December 9th, 2016 — A lawsuit has been filed against the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) in an effort to delay the anticipated lease sale of the New York Wind Energy Area.
The Fisheries Survival Fund (FSF), which says it represents the majority of the limited-access Atlantic scallop fleet, is the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit seeking a preliminary injunction to delay the lease sale for the development of an offshore wind project located approximately 11 miles off the coast of Long Island, N.Y. The lease sale is scheduled for Dec. 15.
The suit was filed against Sally Jewell, DOI secretary, and Abigail Hopper, BOEM director.
The filing alleges that the leasing process for BOEM did not adequately consider the impact the proposed New York Wind Energy Area would have on the region’s fishermen.
According to the FSF, the site is in the waters of the New York Bight on vital, documented scallop and squid fishing grounds, which serve as essential fish habitat and grounds for other commercially important species, including black sea bass and summer flounder.
The group also claims it is an important foraging area for threatened loggerhead sea turtles and critically endangered North Atlantic right whales.
The lawsuit argues that fishermen’s concerns regarding the location of the lease area received “virtually no attention or analysis” from government officials ahead of the planned Dec. 15 lease sale – despite repeated feedback from concerned fishing stakeholders.