The Seafood Industry Climate Award


SEAFOOD INDUSTRY CLIMATE AWARD
Enter your solution for reducing the seafood industry’s carbon footprint
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Enter your solution for reducing the seafood industry’s carbon footprint
Entries accepted through November 2, 2023
The Seafood Industry Climate Awards (SICA) celebrate early stage efforts to reduce the industry’s carbon footprint. Significant progress has been made in the seafood industry to address sustainability issues. Yet, climate adaptation is a relatively new focus area that is demanding immediate action.
- 3 Winners
- $70,000 per award
- Featured in media and & at seafood industry events
Entries address one or more industry areas
- On the water
- Shipping & logistics
- Processing & manufacturing
- Energy usage
- Waste management
- Alternative proteins
- Workforce development
Judges
Criteria
Winning applications must meet and will be evaluated on the following requirements:
Impact
Ability, current or potential, to reduce the carbon footprint of discrete aspects of the seafood industry.
50% of total score
Application question: How would the proposed work reduce the carbon footprint of the seafood sector?
Plan
Clear and realistic approach to achieve application goals including leverage of the award.25% of total score
Application question: What is the plan for implementation with a focus on 12 months from receiving award?
Diversity
Applying team and/or program improves seafood industry diversity (women, people of color, and marginalized communities).25% of total score
Application question: How is the team and/or work improving the the diversity of the seafood sector?
Selection Process
Awardees will be reviewed and selected by judges representing a broad set of perspectives from across the seafood industry. Judge’s will evaluate entries based on the criteria, each with equal weighting. Judges may contact applicants for clarification or additional information. Evaluation will begin once the application period has closed and winners will be announced in December 2023.
Eligibility
- Applicants must be formally affiliated with and applying through a legally registered entity that can receive unrestricted grant funding.
- Be registered and located in the United States or Canada.
- Meet all submission deadlines, including submitting a completed application form by the required deadline.
- Ability to fulfill all grant requirements including a minimum of a midterm and final update.
- Past Seafood Industry Climate Award winners are not eligible to apply.
- Agree to all legal terms and conditions of the award.
The Acme Smoked Fish Foundation does not fund the following:
- Lobbying and activities to influence specific legislation
- Religious organizations
- Individuals unaffiliated with a legal entity
Frequently Asked Questions
What are examples of good entries?
We encourage applications from a wide range of efforts. These can be from any of the following categories:
- On the water
- Shipping & Logistics
- Processing & Manufacturing
- Energy Usage
- Waste Management
- Alternative Proteins
- Workforce Development
Entries can range from researchers diving into the impacts of seafood shipping, nonprofit programs dedicated to improving fishing practices, startups developing alternative proteins and more. Entries can be from the seafood industry or compelling applications from other fields. The opportunity and need for innovative solutions is wide, and we want to find the most impactful ideas and teams, wherever they may come from.
What is the application deadline?
Applications for the U.S. and Canada are being accepted until November 2, 2023 at 5pm EDT.
When will winners be announced?
All applicants, including winners, will be notified in December.
What do winners receive?
Three winners will be selected from the pool of U.S. and Canadian applicants. Each winner will receive a $70,000 grant to be used for the plan outlined in their application. They will also receive recognition in industry press and will present their work at a seafood industry event.
What makes a good application?
Successful applications have the following:
- Meet eligibility requirements
- Complete all required information
- Address the three criteria– impact, plan and diversity–in their application
- Clearly articulate how they can continue to reduce the carbon footprint of the seafood industry
Who can I talk to with questions or to get help?
Send an email with any questions to...
Send e-mail to climateaward@acmesmokedfishfoundation.org:
Background
The seafood industry has spent the past three decades addressing sustainability through research, certifications, improvement projects and more. While incredible progress has been made, the industry’s relationship to climate change is a relatively new question with limited, although growing, attention and resources.
And time is of the essence. Climate related impacts are disrupting the industry, with more to come, potentially leading to the collapse of fisheries, economies, and viability of the sector.
We believe if innovators, from researchers to product developers to entrepreneurs, have increased attention and resources they can help turn the tide and allow the seafood industry to be a leader in the climate movement.
