisheries. We analyse the development of CO2 emissions from the Icelandic individual transferable quota regulated fishing fleet from 1997 to 2018. The results show that emissions per unit of catch fell around 40% during this period. The main findings are that overall catches and abundance are by far the most important factors determining emissions, the bigger the catches and the greater the abundance, the smaller the emissions per unit of output. Fuel prices are a distant third factor and technological change has played a minor role in this development. In addition, the importance of different factors affecting emissions, varies between vessels depending on types of fishing gear. The results indicate that building up fish stocks not only increases output but also increases profitability and reduces emissions per unit of output, as long as the fisheries management system preserves incentives for efficient fishing.