The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement's decision this week to halve the area zoned for development of offshore wind farms is cause for optimism in the maturing field of ocean management.
The bureau, an agency of the Department of the Interior, has seen fit to give commercial fishing an equal voice in its effort to balance the competing interests of all parties. The bureau's approach stands in contrast to NOAA's approach to managing similarly complex demands in the regulation of fishing.
And the bureau's development of a plan for leasing 1,300 square miles of ocean off our coast — reduced from 3,000 — has meant listening to more than the fishing industry.
New Bedford has spoken of regional economic improvement based on the hundreds of jobs predicted for a 20-acre marine commerce terminal.
Massachusetts has spoken up about attracting foreign investment as the offshore wind industry takes root, preparing itself to be at the vanguard of offshore electricity generation in the U.S. The commonwealth is also promising research and development programs that aim to make offshore wind power cheaper to produce.
Read the complete editorial from The South Coast Today.