Saving Seafood

NEW JERSEY: GOP congressmen: Halt offshore wind, probe whale deaths

March 19, 2023 — Republican congressmen called Thursday for a halt to all offshore wind power projects amid a spate of whale deaths on the U.S. East Coast in what was likely the beginning of an expected investigation by the GOP-controlled House into the Biden administration’s clean energy plans.

Reps. Jeff Van Drew and Christopher Smith, of New Jersey; Andy Harris, of Maryland; and Scott Perry, of Pennsylvania, held a hearing on the boardwalk in Wildwood near where New Jersey has authorized three offshore wind farms, with more to come.

The hearing came as 29 whales have died on the East Coast since Dec. 1.

Opponents of offshore wind, elected officials — most of them Republicans — and several community groups say they believe that preparatory work on the ocean floor has been responsible for the whale deaths, even though three federal and one state agency say there is no evidence that the two are related.

Read the full article at the Associated Press 

NEW JERSEY: Four Congressmen Strongly Criticize Plans for Offshore Wind Projects

March 19, 2023 — Four congressmen and a panel of expert witnesses denounced plans for a series of offshore wind energy projects as a mass “industrialization” of the ocean that will cause environmental harm and could seriously damage the Jersey Shore’s tourism industry.

The congressional hearing Thursday at the Wildwoods Convention Center was packed with an overflow crowd of about 450 people, while dozens of others were not allowed to enter the auditorium because of crowd restrictions.

“Let us in. Let us in,” chanted the people who were forced to stand outside while the hearing got underway.

U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, who headed the hearing, vowed that President Joe Biden and Gov. Phil Murphy’s Democratic administrations will face stiff opposition if they continue to support the development of wind farms off New Jersey and other East Coast states.

“This is not the last hearing, I tell you. We are not giving up on this,” said Van Drew, the Republican New Jersey congressman whose district includes the shore communities in Atlantic and Cape May counties.

Read the full article at OCNJDaily

NEW JERSEY: ‘No credible evidence’ that offshore wind activity is killing whales, state officials say

March 18, 2023 — The state’s Department of Environmental Protection, which has been quiet publicly on the recent spate of whale deaths, said Wednesday that it’s “aware of no credible evidence that offshore wind-related survey activities could cause whale mortality.”

“While DEP has no reason to conclude that whale mortality is attributable to offshore wind-related activities, DEP will continue to monitor,” the statement said.

The DEP’s statement came the day before two members of New Jersey’s congressional delegation, Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ) and Chris Smith (R-NJ), and a member of Maryland’s congressional delegation, Rep. Andy Harris (D- MD), are to host a hearing titled “An Examination into Offshore Wind Industrialization” at the Wildwood Convention Center. The hearing is to gather testimony from local experts and stakeholders affected by offshore wind development along the East Coast.

Read the full article at app.

Van Drew, other Congress members call for answers on offshore wind and whales

March 15, 2023 — Two New Jersey congressmen, together representing a significant stretch of the New Jersey coastline, sent a letter Tuesday to Biden administration officials asking what has been done to reduce the potential harm to whales and other marine life from offshore wind projects.

“Offshore wind development and deployment stands to be a consequential national undertaking, which is why our approach should be done correctly the first time, with full consideration taken in order to mitigate negative impacts on marine species such as the North Atlantic right whale,” reads the letter, signed by U.S. Reps. Jeff Van Drew, R-2nd, and Chris Smith, R-4th, along with Reps. Andy Harris, a Maryland Republican, and Jared Golden, a Democrat from Maine.

The new letter cites a May 2022 internal federal letter raising concerns about the potential impact of wind farms on right whales, an extremely endangered whale.

Read the full article at the Press of Atlantic City

Supreme Court weighs New Jersey lawsuit over fishing monitors

March 11, 2023 — The U.S. Supreme Court is considering a lawsuit challenging a federal rule requiring commercial fishing boat captains to pay for monitors to observe catches.

The legal challenge before the high court deals with a 2020 federal rule implemented by the National Marine Fisheries Service that requires industry-funded monitoring. The monitors go out on commercial fishing vessels to collect data that’s used to craft new regulations.

A lawsuit, filed by plaintiff Loper Bright Enterprises of New Jersey, argues the new rules will force Atlantic herring fishery fishermen to pay more than $700 per day to contractors, or about 20% of their pay. The program has been delayed until April, amid a shortage of federal funding, but fishermen want it scrapped entirely.

A U.S. District Court judge previously rejected the lawsuit, which was upheld by a divided federal Appeals Court, but the fishing groups filed a petition to the Supreme Court, which agreed to take up the case.

Read the full article at The Center Square

NEW JERSEY: New Jersey opens third offshore wind solicitation, amid pressure for moratorium

March 8, 2023 — New Jersey energy officials moved to open a third round of solicitations from offshore wind energy companies that could double the state’s already aggressive wind power goals.

