Saving Seafood

NEW YORK: RODA, NYSERDA, and NYSDEC are seeking information on commercial fishing transit routes in the New York Bight

February 15, 2019 — The following was released by the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance:

The Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA), New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) are gathering feedback related to fishing transit throughout the NY Bight. This information gathering, which includes a review of existing data and a fishermen survey, will culminate in a transit workshop scheduled for March 27, 2018 at Danfords Hotel, Marina, and Spa in Port Jefferson, New York.

The goal of the workshop is to present information collected on New York Bight transit routes to participants, to gather feedback, and ultimately develop a Workshop Report that provides a clearer understanding of where transit lanes would provide the greatest value for the fishing industry prior to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s delineation of new offshore wind lease areas in the New York Bight.

RODA urges all commercial fishermen who transit through the New York Bight to complete the survey here prior to March 1st so that your input will be fully considered. Please return completed surveys to lane@rodafisheries.org or by mail to RODA, P.O. Box 66704, Washington D.C. 20035.

RODA will ensure that any replies will be anonymized before submission to the state and federal government at the request of any respondent.

Please register here if you would like to attend the March 27th workshop.

BOEM elaborates on map for New York Bight areas for offshore wind

November 26, 2018 — Walter Cruickshank, the acting director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, provided some details to an otherwise ambiguous map the agency released last week for potential offshore wind sites along the New York Bight Call area.

The map featured four sections of land off the coasts of Long Island and New Jersey and included shaded areas deemed as “primary recommendations” and “secondary recommendations.”

The labels left commissioners at the Port Authority confused.

“There’s secondary and primary leases,” Port Director Ed Washburn said at last week’s meeting. “We’re not exactly sure what secondary or primary means other than one they prefer over the other. We don’t know exactly why.”

In an interview with The Standard-Times earlier this week, Cruickshank elaborated on the map.

“It’s not a decision yet,” he said “But it’s things we want to get some feedback on before we make a decision on what areas we’ll conduct the environmental analysis on.”

The idea of primary and secondary areas, Cruickshank said, was to elicit discussion from stakeholders. However, they also represented areas where BOEM felt the least conflict existed among fishermen, wind developers, the Department of Defense, environmentalists and others claiming any kind of value in the areas.

The conflicts that arose in the areas not shaded at all, Cruickshank said, were too large to overcome.

“Any area you pick is still going to have some conflicts,” Cruickshank said. “This was the primary sort of our view where there might be some ability to manage conflict and move forward.”

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

BOEM Releases Draft Wind Energy Areas in New York Bight

November 15, 2018 — The following was released by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM):

Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Task Force Meeting on the New York Bight

November 28, 2018
Hotel Pennsylvania
401 Seventh Avenue at 33rd Street
New York, NY 10001

Draft Wind Energy Areas

After reviewing the comments received in response to the Call for Information and Nominations, comments received during stakeholder meetings and general feedback, BOEM has delineated draft Wind Energy Areas in the New York Bight.

What is a Wind Energy Area?

As a reminder, a Wind Energy Area is a portion of the Outer Continental Shelf identified by BOEM for an Environmental Assessment under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Traditionally, BOEM has identified a Wind Energy Area and then offered that entire area for sale as a Lease Area. However, the fact that an area is designated as a Wind Energy Area does not mean that it will necessarily be offered for sale. The proposed area for sale, or Lease Area, will be determined at the Proposed Sale Notice stage.

What do the different colors mean?

The Draft Wind Energy Areas are depicted in two colors, dark green and light green.  The dark green areas are BOEM’s primary recommendations, areas that relative to others with in the Call Areas present the least amount of conflict with a potential offshore wind facility.  Areas in light green are secondary recommendations, which are slightly more conflicted than the dark green areas, and are where BOEM welcomes additional stakeholder perspectives.

Task Force Agenda

Please see a draft task force agenda below.  Note that it is subject to change prior to the meeting date.

New York Bight Task Force Roster (as of November 14, 2018)

If you would like to provide updated contact information to BOEM, please reach out to luke.feinberg@boem.gov.

Read the announcement here

BOEM looking at traffic lanes, buffers for offshore wind power

September 24, 2018 — Concerns raised by the maritime and commercial fishing industries now have federal officials considering wider buffer areas, and spacing as far as two nautical miles between proposed offshore wind power turbines.

At meetings in New York, Massachusetts and New Jersey, representatives of the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said the burden of proof is on offshore wind energy development companies to show their plans for turbine arrays will be compatible with other ocean industries.

“Right now we’re asking developers to prove that fishermen can still fish” if offshore turbines are built, said Amy Stillings, an economist with BOEM.

