Saving Seafood

Vineyard Wind signs $9 million lease at New Bedford commerce pier

October 24, 2018 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — A heavy-lift pier in this South Coast fishing port will see plenty of use as a staging area for the nation’s first commercial-scale offshore wind farm.

Vineyard Wind on Monday signed a $6 million annual lease to use the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal for at least 18 months. The total comes to $9 million unless the lease is extended.

The 29-acre marine terminal, owned and operated by the quasi-public Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, was custom-built to support the construction, assembly, and transport of offshore wind components. It is equipped with mobile crane and load features “that rival the highest capacity ports in the world,” and also handles other large marine cargo, according to the agency.

Vineyard Wind in May won a state contest to provide Massachusetts utilities with 800 megawatts of clean power. It has leased a 160,000 acre federal area 14 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard. The company plans an underwater transmission cable that will land on Cape Cod.

Read the full story at MassLive

 

White House Touts President Trump’s Actions on Fishing

October 24, 2018 — The following was released by The White House:

“An ever-growing maze of regulations, rules, restrictions has cost our country trillions and trillions of dollars, millions of jobs, countless American factories, and devastated many industries.”

REAL RESULTS: President Trump’s efforts to cut burdensome and unnecessary red tape are bringing real change and delivering real results for Americans.

  • The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has taken action to free our fishermen from burdensome red tape while also promoting responsible fishing practices.
    • For instance, areas off the coast of New England have been opened to commercial sea scallop harvesting for the first time in years, netting an economic benefit of $654 million.

Read the full release here

Higher U.S./China tariffs could be ‘game changer,’ fishing industry fears

October 24, 2018 — It’s been a month since the Trump administration activated 10 percent tariffs on another $200 billion in Chinese imports and that move has already affected the fishing industry from scallopers to lobstermen, especially Eastern Fisheries located along the New Bedford waterfront.

With the tariffs set to increase to 25 percent at the start of 2019, that could cause catastrophic effects throughout large fishing corporations, economists and companies told The Standard-Times.

“That’s a game changer,” Executive Vice President of Eastern Fisheries Joseph Furtado said. “I think we all feel that the 10 percent is more of a paper cut than it is anything else at this point. And we can work through it.

″…We don’t think the 10 percent is the end of the world, but the 25 percent, that is certainly a dynamic game changer and there’s a lot of variability in how that could all reposition itself.”

Generally, tariffs range from 5 percent to 8 percent, UMass Dartmouth economy professor Randy Hall said.

“There are very few industries that can absorb a 25 percent increase of cost,” Hall said.

Eastern Fisheries operates the largest scallop fleet in the industry and has facilities in the U.S., China, Europe and Japan.

Due to its size and international scale, it’s likely to be the only New Bedford company that’s affected by the tariffs, according to economists and Eastern Fisheries.

Prior to Sept. 24, Eastern would use its facilities in China to process a portion of its overall catch. It would then import the catch to other countries but also back into the United States without a tariff or tax.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Vineyard Wind Signs Milestone Lease Deal With Massachusetts

October 23, 2018 — Massachusetts’ Baker-Polito administration and Vineyard Wind have announced a lease agreement to use the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal as the primary staging and deployment location for Vineyard Wind’s offshore development.

In May, an 800 MW offshore wind farm proposed by Vineyard Wind, a joint venture of Avangrid Renewables and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, was selected as the winning bid under Massachusetts’ 83C offshore wind solicitation.

Constructed and operated by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC), the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal is a 29-acre heavy-lift facility designed to support the construction, assembly and deployment of offshore wind projects, as well as handle bulk, break-bulk, container and large specialty marine cargo. The new agreement between MassCEC and Vineyard Wind represents a commitment to an 18-month lease at $6 million annually.

“By signing this lease agreement with Vineyard Wind, we have achieved another major milestone to secure long-term jobs and economic growth for the people of Massachusetts,” says Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito. “Establishing an offshore wind supply chain in Massachusetts is critical to our mission to strengthen our economy while reducing greenhouse-gas emissions.”

In April, MassCEC released a report on the workforce needs and economic impact of the emerging offshore wind industry. It found that the deployment of 1,600 MW of offshore wind is estimated to support 6,870-9,850 job years over the next 10 years and generate a total economic impact in Massachusetts of $1.4 billion-$2.1 billion.

“The New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal provides Massachusetts with an important piece of infrastructure that will be critical in helping the offshore wind industry to establish operations in this new American marketplace,” says Stephen Pike, CEO of MassCEC.

“Today’s announcement not only cements Vineyard Wind’s commitment to stage the nation’s first industrial-scale offshore wind project from the Port of New Bedford, but it reinforces New Bedford’s leadership position in offshore wind energy,” adds New Bedford’s mayor, Jon Mitchell.

