Saving Seafood

News for the Mid Atlantic Region

Equinor says it could cancel New York offshore wind project over Trump order

May 13, 2025 — The developer of a major U.S. offshore wind project warned that it will cancel the Empire Wind facility off the coast of New York if it cannot in the coming days reach a resolution over a month-old stop-work order issued by the Trump administration.

Molly Morris, president of the U.S. renewable energy arm of Norway’s Equinor, said the company was spending $50 million a week to keep the project afloat.

“The situation is now unsustainable,” Morris said in an interview.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum ordered Equinor to halt construction on the project on April 17, saying information suggested the administration of former President Joe Biden may have approved it without a thorough environmental analysis.

Read the full article at Reuters

Virginia and East coast fishery managers remain vigilant over status of Atlantic striped bass

May 13, 2025 — Virginia fishery managers and others from Maine to North Carolina, as well as members of the public, convened on Tuesday to decide the next steps to protect the future of Atlantic striped bass, a valued and remarkable animal facing consecutive years of low spawning success and an overfished stock.

Atlantic striped bass have been referred to as “everyman’s fish” because they are caught by such a wide population of anglers up and down the coast, said Alex McCrickard, the aquatic education coordinator for the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources.

Their native range in Virginia spans from the freshwater spawning grounds of inland, tidal rivers like the Rappahannock, York and James to the salty, ocean waters off the Eastern seaboard.

Regulations for Virginia’s coastal, migratory striped bass stock are managed by the Virginia Marine Resources Commission in conjunction with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), who manages interstate fishery regulations for the stock between Maine and North Carolina.

Anglers can utilize a wide range of gear types and techniques to catch striped bass. Some target the fish for the excitement of catch and release, while others seek them out to harvest as a culinary staple.

As a resource, striped bass make up one of the “most valuable recreational fisheries on the Atlantic Coast,” said Emilie Franke, a fishery management plan coordinator for ASMFC. “I think one of the really unique things about it is that the fisheries really vary from state to state.”

“The Chesapeake Bay is as important to the striped bass and its successful life history” as the fish are to the coastal communities and economies of the region, said Allison Colden, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s executive director for Maryland.

Read the full article at Virginia Mercury

Trump Faces Challenge to Offshore Wind Directive

May 8, 2025 — New Jersey is one of nearly two dozen states plus the District of Columbia to sue the federal government over President Donald J. Trump’s executive order halting approvals of wind energy development.

“It is deeply disappointing that the Trump administration is illegally attempting to block our state from developing new sources of power through their across-the-broad freeze on wind energy,” state Attorney General Matthew Platkin said.

With the stroke of his pen, Trump temporarily withdrew offshore wind leasing on the Outer Continental Shelf and implemented a review of the federal government’s leasing and permitting practices for wind energy on Jan. 20, the same day he declared a national energy emergency.

The order went into effect Jan. 21 and will remain in place unless it is repealed. The rights of existing leases in the withdrawn areas are not impacted by the withdrawal, under the memorandum.

Read the full story at The SandPaper

Tariffs could add $500M to cost of Virginia Beach offshore wind farm, Dominion tells investors

May 7, 2025 — Dominion Energy expects to pay more to complete the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project because of the Trump administration’s new taxes on imported goods including monopile foundations and turbine towers.

The $10.8 billion offshore wind farm about 30 miles off the Virginia Beach coast will be the nation’s largest, consisting of 176 turbines that generate about 2.6 gigawatts of electricity, or enough to power up to 660,000 homes.

Dominion CEO Bob Blue told investors last week that if current tariffs continue through construction of the project late next year, the utility would expect about $500 million in added costs.

“Of course, changes to future tariff policy could affect these estimates,” he said. “It’s difficult to fully assess the impact tariffs may have to the project’s final cost, as actual costs incurred are dependent upon the tariff requirements and rates, if any, at the time of delivery of the specific component.”

Read the full story at the Virginia Mercury

DARAWN KENNER: Facts, not rhetoric, should drive menhaden decisions

May 6, 2025 — In the debate over the future of the Atlantic menhaden fishery, working families are being pushed to the margins. The fishermen, plant workers and coastal community members who have sustained this industry for generations are too often falsely portrayed as obstacles to conservation. Meanwhile, environmental activist groups are assumed to speak for the public good. But regulators and members of the public should not accept the premise that these groups speak for the public interest simply because they say so on their websites.

