Saving Seafood

Recreational anglers wade into offshore wind

February 11, 2020 — The prospect of dozens, perhaps hundreds of massive offshore wind energy turbines dotting East Coast waters has commercial fishermen alarmed and engaged.

The recreational fishing community has its share of skeptics too, worried about the effects of construction and new seafloor cables carrying megawatts of energy to shore.

One group, Anglers for Offshore Wind Power, is working on the premise that offshore wind development could be good for their fisheries and the environment — if they, like organized commercial fishermen, can get a seat at the table with federal energy planners and wind companies.

“The recreational community should do the same thing,” said Paul Eidman, a New Jersey charter captain who helped organize Anglers for Offshore Wind Power along with Rhode Island charter captain Dave Monti.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Gov. Murphy just unveiled N.J.’s master plan for energy and made a big pledge to fight climate change

January 28, 2020 — New Jersey will become the first state in the nation to require builders to consider the impact of climate change if they want their projects approved, Gov. Phil Murphy announced Monday as he unveiled the final version of the state’s new energy master plan.

The Democratic governor outlined the plan in a speech at Stockton University in Galloway, calling the 290-page document “ground zero” for “weaning the state off its century-old addiction to fossil fuels.”

The document lays out the Murphy administration’s vision for how to ensure the state reaches its lofty green energy goals: 50% clean energy by 2030, and 100% clean energy by 2050.

The plan is intended to slash the Garden State’s greenhouse gas emissions, reducing New Jersey’s contribution to climate change.

Murphy warned Monday that climate change is direct threat to New Jersey. He citied a recent Rutgers University report that said sea levels along New Jersey’s coast are expected to rise more than one foot by 2030 and two feet by 2050.

Read the full story at NJ.com

Ørsted to Brief Atlantic City Residents on New Jersey’s First OWF

January 27, 2020 — Danish offshore wind farm company Ørsted is set to host an open house in the first week of February to update Atlantic City residents on the progress of Ocean Wind, New Jersey’s first offshore wind project.

Ørsted was in June 2019 selected as preferred bidder for New Jersey’s first offshore wind farm, to be located 15 miles off the coast of Atlantic City. Construction is expected to start in the early 2020s, with the wind farm operational in 2024.

Ørsted, formerly known as Dong Energy, will host the open house for Atlantic City residents on Thursday, February 6 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the Avalon Conference Center at The Claridge Hotel, located at 123 S. Indiana Avenue, Atlantic City. Free, validated parking will be available in The Claridge’s parking garage, the company said. Doors will open at 5:30 p.m.

Read the full story at Offshore Engineer

NEW JERSEY: Gov. Murphy signs bill expanding definition of qualified offshore wind project

January 22, 2020 — Gov. Phil Murphy signed into law on Tuesday a bill to expand the definition of a qualified offshore wind project, which amends an existing law that is commonly referred to as the “Offshore Wind Economic Development Act.”

The measure requires developers seeking New Jersey Board of Public Utilities approval as a qualified offshore wind project to include within its detailed description for the project any transmission facilities and interconnection facilities to be installed.

The bill allows the NJBPU to conduct one or more competitive solicitations for open access offshore wind transmission facilities designed to expedite the collection or delivery of offshore wind energy from qualified projects to the electric transmission system.

Read the full story at NJBiz

Gov. Murphy signs law banning shark fins in New Jersey starting in 2021

January 9, 2020 — Shark fins will be banned in New Jersey next year under a law signed Thursday by Gov. Phil Murphy.

The new law is designed to end the shark fin trade, which kills about 72 million sharks a year, primarily for soup, according to Humane Society International. Shark fin soup is a delicacy in Asia, but the method of making it poses a threat to the fish.

Sharks are caught and their fins are cut off while they are still alive — a practice known as shark finning — before being released back into the water to drown or bleed to death. At least 70 shark species are at risk of extinction because of the practice, according to the advocacy group Wild Aid.

