Saving Seafood

Blue Harvest files for bankruptcy, appears headed for liquidation

September 13, 2023 — Blue Harvest Fisheries, a private equity-backed venture that launched in 2015 at New Bedford and grew to become the largest groundfish permit owner on the East Coast, has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

The move comes after operations abruptly ended Sept. 1 at the company’s New Bedford plant. Publicly the company has been silent but fishermen who worked for it as independent contractors were told the company would stop fishing.

The Sept. 8 filings in federal court in Delaware show private equity firm Bregal Partners, with ties to the wealthy Brenninkmeijer family of Dutch industrialists, as owning 89.5 percent  of the parent company that owns Blue Harvest vessels, permits and other assets, the New Bedford Light reported Sept. 11.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

MASSACHUSETTS: Vineyard Wind and Foss begin moving turbine components offshore

September 12, 2023 — Vineyard Wind and its U.S. service contractor Foss Maritime began shipping pieces for the project’s first GE Haliade-X wind turbine out of the port of New Bedford, Mass., Sept. 6 to the first installation site more than 30 miles off Cape Cod.

It was a landmark for the joint venture by Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners to install 804 megawatts of capacity on the first utility-scale offshore wind array in U.S. federal waters. Foss Maritime is using two purpose-built 400’ deck barges, the Marmac and Foss Prevailing Wind, for Jones Act-compliant delivery of turbine components to  construction partner DEME Group’s Denmark-flagged 433’x150’ Sea Installer vessel with 300’ deep legs stationed 65 miles from New Bedford south of Martha’s Vineyard.

The barges were built using Barge Master technology that uses a patented control system and cylinders that support a platform and actively compensate the motions of the barge. The wind turbine components are fastened to the motion compensated platform for a smooth ride in ocean conditions.

“It may look easy, but the safe transportation of these components miles over the open water is no small feat,” Vineyard Wind CEO Klaus S. Moeller said in an announcement of the first barge movement out of New Bedford.  “While we’ve had many firsts, once this turbine is installed, it will stand as a proud symbol of American’s energy transition.  I want to thank all of our partners for their continued collaboration and look forward to celebrating the progress of our industry.”

Read the full article at WorkBoat

MASSACHUSETTS: Blue Harvest Fisheries files for Chapter 7 bankruptcy

September 12, 2023 — New Bedford, Massachusetts, U.S.A.-based Blue Harvest Fisheries has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection.

A Chapter 7 filing means the company has officially ceased all operations and its assets will be sold off in order to compensate its creditors. Blue Harvest’s fishing partners in New Bedford reported in late August the firm planned to terminate operations imminently.

Read the full articles SeafoodSource

Brian Helgeland’s ‘Finestkind’ is a New Bedford fishing story — and his most personal film yet

September 12, 2023 — Early in “Finestkind,” a Massachusetts-based family drama that recently premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, the crew of a New Bedford fishing boat huddles together, lit only by the glow of a flashlight. During a pause in the chatter, the boat’s rookie poses a crucial question to the group: “What the hell does ‘finestkind’ mean? You guys always say it.”

Brian Helgeland, the writer and director of “Finestkind,” is still sorting out the answer. “It means anything and everything,” he said over lunch just a few hours before his film’s premiere. “It’s kind of like you have to live the word to know what it means.”

Set and shot in New Bedford, “Finestkind” follows Charlie (Toby Wallace), a recent college graduate with an English degree, as he joins his older half brother, Tom (Ben Foster), on a commercial fishing boat named Finestkind. Tom, a huffy but experienced captain, accepts his kid brother onto his crew grudgingly; he believes that Charlie, who grew up wealthy, should be working a white-collar job instead. The pair nonetheless grow close, until a work mishap strains their relationship and puts them in the tough situation of needing a load of cash fast. The film also features Tommy Lee Jones as Tom’s cantankerous father, a veteran fisherman facing health issues.

Read the full article at the Boston Globe

MASSACHUSETTS: Wind Power Demand High, But So Are Costs

September 10, 2023 — Gov. Maura Healey last week announced a new effort to procure up to 3,600 megawatts of offshore wind power – the largest call out to developers in the state’s history.

Together with three electric companies, the state is seeking projects to produce what amounts to about 25 per cent of Massachusetts’ annual electricity demand. The new request for proposals will likely be welcomed by offshore wind energy developers that have stalled under pre-pandemic agreements to supply power to the state’s main utility companies.

Two companies with plans to place wind turbines off Martha’s Vineyard have agreed to pay tens of millions of dollars to get out of old contracts that they said made the projects economically unviable.

The procurement push from the state is for projects that already have a lease in the outer continental shelf area more than 10 miles south of the Island and signals a willingness to offer developers flexibility as the state strives for more renewable energy.

“With our top academic institutions, robust workforce training programs, innovative companies and support from every level of government – Massachusetts is all-in on offshore wind,” Ms. Healey said in a statement on August 30.

The day before the state’s announcement, SouthCoast Wind agreed to pay $60 million to get out of its contract with three utilities that it had promised to supply power to from the proposed farm 30 miles off the Island. Commonwealth Wind, another developer planning to build to the south of Martha’s Vineyard, agreed to pay $48 million earlier this year.

“Closing these contracts was never the plan but impacts of Covid-related supply chain disruptions and the war in Ukraine made them unfinanceable,” SouthCoast Wind spokesperson Martha Keeley said in a statement to the Gazette.

