Saving Seafood

NEW YORK: Rep. Zeldin Secures $12 Million in Federal Funding to Complete Emergency Dredge of Moriches Inlet

June 12, 2018 –Congressman Lee Zeldin (R, NY-1) just announced the Fiscal Year 2018 Army Corps of Engineers Workplan was released today, including $12 million in funding for the completion of the Army Corps approved emergency dredging of Moriches Inlet. Sand removed from Moriches Inlet will be placed at Smith Point County Park to address beach erosion. Additional engineering details as laid out in the Army Corps solicitation for contracts to carry out the dredging, which was issued on May 22nd, can be viewed here.

In March, Rep. Zeldin was joined by local elected officials, small businesses, boaters and fishermen in calling for an emergency dredge of Moriches Inlet during which Congressman Zeldin joined local fishermen to survey the inlet’s dangerous navigational conditions first-hand.

In April, Rep. Zeldin worked with the Commander of the U.S. Army Corps New York District, Colonel Thomas Asbery, to receive the needed Emergency Declaration from the Army Corps of Engineers North Atlantic Division Brigadier General William Graham, granting Rep. Zeldin’s request to perform emergency dredging of the Moriches Inlet. This emergency declaration began the process of coordinating funding and permits so dredging vessels can begin work.

“The approval of funding for the emergency dredging of Moriches Inlet is great news for our coastal economy, commercial and recreational fishermen and all whose livelihoods rely on the vitality of our communities’ waterways,” said Congressman Lee Zeldin. “I will continue to work with the Army Corps of Engineers and all affected by the deteriorated state of Moriches Inlet to complete this emergency dredge.”

Read the full story at LongIsland.com

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

 

Cuomo visits Long Island site of artificial reef construction

June 1, 2018 — Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo traveled to Shinnecock Inlet on Thursday morning to kick off construction of one of the East Coast’s largest artificial reef programs, starting off the coast of Hampton Bays.

The Shinnecock Inlet portion of the work included dropping 885 tons of material from the dismantled Tappan Zee Bridge and scuttling an old canal vessel called The Reliable.

Sections of the cantilever bridge were visible from a fishing boat chartered by the state to bring dignitaries and the media to the site, where barges, cranes and a fleet of tugboats worked through the day.

“It’s going to change, literally, the shoreline around Long Island,” Cuomo said. It will also foster fishing industries by creating new fish habitats and diving opportunities, he said.

Material is being placed in an area 2 miles from shore, 85 feet deep in 35 acres of sea bottom. Six reefs are being constructed this year out of a planned 12.

Read the full story at Newsday

 

Washington must come to grips with offshore wind conflicts

May 17, 2018 — Offshore wind energy developers have momentum building for them in East Coast waters. But other maritime industries want to ease up on the throttle.

The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management recently held another round of public meetings in New Jersey and New York, gathering information for what could be a future round of lease offerings in the New York Bight. Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke has promised to help fast track future permitting.

Already Statoil has plan for its Empire Wind turbine array, tucked into a 79,350-acre federal lease near the apex of ship traffic separation lanes near the entrance to New York Harbor. That could mean a lot of new maritime jobs, along with a new kind of navigational risk.

The Maritime Association of the Port of New York and New Jersey supports renewable energy, said Edward Kelly, the association’s executive director, at a May 9 meeting BOEM hosted in Newark, N.J.

Read the full story at WorkBoat

 

New Bedford fishing boat collides with oil tanker off Long Island

May 16, 2018 — A New Bedford-based fishing boat collided with another vessel in waters approximately 30 miles southeast of Bridgehampton, N.Y., on Saturday night, the US Coast Guard said.

Coast Guard officials said the commercial fishing vessel Polaris was traveling back to its home port in New Bedford when it collided with the crude oil tanker Tofteviken, based out of the Bahamas.

“The Polaris, an 84-foot steel vessel built in 2007, suffered damage to its bow and outrigger,” the Coast Guard said in a statement. “There were seven people aboard at the time of collision with no report of injuries. The vessel was able to return to its homeport safely. The Tofteviken suffered an approximate 30-foot gash along its portside hull. There were no injuries reported to the crew aboard the tankship.”

Read the full story at the Boston Globe 

 

How Do You Move a Shark? Very Carefully.

May 16, 2018 — In the open ocean, the sand tiger shark has been known to migrate more than 1,500 miles.

Moving a shark 100 yards across a construction site at the New York Aquarium to its gleaming new home is a different kind of undertaking altogether: an elaborately choreographed production requiring cranes, trucks, canvas slings and people in wet suits willing to grapple with animals with big scary teeth.

As a misty drizzle fell on Coney Island last Thursday morning, the shark movers gathered for a final safety meeting.

A senior animal keeper, Nicole Ethier, gave out marching orders like a football coach diagraming a complicated play. “Shane and Geoff, you guys will turn around and block the shark,” she said. “If the shark gets spooked and takes off, you’re going to have to start blocking.”