The agency is also looking at setting aside a corridor for shipping and barge traffic cutting across the New York Bight, which extends from Cape May Inlet, N.J., to Montauk Point, N.Y., on the eastern tip of Long Island, to maintain a safe buffer between future turbine arrays and vessel traffic.

That idea for a cross-Bight corridor nine nautical miles wide – a five-mile traffic lane, with two-mile buffers on either side – recognizes trends in maritime transportation that allow towing vessels to take the route farther offshore than the traditional paths closer to shore.

Read the full story at Work Boat

 

The New York Bight – a Hydra of Difficult Issues

September 18, 2018 — Amidst an atmosphere of possible resurgence in the domestic offshore oil energy, maritime stakeholders are also reminded that there is more than one kind of energy available for development off the four collective coasts of the United States. That process is underway in the Great Lakes; it has already happened off of New England. To that end, and last April, the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) published a ‘Call for Information and Nominations.’

This ‘Call’ started a formal process for BOEM to gather information about developers’ interest in commercial wind energy leases in the Atlantic outer continental shelf. More specifically, this meant within sections of the New York Bight, the portion of the Atlantic extending northeasterly from Cape May Inlet in New Jersey to Montauk Point on the eastern tip of Long Island. The comment period was first set to close at the end of May, but it was extended to the end of July.

BOEM will use the comments to first gauge the interest among energy project developers, and secondly, to assess the broader concerns associated with possible wind energy projects within the Bight. There already is interest in this set of Call Areas. In December 2016, for example, BOEM received an unsolicited lease request from PNE Wind USA, Inc. (PNE) for 40,920 acres offshore New York. PNE seeks a lease to develop a 300–400 MW project, primarily within the Call Area Fairways South. Beyond this, BOEM’s map lists Statoil, US Wind and Ocean Wind as also having interests in various lease areas.

Curiously, offshore wind – that long awaited renewable source of energy – has as many detractors as its dirtier fossil fuel cousins.

Read the full story at Marine Link

NCFC Members Urge BOEM to Include Commercial Fishermen in Windmill Siting Decisions in the New York Bight

August 17, 2018 — WASHINGTON — The following was released by Saving Seafood’s National Coalition for Fishing Communities:

Late last month, members of Saving Seafood’s National Coalition for Fishing Communities (NCFC) submitted two letters asking Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to consider the economic importance of the commercial fishing industry before deciding where to site windmills in the New York Bight.

367 individuals signed a national letter calling on Secretary Zinke not to rush offshore energy development and to ensure projects are “sited, constructed, and operated using the best scientific information available.”

“The Interior Department should provide for intelligent and deliberate offshore renewable energy development, rather than fall prey to the gold rush mentality promoted by BOEM and financially-interested wind developers, most of which are foreign-owned,” the NCFC members wrote.

The signers also invoked President Donald Trump’s campaign promise to support working class Americans.

“When President Trump campaigned and was elected, he promised to look after America’s working middle class, of which we are all a part,” the letter stated. “You will not be honoring the President’s commitment if you allow BOEM to lease ocean areas first, and ask and answer the necessary questions later.”

Another 103 individuals and 32 vessels and businesses from Massachusetts signed a separate letter asking BOEM to reconsider its plan to develop four offshore wind farms in the New York Bight. They specifically cited the damage such development would cause to important Northeast fisheries such as the scallop fishery.

“This is an ill-conceived idea that will cause irreparable economic harm within the fishing communities along the entire East Coast,” the signers wrote. “The harm to Massachusetts will be especially significant, given that it is the center of the Atlantic sea scallop fishery and contains major surf clam and ocean quahog operations.”

The letter pointed out that, on average, nearly $54 million is generated by scallop landings annually from the areas under consideration in the New York Bight, according to data from the National Marine Fisheries Service. An additional $8 million is generated by surf clam and ocean quahog.

 

Murphy gets state, fishing industry more time for wind energy plan

June 1, 2018 — New Jersey under Gov. Phil Murphy is fully committed to offshore wind, working toward generating 3.5 gigawatts of its clean energy by 2030. The Board of Public Utilities has been ordered to prepare to seek bids on more than 1,000 megawatts of wind power, and a Danish company with a lease for an ocean wind farm has opened an office in Atlantic City.

So when the governor asked early last month for another 180 days to comment on the next round of vast ocean wind leases — this time in the much used and fought over New York Bight between the city’s harbor, Long Island and South Jersey — his request was very credible.

If even an ardent supporter of green energy wants more time to consider the impacts of massive wind farms on other users, he must be speaking for all New Jersey businesses and people with a stake in these very valuable waters.

