July 27, 2021 — Last week, scallop fishermen and industry advocates urged the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to adjust the proposed New York Bight offshore wind lease areas.
The Fisheries Survival Fund, a group representing the Atlantic sea scallop fishery, explained that the industry officials asked BOEM officials on an online call to create a buffer zone to protect the valuable scallop fishery in the region.
July 26, 2021 — The following was released by the Fisheries Survival Fund:
On Tuesday, July 20, scallop fishermen and industry advocates called for changes to proposed offshore wind leases in the New York Bight. In an online call with Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) officials, industry representatives highlighted the need for a buffer zone to protect the most valuable scallop area in the Mid-Atlantic and expressed concern over environmental and fisheries impacts of offshore wind development generally. Proposed lease areas need to be thoroughly re-evaluated to reduce impacts to scallops and scallop fishermen, who operate in the most valuable federally managed fishery.
The Port of New Bedford often comes to mind when thinking about the scallop industry, and rightfully so since it is America’s highest-value fishing port. But the fact is that coastal communities from Massachusetts to Virginia depend on scallops. According to the New England Fishery Management Council’s 2021 Scallop Fishery Management Plan update, Atlantic scallops comprise the majority of landed value in eight of the largest East Coast fishing ports, and over 40 percent in four others.
Data Courtesy of the NEFMC’s Scallop Framework Adjustment 33 (2010-2017)
Damage to the scallop industry will have far reaching consequences for working families in ports throughout the Atlantic coast. The harm will extend beyond fishermen and processing plant employees – many of whom are recent immigrants – to fuel docks, marine equipment suppliers, restaurants, and markets. Coastwide, scallops were worth well over half a billion dollars to coastal economies in 2019 and nearly three-quarters of a billion dollars when taking into account their processed value. And this does not include the additional economic value added by the remainder of the supply chain until the product ultimately reaches consumers in markets and restaurants.
One of the most consequential concerns expressed by fishermen on the call was the need for a buffer zone between the southeastern edge of the Hudson South Lease Area and the Hudson Canyon Access Area (HCAA). Stakeholders argued in favor of a five-mile buffer zone, which would help protect the HCAA from the negative environmental effects of offshore wind development. According to estimates in a published scientific paper lead-authored by the lead federal scallop scientist, the HCAA has added well over a billion dollars in revenues to coastal communities in the last two decades.
Offshore wind presents many potential environmental threats to marine ecosystems. The assembly of turbines displaces large amounts of sediment on the seafloor, creating scour and sediment plumes that can interfere with scallop growth and filter-feeding processes. The turbine arrays themselves can disrupt ocean currents and thus scallop larval flow and settlement. Wind farms create habitats for other filter feeding species like mussels, which compete for available phytoplankton, change the biological makeup of the surrounding area, and interfere with the sustainability of the resource. Young scallops also face increased predation from marine life known to proliferate in wind energy installations such as starfish and moon snails. Seismic activity involved in wind farm site assessment activities has also been shown to damage scallops.
During the meeting, representatives from both the scallop industry and the Port of New Bedford argued that BOEM has been more responsive to concerns of wind developers and other ocean user groups like the military and commercial shipping interests than to those of fishermen. They called for in-person meetings with fishermen to discuss impacts from the proposed wind lease areas. By conducting meetings strictly online, BOEM is excluding many fishermen who are not accustomed to and well-equipped for Zoom and other online platforms. Meaningful personal engagement is necessary to ensure equity and reduce negative impacts of offshore development in the New York Bight area.
While the Fisheries Survival Fund appreciates that new jobs in coastal communities and economic growth could accompany offshore wind development, the benefits should not come at the expense of those who have historically relied on the scallop fishery to provide for their families. The Fisheries Survival Fund hopes to engage in meaningful, honest discussion with both developers and BOEM to mitigate impacts, preserve access, and protect the livelihoods of fishermen throughout the East Coast.
July 19, 2021 — If Long Beach residents are concerned about a private company’s $3 billion proposal to build a 174-turbine wind farm 15 miles off the South Shore, few of them voiced it at a virtual hearing on the matter on July 8.
Only a handful of people commented at the second hearing held by the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management on a proposal by the Norway-based Equinor to build the Empire Wind project.
Equinor has been awarded contracts by New York state, the first of which was granted in 2019 to supply 816 megawatts of power to the state grid, connecting in Brooklyn. A second contract, for 1,260 megawatts, was awarded in January for Long Island’s South Shore.
What is key for Long Beach is a part of the project that calls for two offshore substations to collect the power, which would be routed by cables to one or more of several potential sites in Brooklyn. A Long Beach cable would also be connected to an Equinor substation, and to the Long Island Power Authority grid by way of a substation in Island Park. That cable could run under the barrier island.
Long Beach would not be involved in the overall approval process, but would have a say in the underground cable’s location.
July 16, 2021 — The waters off the shore of Morro Bay have been the focal point of a potential wind farm development site since 2015.
Between 2015 and 2017, a state intergovernmental task force that evaluated offshore wind power for the state of California was established, and its members included the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), the Morro Bay mayor and a City Council member, and regional state representatives. However, the fishing industry was largely left out.