In September 2022, Acme Smoked Fish Foundation announced the first grant recipients of the Seafood Industry Climate Awards. Each recipient will receive a $40,000 grant this year to support an innovation focused on lowering the carbon footprint within the seafood industry and/or increasing the leadership role of underrepresented groups in the industry. The first three award recipients are Aroostook Band of Mi’kmacs in Maine, Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association, and Luke’s Seafood. Details on each innovation are below.
Together with TD Bank as the catalyst sponsor, Acme’s awards program looks to support innovation that will mitigate the impacts of climate change, while featuring the work of underrepresented groups. In addition to funding, award recipients will have opportunities to work with leaders at Acme Smoked Fish Corp. This is the first cycle of the awards which Acme expects to run in 2023 as well; prior to that, Acme will launch a similar awards program in Chile, where the company operates a smoked salmon facility.
About the Award Recipients
Energy Sustainability of Micmac RAS Hatchery Using Solar Power: Aroostook Band of Mi’kmacs
This SICA award shows the steps the industry can take to adopt solar power energy while developing RAS technology, all while supporting Mi’kmaq food security.
Micmac Farms and Fish Hatchery, run by the Mi’kmaq Nation, currently provides approximately 12,000 pounds of Maine strain Eastern Brook Trout to the community each year, utilizing Recirculating Aquaculture System (RAS) technology. With this funding, the hatchery will now be able to couple renewable solar power with the existing RAS system, which will be a more viable and environmentally friendly practice. By creating an energy-independent aquaculture system, this project can buffer the disruptions to their food system brought on by climate change and other events. Additionally, the Micmac nation hopes that their work will inspire other native American communities working on similar efforts.
ALFA BETA: Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association Boat Energy Transition Accelerator
Fuel usage in wild capture fisheries contribute significantly to carbon emission and high costs in the seafood industry. The ALFA BETA SICA Award takes on this challenge, piloting technology that would lead the way for the electrification of the SE Alaska Troll and Long Line Fleet.
ALFA is launching a pilot to convert the Alaska fishing fleet to hybrid diesel/electric as the next best step toward decarbonization. They are working with over 300 fisher-members throughout Alaska, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and the Energy Transitions Initiative Project Partnership to transfer technologies proven through other forms of transportation, including boats such as ferries and tugboats. The initial pilot will work with two vessels in the fall/winter 2022/2023 to convert to hybrid diesel/electric, track data, and engage the community. The SICA award will be used to purchase equipment for hybridization/decarbonization.
Lift All Boats Initiative: Luke’s Seafood
The lobster industry faces many challenges; among them the rising cost of fuel, the related carbon footprint, as well as the lack of diversity. These challenges are representative of fisheries more broadly in the US, and this program taking on these challenges and showing a path forward that is inclusive and climate positive.
The Lift All Boats Initiative is a student lobstering program that provides access to BIPOC students, mostly immigrants, who typically lack a pathway to become a commercial fisherman in Maine. During the program students learn about the carbon footprint of the fishery and innovations that can reduce emissions from the lobster industry over time. The program just finished its first year and is expanding while also looking for opportunities to replicate the model. The SICA award will help fund the cost of instructors who can join the team on the water as they teach students the ins and outs of piloting a boat, baiting and setting traps, hauling traps, selling lobster, and more in a sustainable manner.
The grantees were chosen by a panel of judges from across the seafood industry:
- Amanda Foster, Corporate Citizenship Manager at TD Bank Foundation
- Laura Rodriguez, Program Officer, The Builders Initiative
- Stacy Schultz, Director Marketing and Sustainability Coordinator, Fortune Fish and Gourmet, and Board Member of SeaPact Foundation
- Sid Shafin, Plant Engineer, Acme Smoked Fish
- Rob Snyder, Chief People and Sustainability Officer, Acme Smoked Fish and Acme Smoked Fish Foundation
- Kate Sindig Daly, Executive Director, NorthLight Foundation
Support for the Seafood Industry Climate Award comes from Acme Smoked Fish Corp. as well supporters including TD Bank, Northside Packaging, Feature Foods International, Buckhead Capital Corp., Eastern Quality Foods, Rampart Insurance Services, Margolin Winer & Evens, LLP, Cole Scholtz P.C., Marc Brownstein, and Larry & Pam Tarica.
The Acme Smoked Fish Foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit that founded in 2021 in honor of the late Eric Caslow, Co-Chairman of Acme and a leader in the seafood industry for more than fifty years.
Want to get in touch? Email us at climateawards@acmesmokedfishfoundation.org