Saving Seafood

Management & Regulation

With federal approval of South Fork wind farm, construction could begin early next year

November 29, 2021 — A second major offshore wind farm near the Rhode Island coast has won federal approval.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management this week approved construction and operation of the South Fork Wind Farm, a 132-megawatt project proposed in a stretch of Rhode Island Sound between Block Island and Martha’s Vineyard.

The project being planned by Danish company Ørsted and utility Eversource is only the second commercial-scale offshore wind farm in the nation to secure approval from the federal government.

The first, Vineyard Wind, received a record of decision in May and marked its groundbreaking a week ago in Massachusetts. The 800-megawatt project is being built in an area south of Nantucket, further off the coasts of Rhode Island and Massachusetts than the South Fork proposal.

Read the full story at The Providence Journal

After Years Of Delays, California Dungeness Crab Fishery Opening On Dec. 1

November 29, 2021 — Dungeness crab is a common Christmas delicacy in the Pacific Northwest. However, for the past several years, the fishery’s opening has been delayed due to variety of factors, including migrating whales becoming ensnared in crab traps and toxic domoic acid (from algae blooms) rendering the crab meat unsafe for human consumption. But, this year, it will open on December 1, as it traditionally has for several years prior to the onset of climate change and other human impacts.

As oceans warm, whales desired prey items – like krill – are fewer and far between. This causes whales to wander more to feed themselves and increases the likelihood that they’ll get snagged on fishing gear. Thus, crab fishermen must deploy their gear after whales have passed through the region.

Climate change has not only delayed Dungeness crab fishing on the U.S. west coast, it has also truncated the season by more than half its usual length, from seven to three months long. This also means that the window to earn a livable wage is also shrinking, causing fishermen to take more risks and be out on the water longer.

Read the full story at Forbes

Surge in baitfish catch is a boon to Maine’s lobstermen

November 26, 2021 — A surge in the catch of a small species of fish called menhaden off the Maine coast has helped stabilize a bait crunch that’s plagued the state’s lobster industry for several years.

Maine’s lobster fishermen typically bait their traps with dead herring, but a scientific assessment in 2020 found that herring are overfished, and quotas for the fish were reduced dramatically. The loss of herring has increased the price of bait and made it harder for many fishermen to trap lobsters.

However, losing herring has been offset somewhat by swelling catches of menhaden. Maine’s catch of menhaden — also called pogies or bunker — grew from about 6 million pounds in 2016 to more than 24 million pounds last year.

Read the full story at the AP

Biden administration approves first offshore wind farm to supply power to New York

November 26, 2021 — President Biden’s administration greenlit a major offshore wind project to supply power to New York, arriving as part of a broader push to build out renewable energy and tackle climate change.

The federal government’s approval Wednesday of a dozen wind turbines, located off the coast of Rhode Island, will send power to the eastern end of Long Island. The move inches the country closer to the Biden administration’s goal of generating 30 gigawatts of power from offshore wind energy by the end of the decade. Harnessing the Atlantic’s fierce winds is prominent in the president’s plan to wean the U.S. power sector off fossil fuels, which are dangerously warming the planet.

But the Biden administration still faces stiff head winds ahead of meeting its clean energy goals. The effort to dot the East Coast with towering turbines has at times put advocates at odds with coastal homeowners worried about spoiled seaside views; fishermen concerned about the impact on their catch; and conservationists concerned about the impact on endangered whales.

At the moment, only seven commercial turbines — five in Rhode Island and two in Virginia — are up and spinning. Europe, by contrast, has already deployed over 5,000 offshore turbines.

Read the full story at The Washington Post

BOEM approves South Fork Wind ‘habitat alternative’ plan

November 26, 2021 — The South Fork Wind project design will be reduced from 15 turbines to 12 under a modified construction and operations plan, the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management confirmed in a record of decision Wednesday.

The agency adopted a “habitat alternative” turbine layout as its preferred plan out of the environmental impact study for the project, planned for 35 miles east of Montauk, N.Y., by wind developers Ørsted and Eversource.

Originally leased by Rhode Island wind power pioneers Deepwater Wind – the startup later absorbed by Ørsted – the South Fork tract is about 19 miles southeast of Deepwater Wind’s five-turbine, 30-megawatt Block Island Wind Farm, the first U.S. offshore commercial wind installation.

On track to start construction in January 2022, South Fork with about 130 MW capacity would follow the 800 MW Vineyard Wind project underway off southern Massachusetts.

Named for the southeast corner of Long Island, the South Fork project is touted as one answer to the island’s growing power supply needs and New York State’s goal of 9,000 MW or renewable energy.

Skeptics dispute the project’s real power potential, and New York and Rhode Island commercial fishermen are fighting against the disruption looming for their industry.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Feds declare East Coast herring fishery a disaster

November 24, 2021 — US. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo announced a disaster declaration for the 2019 Atlantic herring fishery on Monday, Nov. 22.

“With this determination, we proudly support our fishing industry and will work with the affected communities to help them get back on track,” said Raimondo. “Resilient and sustainable fisheries are not only essential to our coastal communities, but play a vital role in supporting our blue economy and our nation’s overall economic wellbeing.”