Read the full article at the Vineyard Gazette

MASSACHUSETTS: Wind Power Demand High, But So Are Costs

September 10, 2023 — Gov. Maura Healey last week announced a new effort to procure up to 3,600 megawatts of offshore wind power – the largest call out to developers in the state’s history.

Together with three electric companies, the state is seeking projects to produce what amounts to about 25 per cent of Massachusetts’ annual electricity demand. The new request for proposals will likely be welcomed by offshore wind energy developers that have stalled under pre-pandemic agreements to supply power to the state’s main utility companies.

Two companies with plans to place wind turbines off Martha’s Vineyard have agreed to pay tens of millions of dollars to get out of old contracts that they said made the projects economically unviable.

The procurement push from the state is for projects that already have a lease in the outer continental shelf area more than 10 miles south of the Island and signals a willingness to offer developers flexibility as the state strives for more renewable energy.

“With our top academic institutions, robust workforce training programs, innovative companies and support from every level of government – Massachusetts is all-in on offshore wind,” Ms. Healey said in a statement on August 30.

The day before the state’s announcement, SouthCoast Wind agreed to pay $60 million to get out of its contract with three utilities that it had promised to supply power to from the proposed farm 30 miles off the Island. Commonwealth Wind, another developer planning to build to the south of Martha’s Vineyard, agreed to pay $48 million earlier this year.

“Closing these contracts was never the plan but impacts of Covid-related supply chain disruptions and the war in Ukraine made them unfinanceable,” SouthCoast Wind spokesperson Martha Keeley said in a statement to the Gazette.

Read the full article at Vineyard Gazette

MASSACHUSETTS: Boston Seafood Festival takes over the historic Fish Pier this Sunday

September 10, 2023 — In a momentous celebration of Boston’s rich seafood heritage, the iconic Fish Pier in the Seaport will close to the public on Sunday, Sept. 10, to be used exclusively for the annual Boston Seafood Festival.

According to Chris Basile, president of the Boston Fisheries Foundation and founder/CEO of Seawitch Inc., the festival is a year-round labor of love. There will be food vendors, kid activities, an oyster shucking contest, fish cutting demonstrations and more.

“It’s to celebrate the seafood industry in Boston,” said Basile on Boston Public Radio. “As you know, Boston is the hub of the universe when it comes to seafood. More fish is shipped in and out of Boston than almost anywhere.”

One of the key players helping to keep Boston’s seafood industry alive — and located right on the pier — is Denarius Trading Co., founded by Paul Vincent Hagan III.

Read the full article at WGBH

MASSACHUSETTS: Blue Harvest shuts down fishing operations

September 6, 2023 — Blue Harvest Fisheries in New Bedford has closed down all its fishing operations.

The New Bedford Light is reporting the shutdown comes after the company spent the last five years selling off assets in an apparent effort to stay afloat.

But Blue Harvest, which was founded in 2015, also acquired assets during that period. In 2020, the company bought 12 vessels and 27 permits from the holdings of Carlos Rafael, the fishing mogul who was convicted of fraud and tax evasion.

Jared Auerbach, the CEO of the seafood distributor Red’s Best says Blue Harvest is huge — owning a quarter of the region’s groundfish fleet. Red’s Best was a customer of Blue Harvest.

Read the full article at CAI

MASSACHUSETTS: Healey launches offshore wind procurement at risky time

September 5, 2023 — GOV. MAURA HEALEY launched what she described as the region’s largest offshore wind procurement this week. “With our top academic institutions, robust workforce training programs, innovative companies, and support from every level of government – Massachusetts is all-in on offshore wind,” she said.

But what her press release failed to mention was that this procurement comes at a very risky time for offshore wind, with the industry battered by economic and supply chain challenges and developers responding by pushing for higher prices for the electricity being produced.

In July, Rhode Island’s largest utility opted not to move forward with a wind farm deal because the cost “was deemed too expensive for customers to bear.”

A new study released this week indicates the developers of four proposed New York wind farms are seeking revisions to previously approved power purchase agreements that would boost the price anywhere from 27 percent to 66 percent, with a weighted average increase across all four wind farms of 48 percent.

The study, by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), raises questions about some aspects of the wind developers’ proposed price increases, but overall it says the market conditions that have engulfed the industry are legitimate and real.

“These market conditions, driven in large part by increased demand for raw materials, an increased demand for large-scale renewable energy caused primarily by the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, as well as supply chain constraints and bottlenecks, are unprecedented in recent history, outside of reasonable developer control, and were unforeseeable at the time of each bid,” the study says.

Read the full article at CommonWealth Magazine

Offshore wind is here, but who’s really getting the work?

September 2, 2023 — As a golden sunrise lights up New Bedford’s commercial fishing fleet, an unusual passenger ship is steaming out of the harbor toward Vineyard Wind.

The vessel is painted all over in a single color — battleship gray — though it’s not military or law enforcement.

Seated at the helm, Captain Fred Spaid says the look is deliberate.

“We were coming around Cape Hatteras this spring and came up on a catamaran sailboat. He calls us up on the radio, … and he said, ‘Are you guys with the Navy or the Coast Guard?’ I said, ‘Neither one,’” Spaid says, laughing. “But we do have that impression, and that is intentional, absolutely.”

Read the full article at CAI