Saving Seafood

Virginia Institute of Marine Science Calls on Seafood Businesses to Participate in Regional Offshore Wind Impact Survey

August 5, 2026 — The following was released by the Science Center for Marine Fisheries:

The Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) is surveying Northeast and Mid-Atlantic shoreside businesses to quantify the economic value of the coastal economy in advance of potential offshore wind development. Seafood processors, dealers, wholesalers, distributors and other first-sale seafood businesses from Massachusetts to Virginia are encouraged to participate.

The survey, the Seafood First Sale Value Added Survey, was funded by a grant from the Science Center for Marine Fisheries (SCEMFIS), a member of the National Science Foundation’s Industry/University Cooperative Research Centers program, which brings together marine scientists and members of the commercial fishing and wind energy industries to collaborate on fisheries research.

The survey is designed to address the existing information gaps in how offshore wind development may affect shoreside businesses and local fishing economies. While previous surveys have focused on how offshore wind development may affect commercial fishing vessels, there is less information available about the impacts on processors, dealers, wholesalers and other businesses.

Strong industry participation is essential for the success of the survey, which will be used to provide baseline data for economic impact assessments, and inform offshore wind policy decisions and potential compensation programs.

“Compensation programs cannot fairly account for shoreside losses unless decision makers understand how seafood moves from the vessel through the other businesses that support the commercial fishing economy,” said Peter Hughes, Director of Sustainability for Atlantic Capes Fisheries and one of the fishing industry stakeholder representatives advising the multistate Fisheries Compensation Program. “This survey gives those businesses an opportunity to document their economic contribution and explain what reductions in regional landings could mean for their operations, employees and communities.”

The VIMS research team plans to use the survey results to develop a customized economic model assessing how different levels of commercial fishing impacts could affect businesses at the individual, sectoral, and regional levels. The work will help coastal communities plan for and mitigate the effects of competing ocean uses.

“The businesses operating on shore are an indispensable part of the commercial fishing industry, and it is important to be able to quantify their potential losses,” said Jeff Kaelin, Director of Sustainability and Government Relations for Lund’s Fisheries and another stakeholder representative to the Fisheries Compensation Program. “Seafood businesses should take the time to participate so future compensation policies are based on credible information from the people who buy, handle, process and distribute the catch.”

The 25-question online survey takes an estimated 15 to 20 minutes to complete. It asks about business operations, cost structures, seafood species purchased, products produced, purchasing and distribution channels, and businesses’ ability to adapt to reductions in regional commercial landings.

Responses are voluntary, and participants are not required to provide identifying information. Survey records will be maintained securely, and any email addresses submitted for the optional gift-card drawing will be separated from survey responses after the survey closes. Participants may enter a drawing for one of five $100 gift cards.

Seafood businesses may complete the survey here.

Businesses receiving an email or postcard invitation are especially encouraged to respond. Questions about the survey may be directed to Dr. Andrew M. Scheld of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science at scheld@vims.edu or 804-684-7160.

About SCEMFIS
The Science Center for Marine Fisheries (SCEMFIS) brings together academic and industry expertise to address urgent scientific challenges facing sustainable fisheries. Through advanced methods, analytical tools, and collaborative research, SCEMFIS works to reduce uncertainty in stock assessments and improve the long-term sustainability of key marine resources.

SCEMFIS is an Industry-University Cooperative Research Center supported by the National Science Foundation. Industry organizations join SCEMFIS through an Industry Membership Agreement with one of the center’s site universities and contribute both financial support and valuable expertise to help shape research priorities.

Its university partners include the University of Southern Mississippi (lead institution) and the Batten School of Coastal and Marine Sciences & VIMS at William & Mary. The center also collaborates with scientists from a broad network of institutions, including Old Dominion University, Rutgers University, the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, the University of Maryland, and the University of Rhode Island. These researchers bring deep expertise in finfish, shellfish, and marine mammal science.

Demand for SCEMFIS’s services continues to grow, driven by the fishing industry’s need for responsive, science-based support. The center provides timely access to expert input on stock assessment issues, participates in working groups, and conducts targeted studies that lead to better data collection, improved survey design, and more accurate modeling-all in service of sustainable, science-driven fishery management.

Survey seeks impact of offshore wind power on seafood businesses

August 5, 2026 — Looking ahead to potential offshore wind energy development along the East Coast, the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) says researchers are surveying Northeast and Mid-Atlantic shoreside businesses to “quantify the economic value of the coastal economy in advance of potential offshore wind development.

VIMS is asking seafood processors, dealers, wholesalers, distributors and other first-sale seafood businesses from Massachusetts to Virginia are to participate in the “Seafood First Sale Value Added Survey.”

The project is funded by a grant from the Science Center for Marine Fisheries (SCEMFIS), a member of the National Science Foundation’s Industry/University Cooperative Research Centers program. The science center brings together marine scientists and members of the commercial fishing and wind energy industries to collaborate on fisheries research.

The survey is designed to “address the existing information gaps in how offshore wind development may affect shoreside businesses and local fishing economies,” according to a statement from the center.

Despite the offshore wind industry’s economic turmoil – and determined political and policy opposition from the Trump administration – plans for turbine arrays off southern New England and the Mid-Atlantic have survived.

Revolution Wind developer Eversource Energy  said it incurred a $164 million after-tax charge from construction cost increases as it battled the Trump administration’s stop-work orders on the project.

Notably Dominion Energy recently said its 2.6-gigawatt Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project is 81% built out, and completion is expected by the end of 2027.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Trump cites national security to stop offshore wind development. Here’s what to know

July 17, 2026 — President Donald Trump’s administration has worked to stop offshore wind development on the grounds that it’s a national security risk since late last year.