Read the full story from the Trenton Bureau at NorthJersey.com

Rutgers Cooperative Extension to Host Introductory Fisheries Science for Stakeholders (IFISSH) Course

January 3, 2020 — The following was released by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

Rutgers Cooperative Extension is offering an introductory fisheries science course to educate New Jersey’s commercial and recreational fishing industries’ stakeholders on science and management processes impacting their industries. Classes will meet from 6:30 to 9:00 p.m. every Tuesday from January 28 through March 31, 2020.

This will be a “HyFlex” course to provide students with the option to participate live in-class or remotely via webinar. The in-class meeting location is Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Ocean County, 1623 Whitesville Road, Toms River, NJ 08755. The program fee is $60 per person.

Register before January 24, 2019 by contacting Kelly Jurgensen (Administrative Assistant, Marine Extension Program), Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Ocean County at kjurgensen@co.ocean.nj.us or by calling 732-349-1152.

If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Douglas Zemeckis (County Agent III – Assistant Professor), Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Rutgers University at zemeckis@njaes.rutgers.edu or 732-349-1152.

Download the course flyer or visit the IFISSH webpage for more details.

New Jersey submits striped bass measures to federal commission

December 10, 2019 — At the close of last month, New Jersey submitted a range of striped bass conservation equivalency measures to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, or ASMFC, for review.

Just what those options were, Larry Hajna, a spokesman for the Department of Environmental Protection, didn’t disclose.

The ASMFC recommended states adopt a one-fish bag limit and a 28- to 35-inch recreational limit for ocean fisheries in order to reduce the coastwide harvest by 18 percent. This was on the ASFMC’s findings that striped bass are being overfished.

However, states are free to develop their own option as long as it achieves the required reduction.

Hajan said the ASMFC’s Striped Bass Technical Committee will review the measures and whatever options it approves will be made public and presented to N.J.’s Marine Fisheries Council.

Read the full story at the Asbury Park Press

PRESS OF ATLANTIC CITY: Doubling NJ offshore wind power will require work, cooperation

December 6, 2019 — Gov. Phil Murphy, who already will be remembered for launching New Jersey’s offshore wind energy future, recently more than doubled the state’s commitment to electricity from turbines in the Atlantic Ocean.

In June, when the state picked Ørsted U.S. Offshore Wind to develop its first wind farm off Atlantic City, its goal of producing 3,500 megawatts by 2030 was considered ambitious. Five months later, with climate activist Al Gore at his side, Murphy ordered the state to produce 7,500 MW by 2035. That would be enough to power 3.2 million homes.

The original goal was worthy and very timely, and this one is good too. But don’t assume that scaling up New Jersey’s wind energy will be easy or done well, or even at the reasonable cost of the first 1,100MW Ørsted will deploy by 2024.

Read the full opinion piece at the Press of Atlantic City

New Jersey forms offshore wind working group

December 3, 2019 —  

 

  

 

Read the full story at Windpower Engineering & Development

Shark fin soup may soon be illegal in New Jersey. It’s now up to Murphy.

December 2, 2019 — New Jersey is now one step away from becoming the latest state to outlaw shark fins — a move conservationists say is crucial to help some shark species from going extinct but others warn will unfairly penalize fishermen in the Garden State.

The Democratic-sponsored measure would prohibit the harvesting, sale, trade, distribution, and possession of shark fins in the state.

It’s now up to Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy to decide whether to it sign it into law after both houses of the Democratic-controlled state Legislature passed the measure.

If he does, New Jersey would become the 13th state to enact such a ban.

Supporters say the goal is to cut down on shark finning, in which fishermen cut off a shark’s fin and dump the animal back into the water while it’s still alive. The shark then dies, often slowly.

According to estimates by the Humane Society of America, 72 million sharks die each year because of the practice.

The fins are often used for shark fin soup, a delicacy in China and other East Asian countries for hundreds of generations. It’s frequently served at banquets and weddings and has long been seen as a symbol of status.

Read the full story at NJ.com