Saving Seafood

New Slow Speed Zone West of Martha’s Vineyard to Protect Right Whales

January 4, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

In Effect through January 15

NOAA Fisheries announces a new Slow Zone (voluntary vessel speed restriction zone) south of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.

On December 31, 2020, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s Cox Ledge Slocum glider acoustically detected the presence of right whales 32nm west of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.

Mariners, please go around this area or go slow (10 knots or less) inside this area where right whales have been detected.

The West of Martha’s Vineyard Slow Zone is in effect through January 15 for waters bounded by:

41 34 N
40 54 N
070 50 W
071 43 W

See the coordinates for all the slow zones currently in effect.

Read the full release here

New Slow Speed Zone South of Martha’s Vineyard to Protect Right Whales

December 31, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

In Effect through January 14

NOAA Fisheries announces a new Slow Zone (voluntary vessel speed restriction zone) south of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.

On December 30, 2020, Protected Species Observers aboard wind farm survey vessel Ventus noted the presence of right whales 21nm South of Martha’s Vineyard.

Mariners, please go around this area or go slow (10 knots or less) inside this area where right whales have been detected.

The South of Martha’s Vinyeard Slow Zone is in effect through January 14 for waters bounded by:

41 25 N
40 44 N
069 59 W
070 55 W

See the coordinates for all the slow zones currently in effect.

Read the full release here

MASSACHUSETTS: Seasonal Ban on Lobstering Aims to Protect Right Whales

December 21, 2020 — With the North Atlantic right whale population at a dangerously low ebb, the state Division of Marine Fisheries is proposing a statewide seasonal ban on lobstering in a last-chance effort to save the critically endangered species from extinction.

Floated by the DMF during public hearings on Dec. 8 and 9, the proposed regulations come in the wake of a report that estimated right whale populations at only 366 marine mammals — down from the 481 estimated in 2011 — and a continued “unusual mortality event” that has seen more than 30 right whale deaths in the past three years.

The dramatic rule changes propose extending the state’s existing Feb. 1 through April 30 lobster trap closure in Cape Cod Bay to all waters under the jurisdiction of the commonwealth, including the Vineyard and Nantucket Sound. Buoyed recreational lobster and crab trap fishing would also be closed. The recreational closure would run from the Tuesday after Columbus Day through the Friday preceding Memorial Day.

Read the full story at the Vineyard Gazette

Dutch Group Expands Support of U.S. Offshore Wind

December 17, 2020 — A European company considered a leader in the offshore wind sector has signed on to help develop a major project off the Massachusetts coast. Ventolines, a Dutch company that worked on the first commercial U.S. offshore wind project, on Dec. 16 announced it has opened a U.S. office and will support construction of the Mayflower Wind installation.

Mayflower Wind is a planned 804-MW offshore wind project about 30 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard, and 23 miles south of Nantucket. The project, expected to come online in 2025, already has power purchase agreements with Massachusetts utilities. The installation is a joint venture of Shell New Energies and Ocean Winds, which is the global offshore wind collaboration between ENGIE and EDP Renewables.

“We are proud to be part of the team bringing more wind farms and sustainable energy to the U.S.,” said Thibaut de Groen, Ventolines’ Director of Contracting and Construction, on Wednesday. Ventolines supervised the installation of wind turbines and advised on asset management for the 30-MW Block Island wind farm (Figure 1) off the Rhode Island coast, which came online in 2017 and was the first U.S. offshore wind project.

Read the full story at Power Magazine

MASSACHUSETTS: Lobster Stocks Found in Steep Decline, With Future in Doubt

October 30, 2020 — Southern New England lobster stocks, once robust, have declined to record lows in recent years according to scientists and regulators, jeopardizing the future of a storied fishery even as Vineyard lobstermen continue to report strong seasons on the water.

In a benchmark assessment released late last week, an interstate regulatory agency found that lobster populations in southern New England are “significantly depleted,” reaching their lowest levels on record and threatening the lobster industry from the southern Cape through Long Island Sound.

But some Vineyard lobstermen said that despite the decreasing abundance in the entire southern New England region — which stretches from south of New York to Monomoy and Nantucket — their catch around the Island remains healthy.

And interestingly, just as lobster populations have declined in more southern waters in recent years, scientists have seen a historic boom in the Gulf of Maine, where lobster abundance and fishery performance have reached record highs, according to the report. The Vineyard sits just south of the halfway point between the two American lobster stock units, which are divided by geography and small differences in the biology of the crustaceans.

