August 7, 2013 — Through a program called “Fishing for Energy,” commercial fishermen are provided with no-cost opportunities to dispose of old and unused fishing gear that can clutter docks and boat decks. They can get rid of the gear without digging into their pockets to pay disposal costs.
On July 29, a container truck pulled into the Covanta plant in Ward Hill and dropped off load of gear that included damaged nets, broken lobster traps and buoys, rope and other fishing equipment that was no longer usable.
“This is the kind of stuff that was beyond repair,” said Covanta spokeswoman Meg Morris.
She said that in the past, fishermen had to pay to dispose of old gear, but under this program Covanta picks up the discarded gear and brings it to the Haverhill plant, where it is converted into clean energy that is fed into the power grid.
Morris said fishermen load unusable fishing gear into bins that are provided to fishing ports that request them. When the bins are full they are picked up by a truck and delivered to the Haverhill facility, she said.
Read the full story at the North Andover, Massachusetts Eagle Tribune