Saving Seafood

NEW YORK: NYPA to lead offshore wind study; LIPA will also have role

August 9, 2018 — A memorandum of understanding has been signed by New York power agencies and partners to conduct a study of successful offshore wind transmission models, with a specific focus on large-scale European projects, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said on Aug. 8.

The New York Power Authority will lead the study and a number of parties including the Long Island Power Authority will collaborate with NYPA on the initial phase of the research.

Input gained from the study will help determine the optimal infrastructure required to support offshore wind targets set by the governor.

Earlier this year, Cuomo announced the New York State Offshore Wind Master Plan, which will guide the state in the development of 2,400 megawatts of offshore wind by 2030. The plan describes the conditions needed for the state to achieve its offshore wind target and indicates the need for future technical studies and analyses to advance the most cost-effective and responsible development.

Cuomo’s office said the findings of the study will be timely as the state looks at transmission costs which the master plan estimates could comprise 30 percent of total costs of an offshore wind development.

Particular attention will be given in the study to the physical design, including radial and network connections and interconnections between the projects and to the respective onshore transmission systems as well as development and rate structures.

It will also focus on the ownership structures, business models and financing approaches used in each jurisdiction, as well as the regulatory approaches governing transmission development and cost recovery.

Read the full story at the American Public Power Association

NY ratepayers will pay for $2.1B offshore wind plan, but won’t get the energy

August 8, 2018 — New York state ratepayers will pick up the tab for the Cuomo Administration’s multi-billion dollar plan to jump-start the offshore wind industry, but most won’t benefit from the energy produced.

Only consumers in Long Island and New York City will be able to access the wind-powered energy that’s going to be generated in the waters off the state’s Atlantic coast in the years to come.

As soon as 2020, typical residential ratepayers could see an increase of up to 76 cents a month in their electric bills as the state goes all-in on offshore wind as a critical piece of the state’s renewable energy future, The Journal News/Poughkeepsie Journal has learned.

That’s in addition to the average $2 per month charge state ratepayers are already paying for the bailout of three struggling upstate nuclear power plants for the next ten years.

The New York State Public Service Commission announced last week that it had agreed to procure some 800 megawatts of offshore wind energy over the next two years, the first phase in an effort to develop 2,400 megawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030, enough to power 1.2 million households in New York City and Long Island.

“Robust offshore wind development is not only critical to meeting our clean energy and carbon reduction goals, this investment has the potential to create thousands of jobs and fuel a $6 billion industry for New York as it combats climate change,” Cuomo said.

The Long Island Commercial Fishing Association (LICFA), based in Montauk, have joined a lawsuit challenging the decision by the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to allow thousands of acres off the Atlantic coast of Long Island to be leased to offshore wind companies.

The six areas available for lease could hold up to 200 wind turbines.

“The historical, traditional commercial fishing communities of Long Island, which include hundreds of small business owners, the very tax and rate-payers whose businesses help to support other small businesses throughout Long Island, are ground zero for having their very livelihoods and businesses destroyed,” Bonnie Brady, the executive director of LICFA wrote in April.

Read the full story from the Poughkeepsie Journal at the Ithaca Journal

Fishermen up in arms over plan to build windmills off Long Island coast

August 1, 2018 — It’s before dawn on a recent July morning at Lazy Point in Napeague Bay, LI, and there is a slight chill in the air as the fishermen unload their boats into the water.

Dan Lester, a 12th-generation bayman, and his son Daniel, 14, are among those heading to sea to check their traps.

“This is the most sustainable fishing you’ll ever see,” Dan says as they begin hand-sorting the fish trapped in their nets, tossing whatever they can’t sell, including small spider crabs and stingrays, back into the ocean.

On a certain level, not much has changed for these New York baymen since the 1600s, when their ancestors came from places such as Kent, England, and were taught to fish by native Algonquin tribe members. But these East End fishermen fear it soon will.

They are up in arms over an agreement to build 15 massive windmills — each more than 650 feet tall, the height of Manhattan skyscrapers — off the coast of Montauk.

Read the full story at the New York Post

 

New York Halts Commercial Fluke Fishery for About 2 Weeks, Sets Harvest Limit

July 13, 2018 — New York State will close its commercial fishing grounds, a staple of the Long Island fishing fleet, for about two weeks effective Sunday.

The closure, which applies to fishing in state waters up to 3 miles from shore, will last until the month’s end, when it reopens with a harvest limit of 50 pounds per day.

Local commercial fishermen, who dealt last month with a similar closure of another plentiful staple in New York waters of black sea bass, say the new closure is another blow to their livelihood at a time of pricing stresses and amid state pressure to ease federal restrictions.

“It really hurts us,” said Phil Karlin, a commercial fisherman from Riverhead. “It really makes it difficult for the fishermen and the retailers and dealers involved who need a supply of fluke.”

Read the full story at Newsday

NEW YORK: ‘Choose Long Island’ Campaign Promotes Buying Local Produce, Seafood

July 13, 2018 — There’s a push to stimulate the economy while stimulating your taste buds in Suffolk County.

CBS2’s Vanessa Murdock visited Lenny Bruno Farms in Manorville, where she and fourth-generation farmer Dominick Bruno discussed buying local.

“For some people, local is 250 miles away. Here, local means it’s coming from this field and it’s being sold at our farm stand,” he said.

Bruno said he’s thrilled to be part of a new initiative launched by Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone, called Choose LI.

“Buying locally grown and harvested food is better for overall health and it is better for our region,” said Bellone.

The goal is to get Long Island families to take the pledge to spend 10 percent of their weekly grocery budget on buying local produce and fish.

