February 8, 2024 — A swath of ocean off southern New England between Nantucket and Block Island – including tens of thousands of acres marked for offshore wind energy development – will be designated a ‘habitat area of particular concern’ by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
NOAA Fisheries will finalize the action March 6, implementing a proposal by the New England Fishery Management Council over its concerns of how wind development will affect essential fish habitat, including Cox Ledge, an important bottom area for cod spawning.
The designation itself does not impose new conditions on the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and wind developer plans for energy projects. The HAPC brings additional conservation focus when NOAA Fisheries reviews and comments on federal and/or state actions that could impact essential fish habitat – such as BOEM’s reviews of offshore wind energy construction and operations plans.
“EFH consultations provide non-binding conservation recommendations to the implementing (action) agency to avoid, minimize, and mitigate the impacts of federal actions on EFH,” according to the NOAA Fisheries Feb. 2 notice in the Federal Register.