Read the full story at North American Wind Power

MASSACHUSETTS: Portsmouth boat captain falsified fishing logs to get disaster funds

October 23, 2018 — A fishing boat captain, with a home port of Portsmouth, agreed to plead guilty to a federal charge stating he provided false fishing logs to state Fish and Game officials to fraudulently obtain fishery disaster-relief funds.

The captain, David Bardzik, endorsed the federal plea agreement with his attorney Jerome Blanchard on Oct. 10 and neither could immediately be reached for comment. Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Rombeau is prosecuting the case and a spokesman for the federal prosecutor’s office did not return a request for additional information.

The plea agreement, however, summarizes the case and a plea hearing is scheduled for Oct. 30 in U.S. District Court of New Hampshire.

Bardzik signed the agreement noting prosecutors could prove he operated the “for hire” sport fishing boat Ultimate Catch, “generally catering to small outings such as family day trips or bachelor parties.” The federal record notes in May 2015 Bardzik was notified that, based on a review of his records, he was not qualified to receive disaster-relief funds implemented after the fishing industry was impacted by Hurricane Sandy and in anticipation of quota cuts for groundfish stocks.

Fisheries directors from New England, in partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, distributed about $33 million of the disaster-relief funds, the plea agreement states. To qualify in New Hampshire, commercial and for-hire fishermen were required to have taken at least 15 trips in each of the calendar years 2010-2013 and have Fishing Vessel Trip Reports (FVTR) showing at lease one ground fish species was recorded as harvested.

In an appeal to the denial of federal funds, Bardzik submitted FVTRs documenting several 2013 fishing trips, several of which “were false or altered,” the plea agreement states. The reports are originally completed in triplicate and must account for every day in a fishing season, even if to report no trip was taken, the federal record notes.

When the state compared Bardzik’s original filings, with his filings on appeal for the federal money, “they noticed substantial discrepancies,” Bardzik’s plea agreement states.

Read the full story at Seacoast Online

MASSACHUSETTS: Cape Cod landing for offshore wind cable approved by Barnstable

October 23, 2018 — If all goes as planned, an underwater transmission cable for the nation’s first commercial-scale offshore wind plant will land at a Cape Cod beach.

Barnstable officials on Thursday agreed to grant Vineyard Wind a power cable easement at Covell Beach in the village of Centerville. The vote followed negotiation of a host community agreement that will pay the town up to $32 million over the next 25 years.

Vineyard Wind, based in New Bedford, says it’s on schedule to build its wind power station 34 miles off Cape Cod and 14 miles from Martha’s Vineyard. The company plans 106 turbines in a $2 billion project, and hopes to be operational in 2021.

The state’s Energy Facilities siting Board will have final say over the cable route, and environmental and fisheries considerations are part of the discussion. Other state and federal permits are still needed.

Vineyard Wind is a 50-50 partnership between Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and Avangrid Renewables, and was selected in May by state officials and utility representatives to supply 800 megawatts of renewable power to Massachusetts.

The project will reduce the state’s carbon emissions by over 1.6 million tons per year, the equivalent of removing 325,000 cars, and power 400,000 homes, the company stated.

Read the full story at MassLive

BOEM requires transit corridors for offshore wind energy areas

October 22, 2018 — The federal Bureau of Offshore Energy Management is requiring offshore wind energy developers to set aside vessel transit corridors, amid intense discussions with the commercial fishing industry.

In a notice published Friday in the Federal Register, the agency announced it would offer an additional 390,000 acres south of Massachusetts for lease on Dec. 13. That would extend large areas already leased from Block Island, R.I., to south of Martha’s Vineyard.

The BOEM notice includes a new requirement for planning safe transit lanes through future arrays of turbine towers on the shallow continental shelf.

“The fishing industry has raised concerns with the ability to safely transit the existing and offered leases, particularly with their ability to quickly and safely return to port during inclement weather,” agency officials wrote.

At a Sept. 20 meeting in Massachusetts, Coast Guard officials and fishing industry groups proposed transit lanes through the leases to BOEM and wind developers Baystate Wind, Vineyard Wind and Deepwater Wind (since merged with Norwegian energy company Equinor, formerly known as Statoil).

“Representatives from the squid, groundfish, scallop, and other fisheries agreed that the two nautical-mile-wide transit corridors through the existing leases would provide the ability to safely transit to and from the fishing grounds. BOEM expects these, or similar, transit corridors to be finalized in the near future, and future lessees will be required to incorporate them into their plans,” the lease sale notice states.