Geoff Gersh, a volunteer diver, was unruffled. He had encountered sharks while diving in the Bahamas. “As long as you don’t agitate it or give it any reason to feel threatened, they don’t want anything to do with you,” he said.

Minutes later, he and his colleagues stood in formation in shin-deep water in a tank of slowly circling sharks: sand tigers, sandbar sharks and a nurse shark. Some of them were nearly 9 feet long. All of them were agitated and had reason to feel threatened.

Read the full story at the New York Times

 

New Bedford Fishing Vessel Collides With Loaded Tankship

May 15, 2018 — NEW YORK — The Coast Guard Sector New York responded to a report of a collision at sea Saturday evening, involving the loaded tankship Tofteviken and the commercial fishing vessel Polaris.

The collision allegedly occurred nearly 30 miles southeast of Bridgehampton, New York.

The Tofteviken was transiting to New York, while the Polaris was transiting back to its homeport in Massachusetts after a night of fishing.

The Polaris, an 84-foot steel vessel built in 2007, suffered damage to its bow and outrigger. There were seven people aboard at the time of collision with no report of injuries. The vessel was able to return to its homeport safely.

The Polaris is homeported in New Bedford, and according to the Boat Database, is owned by the O’Hara Corporation.

The Tofteviken suffered an approximate 30-foot gash along its portside hull. There were no injuries reported to the crew aboard the tankship.

Read the full story at WBSM

 

New film dives into issues, concerns with Deepwater Wind’s proposed wind farm

May 14, 2018 — The following was released by the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association:

Dell Cullum of East Hampton, NY, owner of Hampton Wildlife Removal and Rescue, is a master of many trades. In addition to rescuing wildlife, he also is a well-known local children’s book author, nature photographer, filmmaker, producer of the ImaginationNature.com television series, and an East Hampton Town Trustee. His roots also run deep to Montauk, New York’s largest commercial fishing port, through the Pitts and Burke families. So it seemed a natural fit for him to marry his love of nature with his concern for his roots when he decided to create the recently released two-part film, “Deepwater Dilemma.”

As a Trustee, Cullum is quite familiar with the South Fork Wind Farm being proposed by Deepwater Wind (DWW), the subject of his film. He said his impetus for doing it was born out of a desire to give voice to those who he felt were not being heard by DWW, the offshore wind energy company owned by hedgefund giant D.E. Shaw, in multiple public meetings over the last year with both the Town Board and the Town Trustees.

“After hearing the same old automated rebuttal, lacking fact and transparency, from Deepwater Wind’s representatives about real concerns from the East Hampton community, I felt it necessary to give those who oppose Deepwater’s method of operation a loud and clear opportunity to be heard, regarding environmental impact, industrializing our ocean, utility rate increases, wind power necessity, and the possible end, yet certainly danger to the local commercial fishing community and so much more,” Cullum said last week in an interview.

The resulting film in its entirety weighs in at slightly over an hour. Part one offers several perspectives from local concerned residents, including input from an energy consultant, an environmental planner, the former head of the Town of East Hampton’s Natural Resources division, an avid recreational fisherman who is also a Trustee, a former candidate for East Hampton Town Supervisor, and a former environmental liaison to a local citizens advisory committee.

Part two captures the voices of fishermen, both from Rhode Island where the first offshore wind mill was built in 2016, and from Montauk.

Cullum’s film can be watched in its entirety either by going to the Deepwater Dilemma Facebook page here https://www.facebook.com/OceanSave1/ or directly to his YouTube Page here https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCe-2-hk96kW4eM2v-ioPuLQ/videos

A joint public hearing of the East Hampton Town Board and East Hampton Town Trustees to discuss the community benefits package being offered by DWW if the Town allows them access through Beach Lane in Wainscott for the South Fork Wind Farm will be held this Thursday, May 17th, at 6:30 p.m. at LTV Studios, 75 Industrial Road, in East Hampton.

 

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.

 

New York: Deepwater’s Public Benefits Package Hangs in the Balance

May 10, 2018 — A community benefits package hangs in the balance as the East Hampton Town Board and town trustees prepare to host a joint hearing next Thursday on Deepwater Wind’s plan to construct a 15-turbine wind farm approximately 36 miles east of Montauk.

Deepwater Wind plans to submit an application to construct the 90-megawatt South Fork Wind Farm to the State Public Service Commission next month, according to its vice president of development. It is seeking easements from the trustees to land the wind farm’s transmission cable beneath the ocean beach at the end of Beach Lane in Wainscott, and from the town board to bury the cable in the public road right of way on a path to a Long Island Power Authority substation in East Hampton.

The Rhode Island company has offered a package of community benefits in exchange for those rights, and will include that plan in its application to the Public Service Commission, provided the easements are granted. Should the real estate rights be denied, Deepwater Wind would proceed with a plan to land the cable on state-owned property at Hither Hills, Clint Plummer of Deepwater Wind confirmed yesterday, an option the company’s officials have previously implied. The community benefits package would be withdrawn, Mr. Plummer said.

Read the full story at the East Hampton Star