New Yorkers spend an average of $176 a week on food, Murdock reported. If each Suffolk County household pledges 10 percent to buying local, $19 million would be fed into the county’s economy each year and, in turn, help create 1,000 jobs.

Julieann Hughes, a mother of four, said she makes an effort to buy local.

Read the full story at WLNY

AP report claims Sea To Table lied to customers about seafood origins

June 14, 2018 — An investigative report by the Associated Press claims it has found evidence that the company Sea To Table has been misleading customers about origins of its seafood.

Sea To Table, founded more than two decades ago, offers fresh wild-caught seafood sourced from small-scale American fishermen. The company guarantees that its products are wild-caught and directly traceable to docks, and often specific boats, in the U.S. The purchase of the seafood often comes with informational packages detailing the origins and the people behind the product.

According to the AP report, published on 13 June, those claims may be suspect as investigations found that the company was sourcing “fresh” seafood from boats that hadn’t been to sea for two years, species that weren’t allowed to be fished in locations Sea To Table was claiming they were from, and tuna from southeast Asian companies with checkered histories of labor abuse.

“Preliminary DNA tests suggested some of its yellowfin tuna likely came from the other side of the world, and reporters traced the company’s supply chain to migrant fishermen in foreign waters who described labor abuses, poaching and the slaughter of sharks, whales and dolphins,” the AP report said.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

NEW YORK: Rep. Zeldin Secures $12 Million in Federal Funding to Complete Emergency Dredge of Moriches Inlet

June 12, 2018 –Congressman Lee Zeldin (R, NY-1) just announced the Fiscal Year 2018 Army Corps of Engineers Workplan was released today, including $12 million in funding for the completion of the Army Corps approved emergency dredging of Moriches Inlet. Sand removed from Moriches Inlet will be placed at Smith Point County Park to address beach erosion. Additional engineering details as laid out in the Army Corps solicitation for contracts to carry out the dredging, which was issued on May 22nd, can be viewed here.

In March, Rep. Zeldin was joined by local elected officials, small businesses, boaters and fishermen in calling for an emergency dredge of Moriches Inlet during which Congressman Zeldin joined local fishermen to survey the inlet’s dangerous navigational conditions first-hand.

In April, Rep. Zeldin worked with the Commander of the U.S. Army Corps New York District, Colonel Thomas Asbery, to receive the needed Emergency Declaration from the Army Corps of Engineers North Atlantic Division Brigadier General William Graham, granting Rep. Zeldin’s request to perform emergency dredging of the Moriches Inlet. This emergency declaration began the process of coordinating funding and permits so dredging vessels can begin work.

“The approval of funding for the emergency dredging of Moriches Inlet is great news for our coastal economy, commercial and recreational fishermen and all whose livelihoods rely on the vitality of our communities’ waterways,” said Congressman Lee Zeldin. “I will continue to work with the Army Corps of Engineers and all affected by the deteriorated state of Moriches Inlet to complete this emergency dredge.”

Read the full story at LongIsland.com

Murphy gets state, fishing industry more time for wind energy plan

June 1, 2018 — New Jersey under Gov. Phil Murphy is fully committed to offshore wind, working toward generating 3.5 gigawatts of its clean energy by 2030. The Board of Public Utilities has been ordered to prepare to seek bids on more than 1,000 megawatts of wind power, and a Danish company with a lease for an ocean wind farm has opened an office in Atlantic City.

So when the governor asked early last month for another 180 days to comment on the next round of vast ocean wind leases — this time in the much used and fought over New York Bight between the city’s harbor, Long Island and South Jersey — his request was very credible.

If even an ardent supporter of green energy wants more time to consider the impacts of massive wind farms on other users, he must be speaking for all New Jersey businesses and people with a stake in these very valuable waters.

Read the full story at the Press of Atlantic City

 

Cuomo visits Long Island site of artificial reef construction

June 1, 2018 — Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo traveled to Shinnecock Inlet on Thursday morning to kick off construction of one of the East Coast’s largest artificial reef programs, starting off the coast of Hampton Bays.

The Shinnecock Inlet portion of the work included dropping 885 tons of material from the dismantled Tappan Zee Bridge and scuttling an old canal vessel called The Reliable.

Sections of the cantilever bridge were visible from a fishing boat chartered by the state to bring dignitaries and the media to the site, where barges, cranes and a fleet of tugboats worked through the day.

“It’s going to change, literally, the shoreline around Long Island,” Cuomo said. It will also foster fishing industries by creating new fish habitats and diving opportunities, he said.

Material is being placed in an area 2 miles from shore, 85 feet deep in 35 acres of sea bottom. Six reefs are being constructed this year out of a planned 12.

Read the full story at Newsday

 

New Bedford fishing boat collides with oil tanker off Long Island

May 16, 2018 — A New Bedford-based fishing boat collided with another vessel in waters approximately 30 miles southeast of Bridgehampton, N.Y., on Saturday night, the US Coast Guard said.

Coast Guard officials said the commercial fishing vessel Polaris was traveling back to its home port in New Bedford when it collided with the crude oil tanker Tofteviken, based out of the Bahamas.

“The Polaris, an 84-foot steel vessel built in 2007, suffered damage to its bow and outrigger,” the Coast Guard said in a statement. “There were seven people aboard at the time of collision with no report of injuries. The vessel was able to return to its homeport safely. The Tofteviken suffered an approximate 30-foot gash along its portside hull. There were no injuries reported to the crew aboard the tankship.”

Read the full story at the Boston Globe