Read the full story at the Vineyard Gazette

Vineyard Wind sets up Nantucket benefit fund

September 9, 2020 — The following was released by Vineyard Wind:

Vineyard Wind, the offshore wind farm project moving ahead 14 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard, has reached a “Good Neighbor Agreement” with the Town of Nantucket and leading nonprofits on the island to create the Offshore Wind Community Fund. The agreement “makes changes to the wind project to lessen its visual impacts” and establishes a fund “that will support projects that benefit the entire Nantucket community,” wrote legal counsel Greg Werkheiser of Cultural Heritage Partners in the announcement.

According to a joint press release from the two entities, the fund will “will support local initiatives to combat the effects of global climate change, enhance coastal resiliency, and protect, restore, and preserve Nantucket’s cultural and historic resources.” Vineyard Wind has agreed to provide an initial $4 million, when construction financing is obtained for its first project, to seed the fund, which will be administered by the Community Foundation for Nantucket, with additional funds to be added with “subsequent projects” and through accepting contributions from other wind developers and philanthropists. An advisory committee will be overseen by CFNan with representatives from the town, Maria Mitchell Association, Nantucket Preservation Trust, and Vineyard Wind.

MASSACHUSETTS: Major Grant Goes to Fishermen’s Preservation Trust

August 26, 2020 — The Martha’s Vineyard Fishermen’s Preservation Trust has received a $250,000 grant to expand its community seafood program, allowing it to buy, process and donate a surplus of black sea bass and scup for chowder donations throughout the Island.

The grant was awarded by Catch Together, a nonprofit organization that invests capital in support of fishermen, fishing communities and ocean conservation throughout the country, according to a press release from the preservation trust.

Since the pandemic began in mid-March, demand from high-end restaurants and wholesalers for seafood has plummeted, driving down prices for local fishermen and leading to large surpluses of once-invaluable catch, like scallops, lobster and oysters.

In response, the fishermen’s preservation trust — an Island nonprofit dedicated to supporting and preserving the Island’s independent fishermen — came up with a creative solution, starting its community seafood program in April of this year.

Read the full story at the Vineyard Gazette

Offshore Wind Companies Are Racing To Develop America’s East Coast. First They Must Appease The Fishermen.

June 18, 2020 — On a windy stretch of ocean ten miles northeast of Martha’s Vineyard lies the watery grave of America’s first major offshore wind farm.

This is where a Boston-based company called Energy Management planned to build 130 Statue of Liberty-sized turbines, enough to supply power to 200,000 homes.

But the project known as Cape Wind never made it beyond the planning stages. Facing relentless opposition from wealthy homeowners on Nantucket Sound, including the billionaire industrialist William Koch and the late Democratic senator Ted Kennedy, it drowned in a sea of lawsuits over 16 years. Energy Management declared it dead in December 2017.

Cape Wind’s historic failure, even as Europe and Asia add more offshore wind farms every year, has become an infamous cautionary tale for the wind development industry. It seemed the US was destined to lag behind its peers.

Read the full story at Forbes

Political Interference Blamed for Vineyard Wind Delays

February 18, 2020 — Vineyard Wind is coming to terms with the fact that its wind project is behind schedule, as accusations of political meddling escalate.

On Feb. 7, the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) released an updated permitting guideline that moved the facility’s likely completion date beyond Jan. 15, 2022 — the day the $2.8 billion project is under contract to begin delivering 400 megawatts of electricity capacity to Massachusetts.

Vineyard Wind is now renegotiating its power-purchase agreement with the three utilities that are buying the electricity.  The company is also in discussions with the Treasury Department about preserving an expiring tax credit.

The delay is being caused by a holdup with BOEM’s environmental impact statement (EIS). A draft of the report was initially expected last year, but after the National Marine Fisheries Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration declined to endorse the report, it was pushed off until late 2019 or early 2020. Back then several members of Congress from Massachusetts claimed the delay was politically motivated.

Read the full story at EcoRI

The Vineyard Wind project is getting delayed — again

February 12, 2020 — The planned offshore wind farm south of Martha’s Vineyard has hit yet another setback.

After receiving notice that federal officials won’t decide on a key permit until more than 16 months later than expected, Vineyard Wind CEO Lars Pedersen says the project — originally slated to be operational next year — isn’t expected to produce power until sometime beyond 2022.

“We have received updated information from the Department of Interior that indicates the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the Vineyard Wind I project will be published later than what was previously anticipated,” Pederson said in a statement Tuesday.

“While we need to analyze what a longer permitting timeline will mean for beginning construction, commercial operation in 2022 is no longer expected,’ he said. “We look forward to the clarity that will come with a final EIS so that Vineyard Wind can deliver this project to Massachusetts and kick off the new US offshore energy industry.”

Read the full story at Boston.com