Read the full story at the Press of Atlantic City

 

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy Asks for More Time to Analyze Offshore Wind Impacts on Commercial Fishermen

May 10, 2018 — WASHINGTON — New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy is asking the federal government for more time to analyze the potential impacts of offshore wind development, specifically on the state’s important commercial fishing industry.

In a letter last week to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, Gov. Murphy wrote that the 45 days allotted by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) for comments on wind development in the New York Bight “is simply not enough time” for New Jersey to conduct the extensive outreach to fishermen it needs. Citing the year of stakeholder outreach conducted by New York, Gov. Murphy requested a 180-day extension of the public comment period.

“New Jersey and its fishing industry need ample time to collect and provide to BOEM more detailed information to enable BOEM to do a responsible job during the next stage of its wind energy leasing process,” Gov. Murphy wrote.

Gov. Murphy called input from New Jersey fishermen “particularly critical” because the state’s main fishing grounds are in areas that New York has submitted to BOEM for potential wind energy development, including two vital areas that are closest to New Jersey’s coast.

“While New Jersey believes that wind energy and the fishing industry can coexist productively, it is critical that potential conflicts from these multiple uses be identified and planned for early in the process,” Gov. Murphy wrote.

According to the letter, New Jersey is “only now beginning [its] review and stakeholder process,” in contrast to New York, which has had four years to conduct studies of offshore wind areas. It pointed out that New York did not effectively engage with New Jersey fishermen or other stakeholders as part of this process.

Gov. Murphy was also critical of BOEM’s own lack of engagement with New Jersey’s fishing industry, stating that they have “not yet been meaningfully involved in the process.” He pointed to two letters from New Jersey to BOEM late last year, which highlighted the lack of stakeholder outreach and requested meetings between fishermen and BOEM before moving forward with a public comment period.

However, BOEM scheduled just one fisheries-based meeting on the New York Bight in one location after its call for comments.

“This minimal level of outreach and limited time frame for response from New Jersey’s stakeholders are simply not adequate or equitable,” Gov. Murphy wrote.

Gov. Murphy’s letter is the latest effort to ensure that the concerns of fishing communities are properly considered in the development of offshore energy projects. In April, members of Saving Seafood’s National Coalition for Fishing Communities wrote to Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, expressing their concerns over several proposed offshore projects and calling for more robust stakeholder engagement.

 

Murphy request could slow development of wind farms off NJ, NY

May 10, 2018 — Gov. Phil Murphy is asking the federal government to extend the public comment period on proposed new lease sales for offshore wind in the New York Bight, a step that could delay the process for up to six months.

In a letter to Ryan Zinke, Secretary of the Interior, the governor requested more time (180 days) because the areas in New York under consideration for wind-energy development include New Jersey’s main fishing grounds, including two that are closest to its coast.

The request, if granted, could slow recent steps taken by both states to expedite building offshore wind farms in waters near New York and New Jersey. All along the Eastern Seaboard, states are bidding to lure developers to build large wind farms off their coasts, a process that is becoming increasingly competitive.

Read the full story at the NJ Spotlight

 

Endangered status of Atlantic sturgeon up for review

March 27, 2018 — Federal fishing regulators say they are conducting a five-year review of threatened and endangered populations of Atlantic sturgeon.

Populations of sturgeon are listed as threatened in the Gulf of Maine and endangered in New York Bight, the Chesapeake Bay and off the Carolinas and South Atlantic.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says the Endangered Species Act requires the agency to conduct the review to ensure the listings are still accurate. The listings are intended to be based on the best available scientific data.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission said last year that a sturgeon stock assessment indicated the population is still very low compared to its historical abundance. They face threats such as climate change, ship strikes and fishing.

Sturgeon suffered overfishing in the 20th century when it was harvested for eggs for caviar.

Shortnose sturgeon are listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) as an endangered species throughout their range. Atlantic sturgeon are listed as five distinct population segments with those that hatch out in Gulf of Maine rivers listed as threatened, and those that hatch out in other U.S. rivers listedas endangered.

Once thought to number less than 100 in the Merrimack, the river’s shortnose sturgeon population has been on the rebound, researchers have said. Atlantic sturgeon are also found in the Merrimack, up to the Essex Dam in Lawrence.

Two distinct groups of adults, numbering more than 2,000, inhabit the river. One group includes fish born in Haverhill’s spawning grounds, while the other consists of fish born in Maine rivers such as the Kennebec and Androscoggin, which migrate to the Merrimack.

Researchers say that for much of the year, sturgeon are looking for food in the lower part of the Merrimack — from Amesbury to the Joppa Flats in Newburyport — and live there from November to March.

Haverhill is the only place in the river where sturgeon lay their eggs, and that happens in the spring.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Times