It halted work on major projects, and it’s buying back leases, citing national security concerns. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum says a classified report from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth proves offshore wind is a national security threat.

This comes against the backdrop of the Republican president’s hatred of wind turbines and desire to boost fossil fuels for “energy dominance” in the global market. National lab estimates show that turbines installed along the U.S. coasts could provide more than enough power to cover the nation’s annual electricity consumption.

Wind turbines interfere with radar, but that isn’t a new problem. The Pentagon reviews wind farm construction plans and can deem areas off limits. There are upgrades to radar to mitigate turbine impacts.

Read the full article at the Associated Press

7 states sue Trump administration over nearly $1 billion deal to halt offshore wind farm

June 3, 2026 — Seven states are suing the Trump administration over a nearly $1 billion deal to end French energy company TotalEnergies’ offshore wind development off the East Coast, accusing the deal of being “unlawful.”

In March, the U.S. Department of the Interior reached a $928 million deal with TotalEnergies to halt construction of the wind farms and redirect the investment into domestic fossil fuel initiatives. The “landmark agreement” was described by the Interior Department as a way to lower energy costs and strengthen the nation’s energy security.

Attorneys general in seven states in the Northeast, including Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Tuesday, alleging the Trump administration illegally used nearly $1 billion in taxpayer dollars for the deal.

The coalition also accuses the deal of violating the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, which restricts the Interior Department’s ability to cancel offshore wind leases.

Read the full article at ABC News

CONNECTICUT: may allow smaller out-of-state lobsters to be sold here – which supporters say could lower prices

May 6, 2026 — Most if not all of the lobsters sold at Captain Scott’s Lobster Dock are from out of state, according to owner Susan Tierney. But when her brother opened the Groton restaurant in 1996, they only sold locally fished lobsters.

“He was a lobsterman and a lobster wholesaler. He used to bring in all of our lobsters,” Tierney said of her now deceased brother, Tom Eshenfelder. “We don’t do that anymore.”

The year that Captain Scott’s opened was a big one for Connecticut’s lobster industry. More than 2.8 million pounds of lobster was landed in Connecticut that year, and by 1998, that number would grow to its peak of more than 3.7 million pounds, according to data maintained by the National Marine Fisheries Service.

But that was before the lobster die-off in Long Island Sound, caused by warming water, a shell rot illness and other factors. By 2000, only 1.3 million pounds of lobster was landed in Connecticut, and it just kept getting worse. In 2022, only 88,000 pounds of lobster was caught by Connecticut lobstermen.

“I don’t see a lot of local lobsters anymore,” Tierney said.

Tierney has to sell out-of-state lobsters, just like other restaurants and fish markets selling lobster in Connecticut, and they all pay a hidden premium on smaller-size lobsters.

State lawmakers will likely change the laws that govern the maximum and minimum size a lobster can be to be legally sold in Connecticut, in the hope that your lobster roll might be somewhat cheaper next year. The language, originally part of a seafood-specific bill, has been added to the state budget bill, which is widely expected to be signed into law by Gov. Ned Lamont.

Revolution Wind, a key offshore wind project and object of scorn for Trump admin, comes online

March 16, 2026 — A large offshore wind project off the coast of Connecticut and Rhode Island that was repeatedly stopped by the Trump administration came online Friday evening, sending clean energy to New England’s power grid.

The project, known as Revolution Wind, is nearing the end of construction and will ultimately generate up to 704 megawatts of electricity — the equivalent of powering 350,000 homes. That’s about 2.5% of New England’s electric supply. Construction on Revolution Wind is expected to be completed later this year.

“This project is key to diversifying our energy supply and lowering utility costs for families and businesses,” said Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont in a statement.

“Today’s milestone marks an important step forward for Rhode Island’s energy future,” Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee said in a statement.

Read the full article at nhpr

Burgum ordered Revolution Wind’s August halt, documents show

January 16, 2026 — Interior Secretary Doug Burgum personally ordered the halt of an offshore wind project off of New England in August, but federal officials later downplayed his participation, according to emails obtained by POLITICO’s E&E News.

Such direct involvement from a political appointee in an individual project is unusual, analysts and industry experts say. The sequence of events, shown in documents released to E&E News in a public records request, hint at the extent to which some of the most senior officials in the Trump administration are involved in the president’s anti-wind agenda.

Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management issued a stop-work order for Revolution Wind in August. The $6.2 billion offshore wind project is expected to generate enough power for 350,000 homes in Rhode Island and Connecticut.

Read the full article at E&E News

Offshore wind developer prevails in U.S. court as Trump calls wind farms ‘losers’

January 13, 2026 — A federal judge ruled Monday that work on a major offshore wind farm for Rhode Island and Connecticut can resume, handing the industry at least a temporary victory as President Trump seeks to shut it down.

At the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Senior Judge Royce Lamberth said the government did not explain why it could not take action short of a complete stop to construction on Revolution Wind while it considers ways to mitigate its national security concerns. He said it also did not provide sufficient reasoning for its change in position.

Revolution Wind has received all of its federal permits and is nearly 90% complete to provide power for Rhode Island and Connecticut.

Trump says his goal is to not let any “windmills” be built. Three energy developers are challenging the administration’s freeze of their offshore wind projects in the federal courts this week.

Danish energy company Orsted, Norwegian company Equinor, and Dominion Energy Virginia each sued to ask the courts to vacate and set aside the administration’s Dec. 22 order to freeze five big projects on the East Coast over national security concerns. Orsted’s hearing was first on its Revolution Wind project. Orsted said it will soon resume construction to deliver affordable, reliable power to the Northeast.

Read the full article at The Associated Press

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