Saving Seafood

Offshore Wind Projects Challenge Trump Administration’s Order to Stop Work

January 5, 2026 — Developers of five offshore wind farms that were ordered last week by the Trump administration to halt construction are suing to restart work on at least three of the projects.

The Interior Department on Dec. 22 ordered companies to halt work on five wind farms in various stages of construction along the East Coast. They were: Sunrise Wind and Empire Wind, both off the coast of New York; Revolution Wind off Rhode Island and Connecticut; Vineyard Wind 1 off the coast of Massachusetts; and Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind off Virginia.

The administration cited unspecified national security concerns about the projects.

On Thursday, Orsted, the Danish energy giant that is building Revolution Wind, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. On Friday Equinor, the developer of Empire Wind, did the same.

Both companies said they are seeking preliminary injunctions that would allow construction to continue as the litigation proceeds. Orsted is also building Sunrise Wind and said it was considering a similar legal challenge to restart work on that project, too.

Read the full article at The New York Times

 

Four Governors Protest Latest Wind Farm Stoppage

January 2, 2025 — Gov. Kathy Hochul and the governors of Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Massachusetts have written to Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum to demand rescission of the Trump administration’s Dec. 22 pause of leases for five wind farms under construction, including Sunrise Wind and Empire Wind off New York and Revolution Wind off Rhode Island and Connecticut.

In the latest round of on-again, off-again whiplash with respect to offshore wind, the Dec. 22 announcement escalates the president’s hostility to the renewable energy source, which he has criticized by citing multiple falsehoods. The latest rationale, according to the Interior Department, is that wind farms could interfere with radar systems.

The five wind farms “have already been subject to extensive federal review, including an assessment that expressly addressed national security considerations,” the governors wrote to Mr. Burgum on Dec. 24. “Neither the Department of the Interior [Bureau of Ocean Energy Management], nor any other federal agency, including the Department of Defense, informed our respective States of any purportedly new risk prior to these suspensions nor did they account for our States’ substantial reliance interests — our States’ economies are dependent on the power that these projects will generate — in these vital projects that already have undergone many federal approvals, including from the DoD. The absence of such notice undermines our ability to plan effectively and violates basic principles of cooperative federalism. The sudden emergence of a new ‘national security threat’ appears to be less a legitimate, rational finding of fact and more a pretextual excuse to justify a predetermined outcome consistent with the president’s frequently stated personal opposition to offshore wind.”

Read the full article at The East Hampton Star

Revolution Wind work goes on as Trump administration misses deadline

November 25, 2025 — The Trump administration missed last week’s deadline to appeal a federal judge’s decision ordering work to resume on the Revolution Wind project, handing another victory to advocates and local officials who have fought to keep the project afloat.

Construction of the of the 704-megawatt wind farm — which is being staged from the State Pier in New London — was allowed to resume on Sept. 22 after U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth ruled that the federal government lacked justification when it halted work on the project earlier this year.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which issued the stop-work order, had 60 days to appeal the judge’s decision. That deadline passed on Friday, Nov. 21 with no action taken by the federal government.

“The Trump administration is rightly choosing not to continue to defend the indefensible,” Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said in a statement Monday. “Trump’s erratic actions were the height of arbitrary and capricious government action, and their decision not to pursue this defense is further confirmation of that. This is a major win for Connecticut workers and Connecticut families.”

A BOEM spokesperson declined to comment Monday.

In response to a series of questions seeking clarity on whether the administration was dropping its opposition to Revolution Wind, White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly provided a statement that included no mention of the project or the court ruling.

“In just a few months, President Trump has ended Joe Biden’s war on American energy and restored American energy dominance,” the statement read. “This means prioritizing the most effective and reliable tools to power our country, which includes following through on his promise to ‘Drill, Baby, Drill’ and unleash domestic oil, gas, and nuclear power — supporting thousands of good-paying energy jobs across the country.”

Revolution Wind was already 80% complete when the stop-work order was issued in August. All the foundations for the project’s massive turbines had been driven into the seafloor.

The Trump administration cited unspecified national security concerns as its rationale for halting the project. The project’s proponents said it had undergone extensive reviews during the years-long permitting process, which included approvals from the federal Department of Defense.

Revolution Wind’s developers, which include Danish energy company Ørsted, filed suit challenging the stop-work order in federal court in Washington, D.C.

Read the full article at CT Mirror

One of Long Island Sound’s most invasive species is appearing on dinner menus. Here’s why and where

October 8, 2025 — The European green crab, commonly found in the Long Island Sound, is becoming a beloved culinary dish known for its sweet, rich and complex flavor.

But unlike other types of standard seafood fare found on menus in Connecticut, the green crab is considered one of the “world’s most invasive species” to inhabit the icy waters off New England. The crab is believed to have come to the eastern Atlantic from western European waters over 200 years ago and is known for causing ecological harm as a voracious predator, consuming up to 40 half-inch soft-shell clams in a single day and eating a variety of shellfish including scallops, mussels and oysters.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration, green crabs are considered one of the most invasive species in the marine environment because they have very few predators, aggressively hunt and eat their prey, destroy seagrass and outcompete local species for food and habitat. The crab is now found from Maine all the way down to Delaware, according to the NOAA.

