Saving Seafood

MASSACHUSETTS: New Bedford fishermen get the nuts and the bolts of the Vineyard Wind compensation fund

March 23, 2024 — John Verissimo works as a fishing consultant following his career as a fishing boat captain and often answers calls about how the new Vineyard Wind Fisheries Compensation Fund will work.

“Basically, every day I’ll get a call from someone who will tell me, I need help with this, I need help with that, and if I don’t have the answer, I’ll get it,’ he said. “I support them by making sure they know what’s going on.”

He said he wants the fishermen who are eligible for this first-of-its-kind fund to feel comfortable with the process so that they will apply.

“My thing is I make sure that everyone understands this is the simplest way,” he said. “You’re going to wait, so the best thing to do is open this door and send in these things and let them know you’re working on the rest, and that way you don’t miss out.”

Read the full article at the Standard-Times

Shell Sells Position in U.S. SouthCoast Offshore Wind JV to Partner

March 23, 2024 — The realignment in the offshore wind sector continues with Shell reporting that it is honing its portfolio. In the latest move, Shell New Energies exited its 50 percent stake in SouthCoast Wind Energy which is in the permitting process for a 2.4 GW wind farm to be located off the coast of Massachusetts. It is the latest step seeing the energy giant reduce its participation in wind energy.

SouthCoast Wind was formed as a 50-50 joint venture in 2018 to develop offshore wind projects with its first lease for a site 30 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard and 23 miles south of Nantucket. The company is a partnership with Ocean Winds North America, which in turn is a partnership between EDP Renewables and ENGIE. When EDPR and ENGIE combined their offshore wind assets and project pipeline to create Ocean Winds in 2019, the company had a total of 1.5 GW under construction and 4.0 GW under development. In addition to SouthCoast Wind, Ocean Winds has Bluepoint Wind in the New York Bight and recently won the lease for Golden State Wind in the first auction for sites offshore from California.

The SouthCoast Wind project is still in the permitting stage with Rhode Island conducting hearings last month. The first phase of the project which would deliver approximately 1.2 GW via an electric grid connection in Massachusetts is targeted for the late 2020s. SouthCoast Wind still developing plans for the second phase of the project.

Read the full article at The Maritime Executive

‘A lot of people are upset.’ Vineyard Wind compensation offer for fishermen stirs worries

March 20, 2024 — Commercial fishers who are sharing part of their customary fishing waters with Vineyard Wind may be eligible for compensation through the developers’ Fisheries Compensatory Mitigation Program — one that offers a $19.1 million bucket for Massachusetts fishers to dip into, and a combined $7.5 million for fishers from other states who’ve routinely plied the same area in recent years.

“It’s focused on fishermen who have traditionally fished in the area,” said Crista Bank, fisheries manager for Vineyard Wind.

So, in order to be eligible, fishers will need to show they’ve fished within the project’s lease area forat least three yearsbetween 2016 and 2022.

It’s meant to bring relief to fishers already limited by regulations and allowable catch volumes, though there are many questions among fishermen, as well as criticism that there isn’t enough funding, the eligibility criteria are too limiting, and the program doesn’t take into account the effects fishers who work outside of the lease area may experience.

A joint venture of Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, the 804-megawatt Vineyard Wind project is under construction in the shallow waters of the outer continental shelf 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard. There are 62 turbines, each a mile apart, planned for the nearly 261-square-mile lease area. Five of them became fully operational on Feb. 21.

Read the full article at Cape Cod Times

 

Horseshoe crabs, prized by the biomedical industry for their blood, to get new protections in Massachusetts

March 20, 2024 — As the weather warms each year on Cape Cod, an ancient species older than dinosaurs crawls up just below the sandy shores to spawn. Then in the midst of their mass mating event, the unlucky ones are plucked up by fishermen and pharmaceutical companies alike: Horseshoe crabs as good for bait as they are for testing new vaccines using their bright blue blood.

But this year, horseshoe crabs in Massachusetts will return to uninhibited procreation. For the first time, the state will ban collecting the crabs during the animal’s spawning season.

Massachusetts’ protections for the crabs have long lagged behind other states with biomedical fisheries. The new ban will put Massachusetts on the other side of the spectrum with among the strictest regulations on horseshoe crab harvesting in the country. The controversial ban was approved Tuesday after a commission that represents the fishing industry gave its blessing; the regulation still awaits final approval by the governor, which is expected this spring.

The blood of horseshoe crabs, which are more similar to scorpions or spiders than crabs, is the main ingredient in an important pharmaceutical test to determine whether vaccines are safe to administer to humans. Their blood has been used to test vaccines for contamination since the 1970s because it naturally clots around harmful bacteria. An alternative synthetic test has been developed but has not yet been approved by US drug regulators for widespread use.

Read the full article at The Boston Globe

MASSACHUSETTS: Offshore wind compensation programs open for Mass. fishermen

March 20, 2024 — With two offshore wind projects (partially) up and running, Massachusetts fishing permit and vessel owners may now enroll in compensation programs to cover economic losses caused by the construction and operations of wind farms. The millions in funds are available to fishermen of certain states, but depending on the state they fish out of or the project they’re affected by, they’ll encounter different rules and conditions in order to receive that compensation.

Because the projects and funds are independent of (and different from) one another, fishermen must apply separately to be eligible for each program. This process, and criticism of it, have prompted efforts underway at the state and national level to establish a regional or national fund that would standardize and simplify the process across states, fisheries and developers.

