May 5, 2017 — Representatives of East Hampton Town’s Fisheries Advisory Committee this week again asked the town to help fund a comprehensive analysis of the socioeconomic importance of fisheries on the East End and reiterated fishermen’s concerns about the Deepwater Wind offshore turbine installation.
The committee would like to hire Cornell Cooperative Extension to conduct the economic analysis, and its members are seeking participation from East Hampton and other local municipalities in order to raise the $100,000 needed to pay for it.
Brad Loewen, the chairman of the fisheries committee, who is a bayman and a former town councilman, said the committee has also been examining how — or if — the State Department of Environmental Conservation considers potential detrimental effects on fisheries when assessing the impact of proposed projects, such as the offshore wind farm. With unsatisfactory responses so far from the D.E.C. to requests for information, the committee, which is working with John Jilnicki, a town attorney, may ask the town board to submit a Freedom of Information Law request for the needed documents.
While the offshore wind turbines 30 miles from Montauk Point may be inevitable, Mr. Loewen said, “the last thing we want to see is that cable go through Napeague and Gardiner’s Bays, and come ashore in the bay. It’s a disaster,” he said.