Saving Seafood

MASSACHUSETTS: Massive wind turbine parts arrive in New Bedford harbor

May 25, 2023 — The first wind turbine components arrived in the Port of New Bedford Wednesday afternoon on a nearly 500-foot heavy load carrier, sailing through the hurricane barrier without incident at around 4:50 p.m. and wowing those who watched the massive ship enter the harbor.

After days of travel across the Atlantic Ocean, the UHL Felicity arrived from Portugal, met by New Bedford Police boat escorts and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which manages the New Bedford hurricane barrier.

Small groups of curious onlookers and reporters watched from both the New Bedford and Fairhaven sides of the barrier gates as the blue-hulled carrier, with white tower components lying on top, glided into the harbor. It took about an hour after that for it to slowly back in — with the help of two tugboats — and dock at the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal.

The Light for nearly two weeks has been tracking several vessels in the U.S. and Europe that are set to support the nation’s first commercial-scale wind farm, Vineyard Wind. With New Bedford serving as the construction and staging base, several barges, carriers and supply ships will be coming to the port in the next several months, some making repeated trips.

Read the full article at the New Bedford Light

New Bedford Port Authority weighs in on fisheries mitigation for offshore wind

May 24, 2023 — As offshore wind companies seek permits for new projects, officials in New Bedford are weighing in on the impact on the fishing industry.

SouthCoast Wind, formerly Mayflower Wind, is proposing a 2,400-megawatt offshore wind project located 30 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard.

New Bedford Port Authority Executive Director Gordon Carr is calling for SouthCoast Wind to follow Vineyard Wind’s lead in support of local fisheries programs and projects. Vineyard Wind is closing in on construction of its wind farm.

In a letter to the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management that oversees the process, Carr responded to the request for comments about SouthCoast’s draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) outlining the impact of the project.

Read the full article at the Standard-Times

MASSACHUSETTS: Profitable Port of New Bedford draws IRS scrutiny of tax evading fishermen

May 10, 2023 — The national average for federal tax compliance is 83.6% over every type of industry.

In the commercial fishing industry, that compliance rate drops to 65%, said Joleen Simpson, special agent in charge of the IRS Criminal Investigation, Boston Field Office.

“That’s well under the average. So we’re really trying to make sure that we have the industry come under compliance,” Simpson said.

As the nation’s number one commercial fishing port, New Bedford is very much on the radar.

“The statistics we have cover the six New England states but really the fishing industry is significant in Rhode Island, Maine and Massachusetts, with, of course, New Bedford being the most valuable port not only in New England but in the United States,” said IRS Criminal Investigation Supervisory Special Agent Matthew Amsden.

Read the full article at Standard-Times

Panel of scientists to study impact of wind turbines on endangered right whales

April 27, 2023 — A committee of scientists and experts convened this week to begin a monthslong process of independently evaluating potential impacts of offshore wind development on the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale and its primary food source.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), the lead regulator on offshore wind, called for an independent review by a committee under the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine.

The committee has a technical name, “Evaluation of Hydrodynamic Modeling and Implications for Offshore Wind Development: Nantucket Shoals,” but in simpler terms, it will evaluate the scientific models BOEM uses to inform assessments of wind turbine impacts.

According to an agency spokesperson, BOEM recognized the need for an independent evaluation of existing science on potential impacts of wind development as it relates to right whales and availability of the tiny crustaceans they feed on, also called zooplankton.

The Light first reported an inter-agency letter from a NOAA Fisheries scientist to BOEM last year that expressed concern on impacts of wind development on right whales. The scientist recommended restricting turbines in some parts of the Massachusetts-Rhode Island wind energy area, particularly those abutting the Nantucket shoals — a region that has become a critical area of foraging, breeding and calf rearing for right whales during much of the year.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Light

Blown Away: Offshore wind regulators ignore danger to fishing industry

April 18, 2023 — Last May, Tommy Beaudreau touted the potential of renewable energy sources like offshore wind to an audience that included some of his government colleagues and former industry clients.

“This industry, this group of people in the room today, really are the key to unlocking that clean energy future,” Beaudreau, the deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior, proclaimed at a conference hosted by the American Clean Power Association, a lobbying group largely funded by offshore wind developers.