Blind trust in activist groups has serious consequences. It gives disproportionate influence to organizations with agendas shaped not just by science or stewardship, but by fundraising goals and ideology. Take, for example, the recent formation of the Atlantic Menhaden Chesapeake Bay Work Group. Its assumption, that menhaden harvests are driving a decline in fledgling osprey survival, is not supported by the best available science. Yet it has shaped public discourse and policy proposals, in part because its leaders come from high-profile nonprofits such as the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the Audubon Society.

Let’s be clear: We are not against responsible conservation. Many of us are fourth- or fifth-generation members of this fishery. Our lives depend on healthy ecosystems, and we support science-based management to ensure that menhaden and the marine food web remain strong. We welcomed the development of Ecological Reference Points (ERPs), which incorporate predator needs into harvest decisions. But even as those were adopted, some activists criticized them — not because the science was flawed, but because the outcome didn’t slash harvest levels to their liking.

This reveals a deeper truth: For some groups, no amount of responsible management is enough. They move from one manufactured crisis to the next, each time casting commercial fishermen as the villain. It is not members of the charter and for-hire sectors — comprised of hard-working watermen like ourselves — but well-funded industry organizations such as the American Sportfishing Association and the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership that lead these attacks on our livelihoods. Complaints about the reduction fishery are as old as the fishery. The same recycled arguments have been made since the 1800s.

Read the full opinion piece at the Virginian-Pilot

Why the Fishing Industry Fought: Inside the Battle Over Chevron

May 2, 2025 — Wayne Reichle – who’s been in the fishing business his whole life – had never heard of the Chevron doctrine. That’s the two-step legal test that courts used for the past 40 years to decide whether a federal agency had the authority to make a regulation.

“No idea,” said Reichle, president of New Jersey-based Lund’s Fisheries. “Myself, and many, many fellow fishermen had no idea what the Chevron doctrine was.”

That changed after a group of fishermen challenged a federal regulation requiring the herring industry to pay for onboard federal observers. “I think there’s quite a few that know what the Chevron doctrine is today,” Reichle said.

This season on UnCommon Law, we’re exploring the limits of agency power. To what extent are federal agencies authorized to create and implement regulations that aren’t explicitly mandated by Congress? And what happens when an agency goes too far? In this episode, the story of the fishermen who fought back.

Listen to the full story at Bloomberg Law

Sens. Sullivan, Booker reintroduce Keep Finfish Free Act

May 1, 2025 — Legislation to prohibit federal agencies from issuing permits or taking other action to authorize or facilitate commercial finfish aquaculture operations in the exclusive economic zone was reintroduced in the U.S. Senate on April 30 by Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J. and Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska.

The Keep Finfish Free Act, which would apply to all waters from 3-200 nautical miles offshore, is a step consistent with current Alaska state law, which bans offshore finfish farming in state waters.

“This legislation would ban risky fish farming operations in federal waters that could jeopardize the health of our fish species and undermine Alaska’s coastal fishing communities,” Sullivan said.

Read the full story at The Cordova Times

As the federal government targets offshore wind, leaders gather in Virginia Beach to discuss industry’s future

May 1, 2025 — Local, national and international leaders in offshore wind have gathered in Virginia Beach this week to discuss how to keep pushing the industry forward.

The International Partnering Forum, hosted by the Oceantic Network, is promoting the far-reaching offshore wind supply chain and celebrating ongoing projects.

That includes Dominion Energy’s 176-turbine wind farm under construction just a few dozen miles away off the coast, which will be the nation’s largest.

“We are positioning Virginia Beach to become one of the main offshore wind energy hubs in this nation,” said Mayor Bobby Dyer. The city is “taking steps to work with other regions and nations to ensure this future success.”

But uncertainty and strong challenges loomed large, as officials frankly discussed President Donald Trump’s efforts to halt offshore wind.

Read the full story at WHRO

NC Division of Marine Fisheries urges fishermen to complete license, permit renewals early

April 24, 2025 — The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Marine Fisheries began renewing commercial fishing, seafood dealer and for-hire licenses and permits on April 15, and the division is asking fishermen go ahead and get this business done in April or May.

Those who renew in these months may find reduced wait times, as opposed to those who wait until late June, noted a DMF news release.

Another way to avoid long lines is to renew by mail or drop-box or schedule an appointment for April or May. Those with appointments will be given priority over walk-ins.

Read the full story at The Coastland Times

Interior won’t release evidence for blocked NY wind farm

April 23, 2025 — The Interior Department says it stopped work on a New York offshore wind farm because the project’s permit was based on “bad & flawed science.”

It has yet to produce that science.

Interior has offered little explanation for its decision last week to halt work on Empire Wind. Its public statements have been limited to a pair of social media posts by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, who initially announced the decision on X last week and followed up with a post Monday saying the move was based on findings from NOAA.

Read the full story at E&E News