Saving Seafood

Trump vows ‘day one’ executive order targeting offshore wind

May 13, 2024 — Donald Trump vowed to issue an executive order targeting offshore wind development if he wins a second term as president, making his most explicit threat yet toward the growing industry.

The presumptive Republican nominee derided offshore wind projects as lethal for birds and whales during his oceanfront rally Saturday in Wildwood, New Jersey, and committed to take action.

“We are going to make sure that that ends on day one,” he said. “I’m going to write it out in an executive order.”

While Trump has made no secret of his animus to wind power, he had adopted a mostly hands-off posture during his first term in the White House. The remarks in New Jersey suggest he may take a more aggressive stance if given a second.

Read the full article at the Boston Globe

Offshore Wind Opponents Sue NJDEP Over Planned Project

May 8, 2024 — A local grassroots organization opposed to the current offshore wind farm planned off the coast of Long Beach Island is among three groups to sue the N.J. Department of Environmental Protection over its approval of the Atlantic Shores project.

Save LBI is joined by Protect Our Coast New Jersey and Defend Brigantine Beach, said Bruce Afran, who is the attorney of record in the legal proceeding.

“DEP’s approval flies in the face of federal regulators’ environmental impact statement that says the Atlantic Shores project will damage marine habitat, compress and harden the seafloor, damage marine communities, compromise migration corridors for endangered species and cause commercial fishing stocks to decline,” he said.

Saying the current scope of the Atlantic Shores project would be fully visible from beaches;  crush and destroy the seabed; interfere with the mitigation of the endangered blue whale and right whale; result in the loss of native species and cause economic damage to the state’s prime fishing grounds and tourist regions, the groups filed suit in appellate court on April 26.

The blue whale is the largest animal on the planet, according to NOAA Fisheries. Blue whales, which are found in every ocean except the Arctic, are listed as endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act and are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

Read the full article at The Sand Paper

Three groups are suing New Jersey to block an offshore wind farm

May 6, 2024 — Three anti-wind power groups are suing New Jersey to overturn a key environmental approval for a wind energy farm planned off the coast of Long Beach Island.

Save Long Beach Island, Defend Brigantine Beach and Protect Our Coast NJ filed suit in appellate court on April 26 challenging a determination by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection that the Atlantic Shores wind farm project meets the requirements of a federal coastal protection law.

Atlantic Shores is one of three proposed wind farms off New Jersey’s coast that have preliminary approval.

Bruce Afran, an attorney for the groups, said the state’s “approval flies in the face of the federal regulator’s environmental impact statement that says the Atlantic Shores project will damage marine habitat, compress and harden the seafloor, damage marine communities, compromise migration corridors for endangered species, and cause commercial fishing stocks to decline.”

Read the full story from AP News

NEW JERSEY: More offshore wind farms? New Jersey opens 4th round of bidding

May 1, 2024 — New Jersey officials pushed forward with plans to expand the state’s offshore wind power sector, despite recent slowdowns and setbacks in the industry.

The state Board of Public Utilities opened the fourth offshore wind power solicitation Tuesday, seeking proposals from companies for wind projects that could add 1.2 to 4 gigawatts of electricity production to the power grid.

New Jersey has already approved three offshore wind projects: Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind, Attentive Energy Two and Leading Light Wind. Each of the projects remains in the permitting process. The companies have not yet broken ground for the turbine bases in the Atlantic Ocean.

Other offshore wind projects – including Ørsted’s two New Jersey projects and three offshore wind farm plans for New York – have been canceled or put on hold over the past 12 months. Companies say inflation, supply chain disruptions and high interest rates are contributing to the challenges facing the industry.

Read the full article at Asbury Park Press

The final journey of F/V Carrabassett

May 1, 2024 — The Axel Carlson Reef off the New Jersey shore now has a new artificial addition: the fishing vessel Carrabassett. The vessel was once part of Carlos Rafael, also known as the Codfather’s fleet, most recently owned by C&P Trawlers. The Carrabassett had quite the journey as a groundfish boat off New England’s coast but has now officially been laid to rest.

The Carrabassett, formerly known as the Cowboy under Rafael’s ownership, has a fascinating journey. After Rafael was forced to sell his entire fleet in 2017 due to his involvement in falsifying fish quotas, tax evasion, and conspiracy, the vessel found a new home with Blue Harvest Fisheries in 2020. It was then renamed and relaunched as the Carrabassett in August of the same year, only to face a new journey with Blue Harvest filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2023.