At the time, the community engaged with the task force through public hearings to learn about the project’s blueprints—although its potential impacts weren’t shared. The project was halted in 2018 because the then-designated area conflicted with naval operations.
Public conversations about offshore wind regained steam in 2021 for two reasons. U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) led an effort to work with the U.S. Department of Defense to reduce the project development area to 399 square miles—enough to produce 3 gigawatts of energy. Morro Bay Commercial Fishermen’s Organization President Tom Hafer said he believes there’s also a renewed interest in this type of energy generating project because of the new presidential administration.
Castle Wind has engaged with organizations and leaders within the fishing community, but there’s no guarantee that it will be the project developer. Annie Hawkins, executive director for the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA), said that proactive engagement is needed from all agencies involved.
RODA was established and worked on the East Coast because there were concerns about the exclusion of fishing voices during offshore wind project discussions. Their first project was Block Island off the coast of Rhode Island, which is a five-turbine wind farm.
July 13, 2021 — After reviewing potential impact to fisheries, marine wildlife and navigation within 770 square miles of ocean off southern Maine, the Governor’s Energy Office is now focusing on a 16-square-mile area to site up to 12 floating wind-power turbines.
The preferred site for the research array is an L-shaped swath of the Gulf of Maine, about 25 miles south of Muscongus Bay, according to a report issued Monday.
The office is inviting comments on the site through July 30 to inform its final siting decision, which will be included in a federal lease application to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, an agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior that’s responsible for managing development in some offshore waters.
The application will be the first step in a subsequent multiyear permitting process by the bureau, which includes further impact studies and opportunities for public input, according to a news release.
July 13, 2021 — Electricity from the Equinor and BP Empire Wind project should start coming into New York’s power grid in 2025, according to updated plans the joint venture has filed with the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
The first offshore wind energy project laid out for the New York Bight is a 79,350-acre tract, shaped like a slice of pizza wedged between two of the ship traffic separation lanes in the New York Harbor approaches.
With the enormous volume of vessel traffic in the region – container vessels at the port of New York and New Jersey, coastwise tug and barge tows, plus commercial and recreational fishing fleets – navigation has been the foremost issue since New York state energy planners first began looking to ocean wind as a power source.
“There is certainly a concern about setback” from the shipping traffic lanes, said Lucas Feinberg, a project manager with BOEM, during a July 8 online virtual public scoping session hosted by the agency.
Early on, planners agreed to a 1-nautical mile setback along the Empire Wind frontage along the shipping lanes. Formally known on charts as traffic separation schemes, the lanes fan out from the New York Harbor entrance at Ambrose Light.
July 9, 2021 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:
The New England Fishery Management Council met June 22-24, 2021 by webinar. In addition to the actions the Council took on scallops, groundfish, and skates, here are other important highlights.
Habitat/Offshore Wind – The Council received offshore wind presentations from three different agencies.
July 6, 2021 — A project of the National Marine Mammal Foundation (NMMF) in the United States, in collaboration with the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment, aims to measure the frequency range that minke whales can hear.
The research would fill in an information gap and help lessen human disturbance to a wide range of baleen whales. But it involves capturing and temporarily restraining wild whales, a tricky procedure that some animal rights groups say could stress the big cetaceans.
July 2, 2021 — A new committee associated with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine is taking on a study of how planned wind turbines off the U.S. East Coast may affect vessel radars.
Knowing how mariners will see turbine towers on radar – and see each other’s vessels moving past them – will help the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management in planning for those projects.
With BOEM aiming to have environmental reviews for 16 of those projects by 2025, the agency is looking to expand understanding of how marine radars can be affected, said Arianna Baker, a BOEM program analyst, during an introductory online meeting June 29 with committee members. The National Academies committee mission is “to assess impacts of offshore wind turbine generators on marine vessel radar and identify techniques that can be used to mitigate those impacts,” according to an announcement of the meeting.
Previous studies the agency is looking at include one by the British Wind Energy Association that examined the Kentish Flats project near approaches to the Port of London during 2006, a time of smaller, less powerful turbines and earlier generations of marine radar. A 2007 report from that study described radar reflections, mirror images and other phenomena seen by operators.
Now BOEM is reviewing plans by developers to erect 12- to 14-megawatt turbines, and how that could affect the radar images mariners use in navigation.
July 1, 2021 — Park City Wind, a second major wind project put forward by Orange-based Avangrid, is a step closer to reality after getting a key approval from federal regulators.
The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) issued approval to go ahead with an environmental impact study for Park City Wind, an 804-megawatt offshore project under development by Avangrid Renewables and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners.
“This is another important milestone for Avangrid’s portfolio of offshore wind projects,” said CEO Dennis Arriola. “We look forward to working with BOEM, the Lamont Administration, community leaders and our partners to successfully develop Park City Wind and deliver clean energy to our home state of Connecticut.”
If completed, Park City Wind would be the state’s largest offshore wind project and has a commitment from the state to buy its electricity.