The sunrise lights the sky over Thomsen Harbor and Mt. Edgecumbe in Sitka in this 2011 photo. The city is among the communities surrounded by the Tongass National Forest. (Photo by Jeffrey Wickett/U.S. Forest Service)
I have fished out of Sitka, Alaska, for more than 40 years. I know the challenge of running a business where every cost increase is a risk to my bottom line. This past summer, the rapidly escalating cost of fuel added stress to an increasingly unpredictable business.
For a fisherman, fuel is not optional. It powers the boat that is our workplace, and every increase comes straight out of a narrow margin. The war in Iran has sent fuel prices soaring, and that increase took a toll on my business and all the other small-scale fishing businesses that power Alaska’s rural economy.
The Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association, a non-profit I run when I am not fishing, is working to reduce the fishing fleet’s dependence on fossil fuels. Ocean acidification is a threat to our fisheries, and along with lowering costs we want to reduce our emissions. For close to a decade, we have been helping the fleet identify energy efficiencies, and this year worked with project partners to install the first hybrid propulsion system in a commercial fishing boat. We are working on a second hybrid boat now, and also assessing energy-efficiency and cost-saving opportunities in the seafood processing sector. This work has been guided by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and mostly funded by two Department of Energy grants.
This season, our first hybrid boat, a 50-foot longline/troller, saved an estimated 20%on fuel costs. The second hybrid will be electric propelled with a small diesel generator to recharge batteries at sea if needed. His estimated fuel savings will be 80%or higher.
That’s what smart federal investment looks like: a small business spending less on energy and keeping more of what it earns. But these boats are the exception. In recent years, more than 401 clean energy projects nationwide have been canceled, delayed or stripped of grant funding, taking over 42,000 megawatts of planned power with them, enough for nearly 22 million homes. In Alaska, three canceled projects would have generated 45 MW, enough for 9,000 homes.
When less power comes online, bills go up. Household electric bills are up 15% nationally since 2024. Utilities have raised or sought rate increases totaling more than $101 billion, reaching more than 116 million electric customers and 59 million natural gas customers. Some Alaskans are paying an additional $45 per month on their electricity bill. Small businesses are squeezed from both directions: paying more for fuel while losing the federal support that could help us use less of it.
This summer, fish prices in Alaska were relatively strong, helping fishermen bear the higher fuel costs and the burden of tariffs. If the prices paid to fishermen drop next season, the number of boats fishing will also drop. That means less fish to market, fewer paychecks spent in local shops and more risk in an already dangerous job. In Sitka, where a half-gallon of milk can cost $8, every dollar saved on energy helps keep a boat working, crew employed and a town whole.
Fishermen are not asking for special treatment or subsidies. We want policies that promote energy efficiency, stabilize supply and bring costs down. Our future depends on healthy fisheries and affordable operating costs. We are doing our part to address ocean acidification and drive energy transition, but we cannot do it on our own. Energy modernization deserves federal and public investment. The businesses that anchor our rural communities cannot keep absorbing costs they did not create.
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Courtesy of Alaska Beacon