In 2021, the vessel ran aground under the Blue Harvest’s ownership and remained on Longnook Beach in Truro, Mass., for five days. According to the U.S. Coast Guard, no crew members were injured during the incident. Blue Harvest had obtained permits from government officials and private landowners to bring in equipment to help get the vessel off the beach. Eventually, a tug pulled it back into the water, and it fully floated.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Gusts of activity underway by friends and foes of offshore wind energy projects

April 28, 2024 — Government supporters of offshore wind energy projects in New Jersey and New York are trading blows with opponents in some shore towns who say many vacationers and local residents don’t want to see turbines filling the ocean horizon.

Eight Jersey Shore beach towns wrote to state utility regulators Wednesday, saying one wind farm proposal will be vastly more expensive than projected, and it will cost tourism-driven jobs and economic activity.

Their move came on the same day that federal energy regulators approved new rules to streamline the application and approval processes for offshore wind farms, and also the day that New York Gov. Kathy Hochul issued supply chain and logistics proposals to help her state’s offshore wind industry. Hochul’s move came days after three New York projects were scrapped because the companies and state regulators couldn’t agree on the financial terms

Read the full article at the Associated Press 

Rising Costs Sink New York Ocean Wind Projects, Is New Jersey Next?

April 22, 2024 — This week, rising costs sunk three offshore wind farm projects in New York State. After a tumultuous year on the other side of the river, New Jersey lost two large projects being built by Danish wind energy giant 0rsted. 0rsted bailed on New Jersey, and costs are continuing to rise, making previous wind energy deals unaffordable.

Can New Jersey be the next in the line of turbine dominos to fall?

Read the full article at Shore News Network

NEW JERSEY: Research Funding Addresses Offshore Wind Impact on Marine Ecosystems

April 4, 2024 — State environmental officials and utility regulators announced plans last week for their coordinated Offshore Wind Research and Monitoring Initiative, earmarking nearly $3.7 million in funding for research projects that will help ensure ecologically responsible development of offshore wind.

“As we continue to pursue a 100% clean energy economy by 2035, it’s imperative that we not only protect the interests of our ratepayers but safeguard the vitality of our marine ecosystems as well,” said Christine Guhl-Sadovy, president of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities. “The Research Monitoring Initiative is a crucial piece of our comprehensive efforts to responsibly develop New Jersey’s nation-leading offshore wind industry.”

The bulk of the monies awarded is to expand the bat and bird tracking system, according to N.J. Department of Environmental Protection and Board of Public Utilities officials. The collaborative effort is being led by the American Bird Conservancy with $1.3 million to grow the existing regional network, which tracks radio-tagged birds and bats, officials said.

“This funding will result in the deployment and maintenance of 10 new land based Motus receiver stations and 10 ocean buoy stations as part of the Motus Wildlife Tracking System in strategic locations throughout New Jersey and offshore,” state officials said. “The expansion will improve regional network coverage and provide baseline data to aid researchers in assessing species migration routes to and through New Jersey airspace and offshore wind lease areas.”

Read the full article at The Sand Paper

NEW JERSEY: NJ steers $3.7M toward studies of offshore wind’s environmental impacts

March 26, 2024 — New Jersey officials pledged $3.7 million for scientific research and monitoring of the environmental impacts of offshore wind energy off the Jersey Shore.

Support for offshore wind remains politically polarized. Critics argue that construction and operation of ocean wind turbines would harm marine animals and outweigh environmental benefits.

Advocates counter that inaction on reducing greenhouse gas emissions will lead to more harm to the ocean environment due to warming water temperatures and ocean acidification.

The new award, announced Monday by New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Shawn LaTourette and New Jersey Board of Public Utilities President Christine Guhl-Sadovy, will fund the state’s Offshore Wind Research and Monitoring Initiative.

Read the full article at app.

Offshore wind developers sought for NJ’s fourth round of energy projects

March 25, 2024 — A group of residents spoke out Wednesday against New Jersey’s latest offshore wind energy plans, saying that approving another round of projects would harm the environment and be costly for electricity customers.

The state Board of Public Utilities is preparing its fourth solicitation for offshore wind development as part of Gov. Phil Murphy’s goal to have 11 gigawatts of energy produced by ocean wind turbines by the year 2040.

To make that deadline, the state must move ahead quickly on the lengthy approval process. More than 90% of the state’s electricity was produced by natural gas and nuclear energy in 2022, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Of the remaining 8% of the state’s energy that was produced by renewable sources, only a small fraction of a percent was generated by wind.

Read the full article at app.