The herring fishery historically supplied the bulk of the bait for the Northeast lobster fishery. In 2019, NMFS announced a 70 percent reduction in the catch quota, which left fishermen and bait suppliers scrambling for alternatives. The most complicating factor being that all bait species and types must be approved by NMFS. The herring fishery is based primarily in Maine and Massachusetts.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

 

EPA looks to place permanent protections on Bristol Bay by 2022

November 24, 2021 — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has placed dates on the timeline to reinstate Clean Water Act protections on Alaska’s Bristol Bay, with a Federal Register notice posted on Wednesday, 17 November, naming a date of 31 May, 2022, for the finalization of the safeguards.

Permanent protections of the bay are critical to protect its robust salmon fishery, which is projected to produce 71 to 75 million salmon returns in 2022, Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association Board President Michael Jackson said.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

As Vineyard Wind Moves Forward, Fishermen and Scientists Raise Questions About Impact

November 23, 2021 — The Biden administration has approved America’s first large-scale, offshore wind power project – Vineyard Wind off the coast of Massachusetts. But for every supporter of the project, there are detractors raising questions. Lisa Fletcher looked at the pros and cons of ‘reaping the wind’ on “Full Measure with Sharyl Attkisson.”

Ms. Fletcher examined what the project could mean for New Bedford, Massachusetts, the nation’s top grossing fishing port, and its valuable scallop harvest, which averages around $400 million a year in landings.

“The amount of wind farms they’re proposing will displace fisheries,” said Ron Smolowitz, the owner of Coonamessett Farm in East Falmouth, Massachusetts and a former fishing captain who worked with NOAA. “The fish will adapt, the fishermen can adapt, but they’ll need funding.”

Mr. Smolowitz said that current funding proposed by Vineyard Wind to compensate fishermen for their losses is “nowhere near enough.” The proposed funding would average roughly $1 million a year over the 30-year life span of the project, Mr. Smolowitz said, while one scallop vessel alone can gross $2 million annually, and there are 342 scallop vessels. “And that’s just one fishery,” he said.

Ms. Fletcher also examined other obstacles for the project, including the potential threat to critically endangered North Atlantic right whales.

“The industrial activity will increase shipping markedly both during the construction phase as well as during the maintenance phase,” said Mark Baumgartner, senior scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Mr. Baumgartner said he and his team are working on deploying acoustic monitoring, with funding from Vineyard Wind, to help prevent ship strikes with right whales.

Watch the full story here

New How-To Guide for Observer Trip Selection in Alaska

November 23, 2021 — NOAA Fisheries has produced the first comprehensive manual describing the  Observer Declare and Deploy System—the ODDS. This web-based system determines which fishing trips require observer or electronic monitoring (EM) coverage in the federal groundfish and Pacific halibut fisheries off Alaska.

The ODDS is one of only two systems in the United States where fishermen, managers, and observer providers can all interact with information on past and upcoming fishing trips.

The ODDS was built and is maintained by the Fisheries Monitoring and Analysis division of the Alaska Fisheries Science Center.

Since its launch in 2012, ODDS has successfully logged more than 50,000 fishing trips.

Read the full story at NOAA Fisheries

 

Save-the-Date: Offshore Wind Energy Guidance for Mitigating Impacts to Fisheries Meetings

November 22, 2021 — The following was released by BOEM:

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is developing guidance to mitigate potential impacts from offshore wind projects on commercial and recreational fisheries and fishing. The first step in this process is to gain knowledge from the people and organizations that know and use these areas. BOEM will host a series of workshops during which BOEM will:

  1. Present the purpose and intent of the 2014 document Development of Mitigation Measures to Address Potential Use Conflicts between Commercial Wind Energy Lessees/Grantees and Commercial Fishermen on the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf.  
  2. Request input from the fishing community and developers that would inform the draft guidance on fisheries mitigation. Topics to consider include project siting, design, navigation, and access; safety; environmental monitoring; and financial compensation.   
  3. Provide information on how to submit comments. 
You will soon receive an invitation and registration information for one of seven sector-specific or regional virtual workshops, as well as additional information. In the meantime, please reserve the time on your calendar. 
  • East Coast Workshop on Mobile Gear/Mixed Trawl/Pelagic
    December 2, 2021 (10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. EST) 
     
  • East Coast Workshop on Fixed Gear
    December 6, 2021 (10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. EST) 
     
  • Recreational Fishing Workshop
    December 7, 2021 (10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. EST) 
     
  • West Coast Workshop
    December 13, 2021 (10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. PST) 
     
  • Developers Workshop
    December 14, 2021 (10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. EST) 
     
  • Gulf of Mexico Workshop
    December 15, 2021 (10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. CST):

These workshops are intended primarily for commercial and recreational fishermen on the West Coast, the Gulf, and the Atlantic Coast, but they are also open to the public.

If you cannot make it to one of the workshops, you can also provide comments online for BOEM’s consideration. Information on how to do so will be posted to BOEM’s website in the near future. We are looking forward to accepting comments from November 23 – January 7.

Thank you in advance for your participation. We look forward to hearing from you and having open, productive conversations.