April 6, 2023 — The Pacific Fishery Management Council is asking federal regulators to rescind two “call areas” off the southern Oregon coast that have been identified for potential offshore wind energy development.
Council members voted 10-0 on March 9 to recommend scrapping both areas over worries that massive floating wind farms will burden commercial and tribal fishermen.
The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, or BOEM, established the areas last year — including one that covers 1,364 square miles of ocean near Coos Bay, and another spanning 448 square miles near Brookings.