Commercial Fishermen Encouraged to Apply for Low-Interest Loans for Improving Fuel Efficiency of Their Vessels

May 29, 2002

Contact: Christina S. Johnson, csjohnson@ucsd.edu, 858-822-5334

California's commercial fishing boat owners are being encouraged to apply for low-interest loans to retrofit old fishing vessels for improved fuel efficiency.

The Fishing Vessel Fuel Conservation Loan Fund is being administered by the California Technology, Trade and Commerce Agency, a state agency that is part of the Governor's Cabinet and is charged with promoting job growth and economic development.

The loans are being offered at five percent interest rate and must be repaid in five years. Loan amounts range from about $10,000 to $25,000.

The Commerce Agency reports it has about $844,000 currently available for loans. Owners of commercial fishing boats or party boats who earn at least 75 percent of their income from fishing are eligible to apply.

Roger Thomas, president of the Golden-Gate Fisherman's Association in San Francisco said of the program: "For people who have the opportunity to get low-interest loans, the program is a great deal. Emission standards on fishing boats are going to change. Fuel is expensive. I think the program should be expanded."

The program is designed to help fisherman offset the skyrocketing costs of fuel and to improve the energy efficiency of the state's fishing and party boat fleets.In the last two years, the price of marine diesel fuel has more than doubled.

"With rising fuel costs this issue is on everyone's mind," said California Sea Grant Fisheries Specialist Dr. Christopher Dewees who helped establish the loan program and related research projects back in 1986. He will be spearheading Sea Grant's effort to revitalize the program jointly with the Commerce Agency.

The Commerce Agency has also asked Sea Grant to create an advisory panel to assist loan officers with technical questions.

"The state is now aggressively marketing the loan program," said Eric Watkins, a loan officer at the Commerce Agency. "We are hoping to get more commercial fisherman to apply."

It should be easy to drum up interest in improving fuel efficiency.

Dewees said: "For some fishing vessels, fuel is the biggest variable expense. A 10 or 15 percent increase in fuel efficiency is significant."

According to a survey of boat owners who have participated in the loan program, retrofits typically improve a vessel's fuel efficiency by 15 to 17 percent.

Watkins noted that during El Nino episodes in the '90s, changes in ocean conditions shifted the areas in which fish were spawning and congregating. "Fishermen were basically eating up their profits by having to burn up fuel locating their catch."

Today, the price of energy --- both for fuel and for electricity --- is single-handedly gobbling up profits.
For more information, and to obtain loan applications, please contact Carlos Nakata, a loan officer at the Commerce Agency by email at: cnakata@commerce.ca.gov, or by phone at 916-323-2688.