Fishing vessels are not barred from transiting or fishing in the wind leases once construction is completed. However, some captains are wary of towing their nets within and may outright avoid the arrays, where turbines are spaced one-nautical mile apart and linked to one another via high voltage cables buried at least 5 feet deep.

Developers are encouraged to follow a hierarchy when it comes to project impacts: first avoid, then minimize, then mitigate. Compensation falls within that last step. When other options (like avoidance of a fishery) are not possible, developers mitigate those impacts through these financial compensation programs.

Vineyard Wind’s program

Vineyard Wind entered an agreement with Massachusetts in 2020, establishing a $19 million fund to compensate affected fishermen and shoreside businesses that provide goods or services to the fishing industry.

“The launch of these funds is the latest example of our commitment to working with the fishing industry to create successful programs together,” said Crista Bank, the fisheries manager for Vineyard Offshore (Vineyard Wind’s parent company), when the program opened this month. “We’ve also employed dozens of fishing vessels to work on different scopes of the project, a model we hope to expand as we develop projects around North America.”

Read the full article at The New Bedford Light

More ocean space for offshore wind

March 20, 2024 — Opening a new frontier in the region’s offshore wind power push, the federal government on Friday finalized its designation of a two million-acre wind energy area off the coasts of Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said the designated Gulf of Maine area would support President Joe Biden’s goals of deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy capacity by 2030 and 15 gigawatts of floating offshore wind energy capacity by 2035.

The area, which ranges from 23 to 92 miles off the coasts of the three states, has the potential to support generation of 32 gigawatts of clean energy, the bureau said. That amount of energy surpasses “current state goals for offshore wind energy in the Gulf of Maine: 10 GW for Massachusetts and 3 GW for Maine,” BOEM said.

Read the full article at the New Bedford Light

US judge overturns closure of Massachusetts Restricted Area Wedge to commercial fishing

March 19, 2024 — A federal judge has overturned restrictions on lobster and Jonah crab fishing off the U.S. state of Massachusetts, ruling that a 2023 law restricting fishing gear to protect whales applies to an emergency rule enacted by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS).

That emergency rule entailed NMFS seeking to extend 2022-23 area closures in the Massachusetts Restricted Area Wedge, making late winter and spring gear restrictions permanent when endangered North Atlantic right whales are often in the area.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Predicted economic stability arriving just in time for financially stressed seafood industry

March 18, 2024 – The seafood industry has faced strong headwinds over the past two years, and the system of financial institutions supporting it didn’t have it any easier.

A panel of financial experts at Seafood Expo North America, which ran from 10 to 12 March in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A., said 2022 and 2023 represented one of the toughest operating environments for lenders and financial institutions in recent memory.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

MASSACHUSETTS: State closes shellfish areas in Buzzards Bay after public health concerns

March 14, 2024 — The state is issuing a shellfish closure in parts of Buzzards Bay in an area, following guidance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Officials concluded a bigger buffer zone is needed between the outflow from the New Bedford and Fairhaven Wastewater Treatment plant and the area where shellfishermen are growing and harvesting.

Bob Glenn, deputy director of the Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF), said as filter feeders, bi-valve shellfish are highly vulnerable to contamination from polluted waters, which can create health issues if consumed.

“Because municipal waste — even treated municipal waste — has a fair amount of E.Coli in it, it basically can lead to a whole host of different gastrointestinal illnesses,” he said.

According to officials, the closure will impact some recreational shellfishermen, the city of New Bedford, which had hoped to open up an aquaculture industry within the Clark’s Cove area, and two quahog harvesters — effective immediately.

Read the full article at CAI

MASSACHUSETTS: State shutting down many South Coast shellfish beds due to sewage

March 13, 2024 — The Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries is immediately shutting down thousands of acres of shellfish beds surrounding the New Bedford and Fairhaven wastewater treatment plant outfalls to comply with federal health and safety standards.

More than 18,000 acres of the Dartmouth, Fairhaven and New Bedford coastline, including quahogging areas off the outer New Bedford Harbor, will be reclassified from being conditionally approved shellfishing areas to prohibited. This means the state will not permit harvesting shellfish from these areas under any conditions.

The decision represents a roughly 11,000-acre increase in closures from the roughly 7,000 acres in New Bedford Harbor that were closed in October 2023 over concerns about sewage contamination. The state agency will not be revisiting the classifications for another year, at least.

Shellfish beds along roughly 90,000 acres of lower Buzzards Bay — from Westport to Mattapoisett, and out to the Elizabeth Islands — will also be reclassified, from being approved shellfishing areas to conditionally approved. These beds will be open to harvest except under emergency conditions like sewage overflows, which occur during heavy rains. Shellfish caught in those areas also cannot be sold to the European Union.

“Here in Massachusetts, we pride ourselves on our nation-leading seafood industry, including culturally and economically important traditions of shellfishing in Buzzards Bay,” Department of Fish & Game Commissioner Tom O’Shea said.

“While it’s difficult to see any additional areas closed to shellfishing, these actions are necessary to comply with national standards and protect consumers from real public health risks.”

The shellfish bed reclassifications will affect recreational fishermen on the west side of Fairhaven, and two commercial quahog fishermen who historically dredge the offshore beds, DMF officials said. These vessels had commercial landings of less than $20,000 in 2020.

There will be no recourse for fishermen affected by the closures. However, they can use other open and conditionally open beds to fish, a DMF official said.

Read the full article The New Bedford Light