Just one year earlier, Beaudreau had been a corporate lawyer, earning part of his $2.4 million income from offshore wind developers. Then he was appointed to regulate the industry he was previously paid to represent. During Beaudreau’s tenure, developers including several of his former clients have gained preliminary or final approvals for an unprecedented expansion of offshore wind, despite repeated warnings from federal scientists about potential harms to marine life and the fishing industry.

While the Trump administration put roadblocks in the path of offshore wind development, the Biden administration is fast-tracking clean alternatives like wind and solar to expand domestic energy production and slow the pace of climate change. In the next decade, 3,411 turbines and 9,874 miles of cable are slated to be built across 2.4 million acres of federally managed ocean.

Beaudreau is part of a revolving door between the government and offshore wind. Much as the Trump administration had a pipeline to and from oil and natural gas companies, in recent years at least 90 people have shuttled between federal, state or local government and the offshore wind industry, a ProPublica/New Bedford Light investigation has found. They range from rank-and-file bureaucrats to top policymakers like Beaudreau.

Read the full article at the New Bedford Light

MASSACHUSETTS: New Bedford Port Authority calls for changes to NOAA National Seafood Strategy

April 6, 2023 — The New Bedford Port Authority (NBPA), in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, recently submitted comments on NOAA Fisheries’ National Seafood Strategy, asking the administration remain cognizant of the many challenges the fishing industry faces in the coming decade.

NOAA Fisheries released its draft National Seafood Strategy in February 2023, outlining how the federal government plans to support the domestic seafood sector in the coming years. The strategy, which NOAA said is “based on sound science,” addresses factors affecting the seafood industry, including the financial viability of fisheries and the resilience of coastal communities – like New Bedford, Massachusetts – that depend on them.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

MASSACHUSSETS: Blue Harvest suspends New Bedford processing operations, plans groundfish fleet upgrade

March 27, 2023 — Blue Harvest Fisheries is temporarily suspending operations at its processing plant in New Bedford, Massachusettsm U.S.A. as part of an overall strategy shift to “realize potential” of its groundfish operations.

The company announced on 24 March it is planning to continue a shift further into the New England groundfish fishery. It said as part of the shift, it was halting operations at its processing plant, laying off 64 employees, the New Bedford Light reported.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

MASSACHUSETTS: Offshore wind in New Bedford: A guide to what you need to know

March 26, 2023 — An already busy port of New Bedford will be even busier when the full effect of the offshore wind industry hits.

A direct impact on the New Bedford/Fairhaven Harbor is already being felt, and seen, most recently with the demolition of the former Eversource plant chimney to make way for the New Bedford Foss Marine Terminal on the New Bedford waterfront.

With Massachusetts preparing for a fourth round of funding for offshore wind projects, what comes next?

Offshore wind companies, electric companies and local leaders from Greater New Bedford have weighed in on changes that should be made to the process during this next round. Vineyard Wind was the winning bidder in the first round, Mayflower Wind Energy LLC won the second round, and Commonwealth Wind and Mayflower Wind LLC were the winning bids in the third round. Massachusetts is preparing for bid submissions for a fourth round of offshore wind contracts.

Read the full article at SouthCoastToday

Northern Wind expanding its lobster traceability with right whales in mind

March 8, 2023 — New Bedford, Massachusetts, U.S.A.-based Northern Wind is expanding its scallop traceability program into its lobster supply, with an aim of developing the technology to help reduce the risk of North Atlantic right whale entanglements.

Northern Wind finalized a partnership with traceability technology company Legit Fish in 2021, enabling full-chain of its North Atlantic scallop supply. That technology, which traces product origin, harvest area, and landing-date – verifiable to government records – will now be utilized in the company’s lobster supply.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

MASSACHUSETTS: New Bedford advocates for fishing industry compensation in response to offshore wind impact

March 2, 2023 — With offshore wind farms moving in, the fishing community faces the real possibility of a financial burden from revenue loss, officials say.

A proposed fisheries compensation fund has the potential to alleviate that burden from the likely physical and economic damages they will incur, including gear loss, habitat degradation, loss of essential fishing grounds and other impacts that will cause serious economic challenges to the fishing industry.

The New Bedford Port Authority supports the establishment of a common set of rules and procedures that would apply to the nine Atlantic Coast states that are working together to establish a framework that requires offshore wind developers to offer compensation.

Read the full article at Standard-Times