Saving Seafood

OPINION: Windfarm plans for Atlantic coast hit fishermen hard and threaten US food supply

December 20, 2021 — GE’s new Haliade-X offshore wind turbine is enormous—each blade is longer than a football field. It’s nearly three football fields in height. Its imprint on the seabed is likewise gigantic, and not merely because of the concrete base that anchors it. Miles and miles of transmission lines must be buried then covered over in debris.

So when ground was broken last month on Vineyard Wind 1 in the waters off of Massachusetts, New York and Rhode Island, local families involved in the fishing industry for generations wondered how the planned 62 (for now) wind turbines would affect the fishing grounds, their ability to navigate those waters—and the nation’s food supply.

Tom Williams, a lifelong fisherman whose sons now captain the family’s two boats, doesn’t scare easily—not after the storms, regulations and economic ups and downs he’s weathered. But the wind farms planned for much of the nation’s Atlantic coastline do scare him. His own extended family began fishing in Rhode Island in 1922.

Read the full opinion piece at Fox News

 

New England council calls for offshore wind mitigation fund

December 10, 2021 — The New England Fishery Management Council updated its offshore wind energy policy, endorsing calls for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to establish “a compensatory mitigation fund for damages that occur to the marine environment and fish habitat,” and losses to fishing vessels as turbine arrays are built.

The council’s Dec. 7 deliberation came with a new presentation from BOEM on the agency’s push to review and approve up to 16 wind energy projects off the East Coast by late 2025.

BOEM opened a preliminary public comment process through Jan. 7 to prepare a “guidance” plan for fisheries mitigation measures, with a draft document planned in spring 2022 and a final proposal in the summer.

A summary released by the council on the first day of its Dec. 7-9 meetings noted the tight time frame.

“On a more time-sensitive note, the Council was briefed on BOEM’s request for information ‘to obtain input from the public, especially the fishing community, on avoiding, minimizing and, if needed, compensating for impacts from offshore wind energy projects to commercial and recreational fisheries.’”

During an Dec. 6 online Zoom meeting convened by BOEM, fishing industry advocates said the agency needs to take more time and in-person workshop meetings with fishermen to fully understand the likely effects of shutting them out of wind turbine arrays during construction — and how they may not be able to fish those areas in the future.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Council Approves Revised Wind Energy Policy; Receives Offshore Wind Project Updates from BOEM

December 8, 2021 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council has approved a revised wind energy policy that builds on the original policy and better responds to the rapidly changing ocean landscape associated with offshore wind development in the Greater Atlantic Region.

The Council took this action on the first day of its December 7-9, 2021 webinar meeting. Additionally, the Council received:

  • An update on the status of other 2021 habitat-related work; and
  • A presentation from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) covering the status of proposed and advancing wind energy projects off the Atlantic seaboard.

Wind Energy Policy

The Council adopted its original wind energy policy in 2018 based on the Mid-Atlantic Council’s 2016 policy. The revised policy was prepared by the New England Council’s Habitat Plan Development Team in collaboration with staff from the Mid-Atlantic Council and NOAA Fisheries.

The Council’s Habitat Committee and Advisory Panel reviewed the draft policy for Council approval. Because the New England and Mid-Atlantic Councils coordinate closely on offshore wind issues, the Council also considered comments from the Mid-Atlantic Council’s Ecosystems and Ocean Planning Committee and Advisory Panel.

Read the full release here

Fishermen say offshore wind surveys rip up gear: ‘There has to be accountability’

December 8, 2021 — East Coast fishermen told of their gear torn up by survey vessels working for offshore wind energy developers, as the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management opened its public process toward mitigating the newcomer industry’s effect on seafood providers.

Conch fisherman James Hahn said he witnessed a survey boat running over his trap lines off Maryland, and hailed the vessel on VHF radio.

“They said they had the right to survey,” Hahn told BOEM officials in an online Zoom meeting Monday. “I finally had to get in front and turn my boat sideways to get them to stop.”

Developers US Wind have notified fishermen in the Delmarva region that more survey work is scheduled in December and gear conflicts are possible, said Hahn.

“That’s not how you work with fishermen,” he said. “They’re basically taking over the ocean and don’t give two shits about us anymore.”

Read the full story at National Fisherman

 

How will offshore wind farms affect Gulf of Mexico fishing? Federal regulators want to know

December 6, 2021 — With the development of offshore wind energy in the Gulf of Mexico likely within a few years, federal regulators are beginning to assess how wind farms will affect commercial and recreational fisheries.

On Dec. 15, agencies that regulate offshore energy and fisheries will hold a workshop for the Gulf’s fishers. The input they gather will help guide the planning and permitting of wind farm lease areas, and potentially lead to mitigation for fishers affected by turbines, transmission lines and related infrastructure.

East Coast fishers are concerned that an expected boom in wind farm construction off the coasts of New England, New York and Virginia will crowd them out and make fishing more dangerous. The country’s first offshore wind farm, a five-turbine project built in Rhode Island in 2016, was small enough that it didn’t get in the way of fishing boats, but its transmission lines to the shore have snagged many fishing nets.

