Saving Seafood

MAINE: Fishermen’s protest previews offshore wind as potent political issue for Janet Mills

April 29, 2021 — Ongoing friction between fishing interests and Gov. Janet Mills is shaping up to be a major battle in next year’s gubernatorial race as the incumbent’s opponents look to leverage frustration with her long-term offshore wind plan.

Lobstering supporters turned out in droves on Wednesday morning to protest the Mills administration, with people selling T-shirts and water bottles and carrying signs depicting a lobster claw crushing a windmill. A group of attendees laid ropes to illustrate how much space a turbine’s equipment would occupy.

Tensions between Mills and the industry have been steadily rising during her tenure on the issue. A survey boat for the New England Aqua Ventus wind project accused fishing boats of blocking its work this spring. Another 12-turbine research array is planned in the Gulf of Maine. Industry members seem frustrated by Mills’ stance on both projects. It could prove to be a challenge for Mills next year as former Gov. Paul LePage eyes a comeback campaign.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

Maine homes in on offshore wind site, but fishermen’s protests continue

April 28, 2021 — Using fishery data and interviews with fishermen, state fishery regulators are working to identify areas in federal waters off Maine’s southern coast that will have least potential conflict between the fisheries and a proposed offshore windmill site.

Fishermen attending a virtual meeting hosted Tuesday night by the Department of Marine Resources condemned a plan by offshore wind developer New England Aqua Ventus to lease up to 16 square miles in the Gulf of Maine to install up to 12 wind turbines.

In addition, fishermen and their supporters gathered this morning at the Augusta Civic Center for a “Protect the Gulf of Maine” rally to protest the pace of wind development.

In a related development, Gov. Janet Mills on Wednesday introduced legislation to establish a 10-year moratorium on new offshore wind projects in state waters, while reaffirming her administration’s priority of locating offshore wind projects in federal waters of the Gulf of Maine.

Read the full story at MaineBiz

MAINE: Gov. Mills seeks to broker peace between fishing, wind power

April 28, 2021 — Maine’s governor introduced a proposal on Wednesday that would establish a decade-long moratorium on new offshore wind projects in state waters.

Democratic Gov. Janet Mills, a proponent of wind power, made the proposal as members of the state’s fishing industry raised questions about locating wind turbines in the Gulf of Maine. The gulf is a critical fishing ground for lobster harvesters and other fishermen.

Mills said in a statement that her moratorium would “preserve state waters for valuable fishing and recreation, while reaffirming Maine’s priority of locating offshore wind projects in federal waters of the Gulf of Maine.” She cited the fact Maine has proposed the first research array for floating offshore wind technology in those waters.

Mills also said she crafted the proposal, which was submitted to the Maine Legislature, in response to concerns from the fishing industry. Most lobster fishing takes place in state waters, she said.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Caledonian Record

MAINE: Dock Talk: An array of risks

April 8, 2021 — In June 2019, Maine’s Gov. Janet Mills signed a bill requiring the state Public Utilities Commission to approve the contract for an offshore wind pilot project in Maine. This project will operate an 11-MW turbine off of Monhegan Island.

Though touted as research to explore clean energy alternatives, this project is an experiment. And during this experiment, power generated will be sold for profit, likely to out of state consumers. Information from this research will not just benefit scientists, but also big-money energy investors who want to develop wind farms throughout the Gulf of Maine.

“When you a look at a chart of where all the preferred wind farm leases are on the East Coast and compare that to the chart NMFS has made showing the most heavily fished areas, almost every lease is based directly on or adjacent to the best grounds,” said fisherman Glen Libby.

There is a lot more at stake here than may meet the eye. Drilling the ocean meters down, placing cables and topping with an artificial cover for miles will at the very least disrupt and at the very worst destroy countless marine life habitats, ecosystems and breeding grounds, which will influence the food chain from there on up, not to mention the unknown long-term effects chemicals coating the underground cables may have on the environment and consumers.

Electromagnetic fields and noise from offshore wind turbines can interrupt the natural cycles of robust native species as well as endangered and protected marine species — including right whales, for which lobstermen have changed fishing practices and gear to avoid doing any potential harm.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

MAINE: Stonington top port in state for 2020

March 29, 2021 — Maine’s commercial fisheries are thriving in spite of a pandemic year, tariffs on trade with China and looming issues affecting lobsters and lobstermen. The Maine Department of Marine Resources announced on March 24 an ex-vessel value of $516,796,614 for the state’s 2020 commercial landings.

Even Governor Janet Mills weighed in: “Maine fishermen and seafood dealers weathered one of the most difficult years in memory, but through hard work and an unwavering dedication to quality, they were able to once again provide tremendous value for seafood consumers, and a vital economic foundation for Maine’s coastal communities.”

Lobsters account for nearly 80 percent of the ex-vessel value, hauling in $405,983,832 worth of lobsters to Maine ports. DMR Commissioner Patrick Keliher noted a 5 percent decline in lobster landings by pound compared to 2019. Nonetheless, the 96-million-pound catch was the ninth highest in Maine’s history. A higher than usual boat price of $4.20 per pound — compared to the $3.76 average — helped bring up the ex-vessel landing value for 2020.