Read the full article at Hartford Courant

CONNECTICUT: New law looks to bring invasive species out of Long Island Sound and onto your dinner plate

October 2, 2025 — A number of new laws take effect today, including one that helps cut down on invasive species in Long Island Sound.

The goal is to help get invasive species out of Long Island Sound and onto your dinner plate.

James Beard Award Winner David Standridge runs two restaurants in Mystic, The Shipwright’s Daughter and Mystic Fish Camp.

Standridge uses hundreds of pounds of green crab, an invasive species, in his menu items. There are thousands of green crabs in Long Island Sound that live in shallow, rocky water close to land.

Read the full article at WFSB

This Fishing Vessel Went Missing Without a Trace in 1929. Divers Just Found It Off the Coast of Nantucket

October 1, 2025 — On January 9, 1929, the ST Seiner set sail from New London, Connecticut. On January 18, the captain of the steam-powered fishing trawler made his required daily check-in with the Portland Trawling Company, the ship’s owner. But the next day, he failed to touch base with the company, and on January 22, the vessel missed a scheduled port stop. No one ever saw or heard from the Seiner again.

Now, nearly 100 years later, shipwreck hunters say they have discovered the long-lost vessel off the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts.

The Atlantic Wreck Salvage, a New Jersey-based company that searches for lost shipwrecks, announced this month that it had located the ship on the eastern edge of the Georges Bank area roughly 125 miles off the coast. The vessel is submerged 200 feet deep.

Officials say they hope the discovery will provide some sense of closure for the descendants of Thomas Miller, the vessel’s captain, and the 20 other crew members who perished with the ship. The men hailed from various parts of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Newfoundland, Canada. Family members are encouraged to reach out to the company.

The Atlantic Wreck Salvage team first discovered the ship using side-scan sonar aboard the D/V Tenacious in 2022. They suspected the wreck was the Seiner, but time and weather constraints prevented them from diving to the wreckage, so they could not confirm its identity.

Read the full article at the Smithsonian Magazine

Judge deals Trump’s war on wind its first major setback

September 23, 2025 — A judge on Monday temporarily lifted the Trump administration’s order to halt construction of Revolution Wind, a massive offshore wind energy project that would power hundreds of thousands of homes in Rhode Island and Connecticut.

The judge’s ruling is the first major setback for President Donald Trump’s campaign against offshore wind energy, which he launched on his first day in office by putting all federal wind leases and permits under review. The Trump administration in recent weeks has also said it will pull the permits of two other wind projects off the coast of Massachusetts and Maryland.

The Interior Department issued the stop-work order in August despite Revolution Wind being 80 percent complete, citing vague national security concerns. The Defense Department had previously reviewed and approved the project.

District Judge Royce Lamberth in D.C. wrote in his ruling that the developers of the project are likely to succeed in their lawsuit against the administration and are “likely to suffer irreparable harm in the absence of an injunction.” He also wrote that “maintaining the status quo by granting an injunction is in the public’s interest.”

Read the full article at The Washington Post

States and developer sue the Trump administration for halting work on New England offshore wind farm

September 5, 2025 — Connecticut, Rhode Island and the developer of an offshore wind farm that would power 350,000 homes in the two states said Thursday that they’re suing the Trump administration for stopping the nearly completed project.

Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha accused President Donald Trump of waging an “all-out assault” on the wind energy industry. The states’ lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Rhode Island, describes the Revolution Wind project as a “cornerstone” of their clean energy future, abruptly halted by federal officials without “statutory authority, regulatory justification or factual basis.”

Danish energy company Orsted filed a separate suit in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., also arguing that the administration lacks the legal authority to block the Revolution Wind project. Orsted said it would seek a preliminary injunction that would allow it to move forward with the project, which is 80% complete, with all underwater foundations and 45 of 65 turbines installed.

Read the full article at the Associated Press

Orsted’s Revolution Wind sues Trump administration over project halt

September 5, 2025 — Danish offshore wind developer Orsted (ORSTED.CO), and the states of Rhode Island and Connecticut sued the Trump administration on Thursday, alleging its decision to block construction of the nearly finished Revolution Wind project is illegal.

The separate complaints are the latest twist in a saga that started last month when U.S. officials issued a stop-work order to Revolution Wind, citing unspecified national security concerns. The order forced the suspension of a project that was 80% complete with all offshore foundations in place and 45 out of 65 wind turbines installed.

“The stop-work order was issued without statutory authority, lacks any evidentiary basis, and is unlawful,” Revolution Wind said in its complaint against U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and five other federal defendants. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized wind energy as ugly, unreliable, and expensive, and his administration is leaning on multiple federal agencies to rein in wind development.

Critics say Trump’s stance on offshore wind is at odds with his goal to boost energy supplies to power the nation’s ambitions around artificial intelligence, which requires a huge amount of data processing.

Read the full article at Reuters

Democratic governors demand Trump resume offshore wind project near Rhode Island

August 26, 2025 — A nearly complete wind farm off the coast of Rhode Island and Connecticut faces an uncertain future as the states’ Democratic governors, members of Congress and union workers are calling Monday for the Trump administration to let construction resume.

The administration halted construction on the Revolution Wind project last week, saying the federal government needs to review the project and address national security concerns. It did not specify what those concerns are. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said Monday it’s not commenting further at this time.

Read the full article at PBS