August 18, 2025 — Susan Linder was hunting for buried treasure.
Every spring, the crabs clickety-clack ashore for a massive orgy timed to the rise and fall of the tides, depositing millions of eggs in the sand.
DELAWARE: Trump administration enters the Delmarva offshore wind debate
August 6, 2025 — The Trump administration’s opposition to offshore wind power is now taking aim at a controversial energy project off the Delmarva coast, potentially putting its future at risk.
Last week, the federal government revealed in court documents that it is reconsidering permits that the Biden administration had previously awarded to US Wind, a Baltimore-based company proposing to build an offshore wind farm within sight of beach communities in Maryland and Delaware.
The court documents are part of lawsuits filed by a local Delaware resident and Ocean City, Md., against the U.S. Department of Interior, challenging certain offshore construction approvals for the project.
“An extension in this case is necessary as Interior intends to reconsider its [Construction and Operations Plan] approval and move in the District of Maryland — the first-filed case — for voluntary remand of that agency action,” wrote Delaware U.S. Attorney Julianne Murray and Adam Gustafson, the acting assistant attorney general for the Environment and Natural Resources Division at the U.S. Department of Justice.
The federal courts would have to sign off on a “voluntary remand,” which is a request to send a case back to an administrative agency for reassessment. If the permit approvals were to be reassessed by the Trump administration, it’s possible they could be denied, dooming the project.
DELAWARE: Offshore wind bill heads to Delaware Senate floor after contentious hearing
June 6, 2025 — Democratic lawmakers faced more than an hour of angry public comments on June 2 from residents who largely slammed their proposal to retroactively strip Sussex County Council of its ability to deny a permit for an offshore wind farm – one of the most controversial energy projects in recent memory.
But in the end, the members of the Senate Environment, Energy and Transportation Committee nonetheless advanced the bill to be considered by the full Senate.
Opponents of the proposal say it’s an example of government overreach, while Democrats and environmental groups supporting the bill say it’s necessary to address Delaware’s energy needs.
The bill is slated for a vote in the State Senate next week, after legislators return to session following the state’s budget markup hearings. Should it pass there, the Delaware House of Representatives would then consider the bill.
US Wind proposes USD 20 million in compensation funds for commercial fishers in Maryland, Delaware
May 22, 2025 — US Wind has agreed to provide USD 20 million (EUR 17.8 million) in compensation to commercial fishers and related businesses in the U.S. states of Maryland or Delaware who have been impacted by the development of wind power off the coast of Maryland.
In 2014, US Wind secured an 80,000-acre federal lease area in the Atlantic Ocean, with plans to build a wind energy facility just over 11 miles off the shores of Ocean City, Maryland. As part of securing a lease, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) determined that wind energy developers must compensate the commercial fishing sector for any potential lost revenue caused by construction.
US Wind Offers $20 Million to Local Fishermen under New Proposal
May 15, 2025 — Offshore wind developer US Wind has entered memoranda of understanding with Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) in which the company has proposed $20 million in support to local fishermen.
According to a press release from US Wind, the agreements with the states were developed in response to watermen feedback as US Wind continues to pursue a project off Sussex and Worcester Counties. The Trump Administration’s reversal of a Biden-era push for offshore wind has left the future of the project uncertain.
“This proposal — one of the biggest investments in commercial fishing in the region – demonstrates our commitment to the fishing industry and the local community in which we’ll operate,” said Jeffrey Grybowski, US Wind CEO. “The funding will provide direct support to commercial and charter fishermen, grants for local businesses, and support for harbor maintenance and infrastructure. We’re looking forward to continuing our work with local fishermen and the states of Maryland and Delaware to finalize this unprecedented agreement.”
US Wind says $13.5 million of the $20 million proposal would go to the following in Maryland:
-Grants for fishing businesses in the harbor to continue the offloading of catch and ice services;
-30 years of funding for West Ocean City Harbor maintenance, such as dredging requested each year by the community, dock and shore stabilization
-Substantial money for gear development, marketing of local seafood, fishing business development, and incentives for new commercial fishermen.
DELAWARE: Conservationists and fishing industry wrangle over how or whether to protect horseshoe crabs
April 11, 2025 — Delaware conservationists and the commercial fishing industry are still searching for ways of protecting horseshoe crabs and the species that depend on them while allowing fishermen to make their living without being further restricted by state quotas.
Ahead of the springtime arrival of thousands of horseshoe crabs to spawn on Delaware beaches, environmentalists and some state lawmakers are discussing a possible bill that would ban the harvest of the ancient creatures in Delaware waters.
But the case for banning the harvest for bait – as New Jersey did in its waters more than a decade ago — is weakened by data from several credible sources showing that the population of the ancient creatures in Delaware Bay is increasing, thanks to a ban on the harvesting of female crabs imposed since 2012 by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, a federal regulator.