The elver fishery, which saw dealer prices drop 75 percent to just over $500 per pound, still netted $5,067,521 for harvesters.

Read the full story at The Ellsworth American

Maine wants lobstermen to move gear from wind power cable survey route

March 24, 2021 — Acting on direction from Gov. Janet Mills, Maine’s marine resources commissioner on Wednesday asked captains who fish along a planned wind turbine cable survey route to voluntarily haul their gear, or he would have to tell the Marine Patrol to move it out of the way.

In a notice addressed to “Lobster harvesters who fish in or near the Monhegan survey route,” Pat Keliher sympathized with fishermen upset about the prospects of floating offshore wind  projects coming to the Gulf of Maine. And he told them that a gear count done over the past day by the Marine Patrol found far fewer buoys in the survey path than a survey vessel had reported.

But there’s still too much gear inside the route for the survey vessel to do its work, Keliher said, noting that it was in everyone’s interest to complete the survey to determine if  the cable can be buried. He asked fishermen to cooperate and remove any remaining gear for the next two weeks.

“The developer has committed to working with the department to ensure that fishing will be allowed around and over the cable route,” Keliher wrote to the lobstermen. “I hope that we can find a way forward to complete this survey and achieve that goal.”

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

MAINE: Marine Patrol Directed To Remove Gear From Path Of Wind Power Survey If Fishermen Won’t

March 24, 2021 — The state is telling Monhegan Island-area lobstermen to remove fishing gear from the path of a survey vessel — or the Marine Patrol will. That’s after the Department of Marine Resources determined that there is enough gear in that area to prevent the vessel from doing its work.

The 150-foot Go Liberty is surveying possible routes for an electricity cable that would stretch from a planned floating wind turbine developed by New England Aqua Ventus to the mainland. Earlier this week, lobstermen protested the effort at sea, and in some cases sailed near the survey ship.

In text and email messages sent to lobstermen Wednesday morning, DMR Commissioner Patrick Keliher says he has been directed to ask the state Marine Patrol to move gear away from the route if the vessel is unable to continue its work. He also says DMR is working with the vessel to make sure it keeps its operations within a defined pathway.

Keliher and other officials in Gov. Janet Mills’ administration did not immediately return requests for comment.

Read the full story at Maine Public

British diplomat looks to advance offshore wind collaboration on virtual Maine visit

March 17, 2021 — The British diplomat covering New England met with Gov. Janet Mills on Tuesday to discuss energy issues, including the offshore wind turbines that are integral to Maine’s long-term climate goals.

The meeting is part of a week-long virtual trade mission that Peter Abbott, the British consul general to New England, is making in Maine as a follow-up to an agreement the United Kingdom and Maine signed in December to advance clean energy to meet respective climate goals. It is the only agreement like it between the U.K. and an American state.

Abbott’s virtual visit comes as Mills looks to offshore wind as a significant opportunity for economic recovery from the coronavirus-induced recession and as his own country, now separate from the European Union, tries to negotiate a free trade agreement with the United States.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

Proposed federal rules to help endangered whales could cost Maine’s lobster industry $10 million

March 15, 2021 — Federal fishing regulators are close to finalizing new rules that would require expensive gear modifications and seasonal fishing closures in Northeast waters to protect the endangered right whale. Maine regulators and fishermen fear the rules would jeopardize Maine’s billion-dollar lobster industry while environmental advocates argue they don’t go far enough.

The public comment period closed March 1 after the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) hosted virtual public hearings on Feb. 23 and 24. Now, federal regulators are sifting through about 170,000 public comments to incorporate any extra information into their analysis before drafting the final environmental impact statement they hope to release by this summer.

The rule changes, if incorporated, likely wouldn’t go into effect until late 2021 or early 2022.

During the final public hearings, Maine Department of Marine Resource Commissioner Patrick Keliher echoed a statement put out by Gov. Janet Mills earlier that week stating that “a one-size-fits-all approach in the state of Maine will not work.”

Read the full story at the Penobscot Bay Pilot

Federal plan to save right whales has Gov. Mills concerned about Maine’s lobster industry

March 4, 2021 — Gov. Janet Mills has “grave concerns” about a federal plan to save the North Atlantic right whale from extinction, citing its impact on Maine’s lucrative lobster industry.

In a letter to Michael Pentony, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s regional fisheries manager, Mills said she proposed rules aimed at reducing whale entanglement in fishing gear would “necessitate the complete reinvention of the Maine lobster fishery as we know it.”

“The state of Maine is adamant that our federal government must take aggressive action to remedy the inequities of this framework in the years ahead,” Mills wrote.

NOAA is drafting new rules to reduce the possibility of entanglement of right whales in “vertical” line fishing gear such as lobster traps. The rules are set to be finalized on May 31.

Mills’ comments were accompanied by a detailed analysis of NOAA’s plan, pointing out flaws in the research and the federal agency’s assumptions about the impact of vertical gear.

Read the full story at The Center Square