Read the full story at NOLA.com

LOUISIANA: Input from commercial, recreational fishermen wanted on development of offshore wind energy projects

December 1, 2021 — The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries is asking for input from commercial and recreational fishermen concerning offshore wind projects and their potential impacts.

According to LDH, The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), in consultation with the National Marine Fisheries Service and affected coastal states, is developing guidance to mitigate potential impacts from offshore wind projects on commercial and recreational fisheries.

BOEM has issued a Request for Information (RFI) in order to collect knowledge from the people and organizations who know and use the areas that could be affected.

Read the full story at KATC

With federal approval of South Fork wind farm, construction could begin early next year

November 29, 2021 — A second major offshore wind farm near the Rhode Island coast has won federal approval.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management this week approved construction and operation of the South Fork Wind Farm, a 132-megawatt project proposed in a stretch of Rhode Island Sound between Block Island and Martha’s Vineyard.

The project being planned by Danish company Ørsted and utility Eversource is only the second commercial-scale offshore wind farm in the nation to secure approval from the federal government.

The first, Vineyard Wind, received a record of decision in May and marked its groundbreaking a week ago in Massachusetts. The 800-megawatt project is being built in an area south of Nantucket, further off the coasts of Rhode Island and Massachusetts than the South Fork proposal.

Read the full story at The Providence Journal

Save-the-Date: Offshore Wind Energy Guidance for Mitigating Impacts to Fisheries Meetings

November 22, 2021 — The following was released by BOEM:

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is developing guidance to mitigate potential impacts from offshore wind projects on commercial and recreational fisheries and fishing. The first step in this process is to gain knowledge from the people and organizations that know and use these areas. BOEM will host a series of workshops during which BOEM will:

  1. Present the purpose and intent of the 2014 document Development of Mitigation Measures to Address Potential Use Conflicts between Commercial Wind Energy Lessees/Grantees and Commercial Fishermen on the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf.  
  2. Request input from the fishing community and developers that would inform the draft guidance on fisheries mitigation. Topics to consider include project siting, design, navigation, and access; safety; environmental monitoring; and financial compensation.   
  3. Provide information on how to submit comments. 
You will soon receive an invitation and registration information for one of seven sector-specific or regional virtual workshops, as well as additional information. In the meantime, please reserve the time on your calendar. 
  • East Coast Workshop on Mobile Gear/Mixed Trawl/Pelagic
    December 2, 2021 (10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. EST) 
     
  • East Coast Workshop on Fixed Gear
    December 6, 2021 (10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. EST) 
     
  • Recreational Fishing Workshop
    December 7, 2021 (10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. EST) 
     
  • West Coast Workshop
    December 13, 2021 (10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. PST) 
     
  • Developers Workshop
    December 14, 2021 (10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. EST) 
     
  • Gulf of Mexico Workshop
    December 15, 2021 (10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. CST):

These workshops are intended primarily for commercial and recreational fishermen on the West Coast, the Gulf, and the Atlantic Coast, but they are also open to the public.

If you cannot make it to one of the workshops, you can also provide comments online for BOEM’s consideration. Information on how to do so will be posted to BOEM’s website in the near future. We are looking forward to accepting comments from November 23 – January 7.

Thank you in advance for your participation. We look forward to hearing from you and having open, productive conversations.  

Work starting on 1st commercial-scale US offshore wind farm

November 19, 2021 — U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland joined with Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker on Thursday to mark the groundbreaking of the Vineyard Wind 1 project, the first commercial-scale offshore wind farm in the United States.

The project is the first of many that will contribute to President Joe Biden’s goal of 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030 and to Massachusetts’ goal of 5.6 gigawatts by 2030, Haaland said at the event in the town of Barnstable on Cape Cod.

The first steps of construction will include laying down two transmission cables that will connect Vineyard Wind 1 to the mainland.

The commercial fishing industry has pushed back against the wind farm.

In September, the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance — a coalition of commercial fishing groups — filed a legal challenge to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s approval of the Vineyard Wind 1 project with the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston.

The approval of the wind farm “adds unacceptable risk to this sustainable industry without any effort to minimize unreasonable interference with traditional and well-managed seafood production and navigation,” the group said at the time.

Read the full story at the AP

Biden administration looks to California, Oregon offshore wind power

November 18, 2021 — Interior Secretary Deb Haaland announced plans for up to seven new offshore wind lease sales, from Maine to the Gulf of Mexico and in the Pacific off California and Oregon, at the American Clean Power Association’s offshore wind conference Oct. 12 in Boston, Mass.

“This timetable provides two crucial ingredients for success: increased certainty and transparency,” Haaland said in an address to the industry advocacy group.

With the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management accelerating its timetable to review wind developers’ plans and prepare future lease offerings, agency officials are insisting they learned from mistakes dealing with the Northeast commercial fishing industry, and will work with them and other stakeholders “to minimize conflict with existing uses and marine life.”

“We are working to facilitate a pipeline of projects that will establish confidence for the offshore wind industry,” BOEM Director Amanda Lefton said. “At the same time, we want to reduce potential conflicts as much as we can while meeting the Administration’s goal to deploy 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030. This means we will engage early and often with all stakeholders prior to identifying any new Wind Energy Areas.”

Read the full story at National Fisherman