Saving Seafood

Jon Mitchell: Wind Developers Must Take Fishermen Seriously

April 12, 2018 — Earlier this week, fishing industry officials sent a letter to Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker asking for a larger role in the decision making when it comes to granting the state’s first offshore wind contract.

The letter particularly asked for the New Bedford Port Authority to act as the mediator between commercial fishing and wind energy, and in his weekly appearance on WBSM, Mayor Jon Mitchell said that request makes “all the sense in the world.”

“The place where these two industries intersect more than anywhere else will be New Bedford,” he said, noting he agrees that the fishermen haven’t been given enough of a voice. “That’s why we’re prepared to do something about it.”

Mitchell, who as mayor is also chair of the Port Authority, says the fishermen have valid concerns that he feels may have fallen on deaf ears.

“It has to do with safe navigation through wind farms, and with the siting of new wind farms that might intrude on traditional fishing grounds,” he said. “Wind developers have to do a better job of taking fishermen seriously, and we’re going to work on that. We’re going to make sure that they are taken more seriously.”

Read the full story at WBSM

Massachusetts: Gov. Baker vows to hear voice of fishermen regarding offshore wind

April 11, 2018 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — Gov. Charlie Baker sat about 1,000 feet from the city’s waterfront as he discussed various aspects of the state with The Standard-Times on Tuesday. The proximity to the most valuable port in the United States wasn’t lost on him.

“I do not want (the fishing industry’s) voice to get lost, period,” Baker said. “And it won’t be.”

Through the National Coalition for Fishing Communities, scores of fishermen and organizations sent a letter to Baker on Monday to emphasize their concerns regarding the implementation of offshore wind facilities in areas where they make a living.

“Based on the past several months of interaction with the offshore wind industry, we do not have confidence that our interests are being adequately taken into account, nor will be in the future,” the letter said.

The letter also calls for the New Bedford Port Authority to take on the role of a central facilitator in discussion between the industries.

“I’m happy to have them as part of the mix, but there are a lot of people at the state and federal level who have an oar in this water as well, but, yeah, happy to have them as part of the mix,” Baker said.

The letter addressed to Baker outlined three aspects of concern held by the fishing industry: the project side and number of turbines; a lack of plan/process to study impacts; and no coordination or communication among projects.

Read the full industry letter here

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

 

Massachusetts: Fishing groups back New Bedford as wind liaison

April 10, 2018 — BOSTON — Fishing officials are calling for the New Bedford Port Authority to be the “central facilitator” for discussions between the offshore wind industry and fishermen.

Monday’s letter to Gov. Charlie Baker was sent by the National Coalition for Fishing Communities, a project of Saving Seafood, a group that New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell previously said was created by industry players in his city.

New Bedford is both the nation’s top fishing port as measured by the value of catch, mostly owing to the scallop fishery, and offshore wind developers have agreed to use the Whaling City’s harbor facilities as a staging area, so it is on its way to becoming an offshore wind hub, as well.

In the letter, officials also urged him to make the state’s first offshore windfarm “as modest in size and scope as possible” so that its effects can be studied and called for a possible delay in the selection of offshore wind partners.

“Three separate, developer-led outreach efforts have been launched, and all are stumbling to produce meaningful dialogue or move us closer to real solutions in areas ranging from navigation, access, cable routes, radar interference, and gear loss,” the coalition wrote. “Equally troubling, it has become clear that offshore wind developers are unwilling or unable to coordinate their interactions with commercial fishermen to tackle issues that cut across multiple project areas.”

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

 

MASSACHUSETTS: New Name, New Goals for New Bedford Harbor Officials

March 8, 2018 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — It’s tough to argue that the most-well known attribute of New Bedford is its internationally known commercial fishing port. After all, it is called the Whaling City.

Since its establishment on the shores of Acushnet in the 18th Century, New Bedford has grown into the highest grossing commercial fishing port in the United States, and has been an unmatched center of the industry on the East Coast for years.

Despite hundreds of years of success, port leaders and city officials are planning to grow and diversify it even more. On Wednesday, Port Director Ed Anthes-Washburn, Mayor Jon Mitchell, and Dr. Brian Rothschild announced that the Harbor Development Commission (HDC) has changed its name to the New Bedford Port Authority (NBPA) as part of a five-year strategic plan to further expand and diversify the port, as well as enhance its operations.

“We were formerly the New Bedford Harbor Development Commission which was developed in 1957. In 1957 the focus was on a smaller subset of things. Today we have our hands in a lot of different areas and we’re a very diverse and vibrant port,” Washburn explained. “We want regionally, nationally, and internationally to be recognized and the New Bedford Port Authority moniker does that a little better than the New Bedford Harbor Development Commission.”

Read the full story at WBSM