JEMS Maritime Sci. Ahead of Print: JEMS-61214

The Effect of Exhaust Emissions Produced by Fishing Vessels on Air Pollution: A Case Study of Purse Seine Vessels Operating in the Black Sea

ERALP ÖZKAYA¹, Ali Yasin Kaya², Fatih TONOÐLU², Özkan Uðurlu², Jin Wang^3
1Directorate General of Coastal Safety, Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, Istanbul, Turkey
²Maritime Transportation and Management Engineering Department, Ordu University, Ordu, Turkey
³Liverpool Logistics, Offshore and Marine (LOOM) Research Institute, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK

In this study, the exhaust emissions originating from purse seine fishing vessels were calculated. A bottom-up method based on ship activities was used for emission calculations. Necessary information for the calculations was obtained from the BAGIS (Fishing Vessels Monitoring System) system. Eighteen purse seiners in the Black Sea region with a length of 20 meters or above engaged in fishing activities in the 2017-2018 fishing season were used as samples. These vessels were categorized into 3 different groups according to their length. The emissions produced by each length group were calculated separately under different conditions of vessels identified as "port", "operation", and “navigation”. The total emissions in the Black Sea region and Turkey were estimated. This study provides emission estimates by utilizing the operational conditions and real data from Turkish-flagged purse seiners engaged in fishing in the Black Sea. In this respect, the research presents novelty and addresses an important gap in the existing literature. The annual emission amount of purse seine fishing vessels in the Black Sea is 260 thousand tons, while the annual emission amount from purse seine vessels throughout Turkey has been calculated as 440 thousand tons. As a result, the effectiveness of the ECA (Emission Control Area) /SECA (Sulphur Emission Control Area) region implementation in reducing emissions from maritime activities has been demonstrated. In addition, this study constitutes a source for the exhaust emission inventory of purse seiners in the Black Sea region.

Keywords: Ship emissions, Fishing vessels, Black Sea, Air pollution, Automatic identification system

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