Read the full story at Work Boat   

 

RODA Hosts Vineyard Wind Workshop October 31st in Warwick, R.I.

October 22, 2018 — The following was released by the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance:

The Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA) will convene a one-day workshop on October 31st, 2018 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Warwick, Rhode Island from 9 am-5 pm. The workshop will have two objectives:

To establish consensus on fishing transit lanes on the Vineyard Wind and adjacent lease sites; and
To provide broad-level input to Vineyard Wind regarding potential fisheries mitigation framework strategies.

This facilitated workshop will include representatives from the affected fishing industry, the states of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, Vineyard Wind, Ørsted, Deepwater Wind, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, National Marine Fisheries Service, and others. We urge all interested fishing industry participants to attend and provide feedback on these critically important issues.

Background

The Massachusetts Fisheries Working Group on Offshore Wind has spent considerable time over the past several months developing consensus on transit corridors through the wind energy lease sites in federal waters off of Massachusetts and Rhode Island that are acceptable to the fishing industry from safety and operational perspectives. The Rhode Island Fisheries Advisory Board has also engaged at length on this issue. At its meeting on September 20th, the Massachusetts group finalized a document that represented broad consensus from fishing industry and other participants. That recommendation is described in the following map:

Since then, certain interests have stated that they will not support the recommendation and there is now a great deal of uncertainty regarding what transit lanes will ultimately be proposed and approved. Therefore, this workshop is intended to consider minor revisions to that recommendation in order to achieve certainty surrounding the transit issue, using the MA consensus document as a starting point for the discussion.

Additionally, Vineyard Wind is in the process of developing fisheries mitigation recommendations for its lease site, which it will finalize in the very near future. This forum will allow an opportunity for the fishing industry to provide general input on elements of a successful mitigation plan for Vineyard Wind’s consideration.

For questions or additional information, please contact Annie Hawkins at annie@rodafisheries.org.

Atlantic Herring Massachusetts/New Hampshire Spawning Closure in Effect October 26 through November 22, 2018

October 19, 2018 — The following was released by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission:

The Atlantic herring Area 1A (inshore Gulf of Maine) fishery regulations include seasonal spawning closures for portions of state and federal waters in Eastern Maine, Western Maine, and Massachusetts/New Hampshire. The Atlantic States marine Fisheries Commission’s Atlantic Herring Management Board (previously Atlantic Herring Section) approved a forecasting method that relies upon at least three samples, each containing at least 25 female herring in gonadal states III-V, to trigger a spawning closure.

Eight samples of female herring were collected to evaluate spawning condition. Based on the analysis of the samples, the Massachusetts/New Hampshire spawning area will be closed starting at 12:00 a.m. on October 26, 2018 extending through 11:59 p.m. on November 22, 2018. Vessels in the directed Atlantic herring fishery cannot take, land or possess Atlantic herring caught within the Massachusetts/New Hampshire spawning area during this time and must have all fishing gear stowed when transiting through the area. An incidental bycatch allowance of up to 2,000 pounds of Atlantic herring per trip/calendar day applies to vessels in non-directed fisheries that are fishing within the Massachusetts/New Hampshire spawning area.

The Massachusetts/New Hampshire spawning area includes all waters bounded by the Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine coasts, and 43° 30’ N and 70° 00’ W.

Please contact Megan Ware at 703.842.0740 or mware@asmfc.org for more information.

A copy of the announcement can be found here – http://www.asmfc.org/files/AtlHerring/MA_NHSpawningClosure_Oct2018.pdf.

Trump administration to hold Massachusetts offshore wind auction in December

October 19, 2018 — Nearly 400,000 acres of the Massachusetts Wind Energy Area will be up for grabs in December, as the Trump administration holds its next offshore wind auction, officials announced this week.

U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke revealed Wednesday that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will auction off 388,569 acres located on the Outer Continental Shelf offshore Massachusetts on Dec. 13.

A total of 19 companies — including Deepwater Wind New England, LLC, Mayflower Wind Energy LLC, and Northeast Wind Energy, LLC, among others — have qualified to take part in the auction, according to the agency’s final sale notice.

The bureau will auction off three leases that are located in an area where two former leases were unsold during the Atlantic Wind Lease Sale in January 2015. The new lease areas will respectively cover about 129,000 acres, 127,000 acres and 132,000 acres.

Zinke touted the December auction, offering that “the Massachusetts sale has a lot of potential for both energy and economic activity.”

“If fully developed, the wind auction could support approximately 4.1 gigawatts of power to supply nearly 1.5 million homes,” he said in a statement. “This is just one example of the importance of fostering wind energy as a new American industry.”

Read the full story at MassLive