The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities voted Monday to open applications for between 1.2 gigawatts and 4 GW of capacity, on top of 3.75 GW already in the pipeline set by Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration.

“Today marks a pivotal next step toward accomplishment of our offshore wind development goals,” according to a statement from Murphy, who has talked of building out to 11 GW of potential power offshore – rivaling the goals of neighboring New York State.

“Offshore wind constitutes a crucial component of our journey to 100 percent clean energy by 2035, a benchmark that solidifies our position at the national forefront of climate action,” said Murphy. His administration is building infrastructure initiatives like the New Jersey Wind Port near the mouth of the Delaware River to position New Jersey as a hub for building projects off the Mid-Atlantic coast.

The solicitation comes as the Murphy administration and federal agencies are under fire from offshore wind critics, who contend a series of whale strandings on the state’s beaches require a pause in offshore wind geotechnical surveys using sonar and seafloor drilling.

The latest whale deaths include a whale reported this week on Bethany Beach, N.J. on Delaware Bay, and a humpback at Seaside Park, N.J., that investigators say showed evidence of a fractured skull, likely from a vessel propeller.

The Ocean Wind and Atlantic Shores turbine arrays planned off New Jersey already had local opposition from residents and businesses in beachside towns. The whale deaths since December have energized their effort, and generated publicity from Fox News and other conservative commentators who have picked up the critics’ narrative that survey noise could have disoriented the whales’ sense of hearing.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

New Jersey seeks more offshore wind projects; foes want halt

March 7, 2023 — New Jersey utility regulators are seeking additional offshore wind farm projects to generate electricity, even as opponents of wind power want to pause or halt the projects.

The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities approved a third solicitation of offshore wind projects Monday; three wind farms have already been approved for the waters off southern New Jersey.

“Today marks a pivotal next step toward accomplishment of our offshore wind development goals,” said Gov. Phil Murphy. “Offshore wind constitutes a crucial component of our journey to 100% clean energy by 2035, a benchmark that solidifies our position at the national forefront of climate action. In addition to safeguarding our communities from the worsening impacts of climate change, this emerging industry will generate thousands of good-paying jobs and economic opportunity across the state.”

The Democratic governor has set a goal of having 11 gigawatts of offshore wind energy in New Jersey by 2040, which could power 3.2 million homes.

Read the full article at the Associated Press 

As More Dead Whales Wash Ashore in NJ and NY, Research Into East Coast Wind Farms Eyed

March 6, 2023 — As dead whales continue to wash ashore on the East Coast — and particularly the Jersey Shore — officials and academics are planning a wide array of monitoring and research aimed at preventing or minimizing harm to whales and other marine life during construction and operation of offshore wind farms.

A dead whale washed ashore Thursday in New Jersey, a day after another was found in New York amid a continuing wave of whale deaths along the East Coast. Twenty-five of the animals have died since Dec. 1, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

A research and monitoring initiative announced last year by New Jersey environmental and utility regulators is launching numerous projects to establish a baseline of current ocean conditions, with plans for monitoring while wind farms are built and operated.

Read the full article at NY4

NEW JERSEY: Over 260,000 Sign Petition To Halt New Jersey Offshore Wind Farm Surveys

March 6, 2023 — Over 250,000 people have signed an online petition calling for Governor Phil Murphy to cease work on a massive off-shore wind energy farm off the Jersey Shore coast. Protest against the project began in December when dead whales mysteriously started appearing on beaches along New Jersey’s coastline.

Since December, thirteen whales have been found dead, eclipsing previous years’ data on file with NOAA.

The petition being disseminated by Protect Our Coast NJ calls for the immediate halt of all offshore wind activity along the New Jersey shore.

Read the full article at Shore News Network

NEW JERSEY: Citing federal letter, Van Drew touts planned hearing on wind power

March 2, 2023 — U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-2nd, again criticized the Biden administration Wednesday over plans to greatly expand offshore wind power generation, which includes projects in his South Jersey district.

Van Drew and others have connected recent highly visible whale deaths in the Northeast with survey work undertaken in advance of the wind power projects. He plans to hold a hearing on the issue March 16 at the Wildwoods Convention Center. Scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have said there is no evidence linking offshore wind surveys with any whale deaths.

“If the federal government and these offshore wind companies have nothing to hide, then prove it. They must prove that the development of these projects will have no effect on the environment, which is hard to believe following the death of over a dozen whales in the Northeast region where surveying is currently taking place,” Van Drew said Wednesday. “It is also hard to believe when their own scientists have been wholly ignored when attempting to highlight concerns about these projects and their effect on endangered whale species.”

Read the full article at The Press of Atlantic City