May 19, 2025 — Offshore wind developer US Wind Inc. is proposing a $20 million fund “to support commercial fishing” under agreements with Maryland and Delaware state officials.
The memoranda of understanding reached with Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources and the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control were “developed in response to feedback from the local commercial fishing industry, (and) will provide funding to commercial fishermen above and beyond what is required by the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management,” according to a May 14 joint statement from the company and state agencies.
The fund would include $13.5 million for the “Maryland Fishing Community Resilience Fund,” aimed at maintaining the commercial fishing infrastructure at Ocean City, Md., where US Wind plans a base of operations. The company holds an 80,000-acre federal lease off the Delmarva coast with potential for developing turbine arrays with a nameplate rating up to 1,800 megawatts.