March 4, 2024 — The following was released by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council:
Vineyard Wind 1
Vineyard Wind opened a 90-day eligibility period for the Vineyard Wind 1 Fisheries Compensatory Mitigation Program. This program will provide compensation to commercial fishermen for economic impacts from the construction, operations, and decommissioning of Vineyard Wind 1.
To qualify for the program, commercial fishing vessel owners/operators must submit an online application between March 4, 2024 and June 3, 2024. This eligibility period is the only time that commercial fishing vessel owners/operators can qualify for compensation from the program. Fishermen will not need to demonstrate economic impacts from Vineyard Wind 1 to qualify or receive payments.
The program is open to commercial fishing vessel owners/lessees in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island who can demonstrate historical fishing activities in the lease area, OCS-A 0501.
Open house and tabling events will be hosted in March to help fishermen apply for the program. See this announcement for details. Additional information about the program, including eligibility criteria, is available on the program website.
South Fork Wind
South Fork Wind announced the opening of their eligibility application for direct compensation for commercial and for-hire recreational fishing vessels that have experienced economic impacts from construction and some aspects of operation of the South Fork Wind Project. Separate programs have been established for Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
If eligible, commercial and for-hire recreational fishing operations may file a claim for direct losses/impacts arising from the construction and some aspects of operation of the South Fork Wind project and unforeseen, extraordinary events that lead to later business interruption and direct losses/impacts caused by the project.
Visit the South Fork Wind Fisheries Compensation Program website for additional information and application instructions.
General Guidance for Submitting Fishing Activity Data Requests to NOAA Fisheries
Contacts for data requests
NOAA Fisheries has provided the following contacts for fishing activity data requests:
- Logbook and fishing footprint data requests: NMFS.GAR.Data.Requests@noaa.gov
- VMS data requests: ole.helpdesk@noaa.gov
- Northeast Fisheries Observer Program data requests: chris.tholke@noaa.gov
- GARFO permit data requests: NMFS.GAR.Permits@noaa.gov
General guidance for requests:
NOAA Fisheries has provided the following guidance for fishing activity data requests:
- Specify if data are needed by a certain date
- Include all the fundamental details: Contact information for the person requesting the data; Permit number and vessel name for data requested; What data you need (e.g., logbook landings, fishing revenue, permit issuance); Date range for the data (e.g., fishing or calendar years 2016-2022); Area the data applies to (e.g., logbook data when fishing in the Vineyard Wind 1 lease area)
- Ensure you have access to historical data from previous owners. Submit or reference existing written proof that a previous vessel/permit owner has given you permission to access their historic fishing data. Make sure permissions include all years of your data request.)
- Identify expected data output (e.g., spreadsheet or map)