Still, it’s not clear whether growing numbers of horseshoe crabs spawning on the beaches are also increasing the quantity of crab eggs that sustain shore birds, notably the red knot, during their globe-spanning migrations. Egg-density, a crucial measure of the crabs’ ability to feed the birds, is still just a fraction of what it was before red knot numbers crashed starting in the late 1990s when too many horseshoe crabs were removed from bay beaches by the commercial fishing industry.
The knot’s failure to recover in any significant way since then was cited by the commission in its decision for the last two years to continue its ban on harvesting female crabs, while issuing quotas to Delaware and the three other bay states – New Jersey, Maryland and Virginia – for the harvest of the far more numerous male crabs.
After deciding for the last two fishing seasons against allowing the female harvest to resume, the commission is now considering extending that for multiple years, and held a public hearing last month to gather comments.
Delaware’s Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, which implements horseshoe crab quotas set by the commission, said it remains opposed to any restart of the female harvest.
DELAWARE: Could a blue crab hatchery be coming to Delaware?
April 4, 2025 — Delaware’s blue crab commercial fishery is larger than all the other fisheries in the state combined. If Dan Mills has his way, he’ll be adding to that fishery by building the state’s first blue crab hatchery.
Mills went before the state’s Advisory Council on Shell Fisheries in early March. The demand is high, but the wild stock is dwindling, said Mills, on why he’s looking into the project. The potential for job creation is there too, he said.
Mills went before the council to gauge their interest in the project. For the hatchery to get off the ground, two state laws would have to change – one related to not being allowed to have juvenile crabs in his possession; another related to not being allowed to have sponge crabs, females with eggs, in his possession. Mills suggested the laws could be changed to allow possession if the juvenile crabs are hatched and the sponge crabs are kept in an aquaculture system.
There was some discussion about whether local watermen would want the additional competition, but a general consensus was reached that there are blue crabs coming into Delaware from other states, so a hatchery wouldn’t add much more. In the end, council seemed to have a favorable view on the plan, but it ultimately said Mills would have to get the laws changed, and that would take an act of the General Assembly.
DELAWARE: Ørsted follows through with $5.2M land deal in Sussex
February 26, 2025 — Despite withdrawing plans for its Skipjack projects off of the coast of Delaware last year, Ørsted recently purchased a 64-acre property near Harbeson for $5.2 million.
The purchase, made under the business name Skipjack Offshore Energy, LLC., is the result of an agreement struck by the Danish wind turbine developer several years ago as conversations were swirling about the development of a wind farm in the area.
Ørsted Spokesperson Maddy Cronin confirmed the purchase and told the Delaware Business Times in an email, “This transaction is tied to an agreement struck in October 2023, prior to Ørsted’s decision to reposition the project. Pursuant to that October 2023 agreement, the transaction was finalized this month. Any future plans for the property would be subject to federal and local permits.”
DELAWARE: Ørsted buys 64 acres of land near Harbeson for $5.2 million
February 24, 2025 — Under the name Skipjack Offshore Energy LLC, Danish-based power company Ørsted has purchased a 64-acre piece of property near Harbeson for $5.2 million.
Located at the intersection of Walker and Diamond Farm roads, the piece of property encompasses the open field from Diamond Farm Road to the Anthem development. According to Sussex County sales records the sale was finalized Jan. 31.
Ørsted’s offshore wind competitor US Wind has been in the news recently as that company makes its way through the federal, state and county approval process, but this is the first time there’s been an Ørsted development locally in more than a year.
Ørsted has the development rights for an offshore wind farm on two federal lease sites in federal ocean waters off the coast of Delaware. Combined, the contiguous sites stretch from Rehoboth Beach south to Bethany Beach, and if fully built out, could produce 966 megawatts.
In January 2024, Ørsted announced it was still moving forward with development plans for the project, but withdrawing from a deal with the Maryland Public Service Commission to find better terms.
Biden protects Delaware’s coast from offshore drilling
January 14, 2025 — With the clock ticking down on his time in office, President Joe Biden announced Jan. 6 that he has permanently protected more than 625 million acres of the U.S. ocean from offshore drilling.
Delaware’s coastline falls within this ban. In all, the area includes the entire eastern U.S. Atlantic coast and the eastern Gulf of Mexico; the Pacific coast along California, Oregon, and Washington; and the remaining portion of the Northern Bering Sea Climate Resilience Area in Alaska.
“My decision reflects what coastal communities, businesses, and beachgoers have known for a long time: that drilling off these coasts could cause irreversible damage to places we hold dear and is unnecessary to meet our nation’s energy needs,” said Biden in a statement announcing the ban.
This isn’t the first action to protect Delaware’s coastline from offshore drilling. Back in 2018, state legislators passed two bills prohibiting oil and natural gas drilling in state waters.
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