Saving Seafood

NORTH CAROLINA: North Carolina joins East Coast states’ effort to establish regional fisheries mitigation for offshore wind development

May 26, 2023 — Gov. Roy Cooper has just announced that North Carolina has joined other East Coast states involved with a joint project to support fisheries mitigation in the development of sustainable and responsible deployment of offshore wind.

“It is important that we work to meet our state’s offshore wind energy goals while still protecting our marine fishery industry,” said Governor Cooper. “We are committed to collaborating with other states in this effort to make sure we achieve both goals.”

According to a press release, “North Carolina is working with Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia and Delaware.”

The Special Initiative on Offshore Wind is focused on establishing a framework to compensate commercial and for-hire fishermen, if faced with economic impact due to offshore wind development.

MASSACHUSETTS: Massive wind turbine parts arrive in New Bedford harbor

May 25, 2023 — The first wind turbine components arrived in the Port of New Bedford Wednesday afternoon on a nearly 500-foot heavy load carrier, sailing through the hurricane barrier without incident at around 4:50 p.m. and wowing those who watched the massive ship enter the harbor.

After days of travel across the Atlantic Ocean, the UHL Felicity arrived from Portugal, met by New Bedford Police boat escorts and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which manages the New Bedford hurricane barrier.

Small groups of curious onlookers and reporters watched from both the New Bedford and Fairhaven sides of the barrier gates as the blue-hulled carrier, with white tower components lying on top, glided into the harbor. It took about an hour after that for it to slowly back in — with the help of two tugboats — and dock at the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal.

The Light for nearly two weeks has been tracking several vessels in the U.S. and Europe that are set to support the nation’s first commercial-scale wind farm, Vineyard Wind. With New Bedford serving as the construction and staging base, several barges, carriers and supply ships will be coming to the port in the next several months, some making repeated trips.

Read the full article at the New Bedford Light

50 blue state mayors call for offshore wind moratorium amid whale, dolphin deaths

May 25, 2023 — Dozens of East Coast mayors representing cities in three Democratic-led states — New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland — are calling for an offshore wind development moratorium in light of recent marine wildlife deaths.

In an open letter to Congress sent Tuesday, 50 mayors from across the three states said offshore wind development should immediately cease until a thorough investigation is conducted. The mayors expressed concern that the increasing number of whale and dolphin deaths is negatively impacting the ocean ecosystem their communities rely upon.

“Our coastal economies rely on a healthy ocean ecosystem to function, and we are increasingly concerned about the environmental impacts offshore wind may already be affecting our communities,” the mayors wrote to Congress.

Read the full article at Fox News

Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association testimony from recent BOEM task force meeting

May 26, 2023 — Testimony from MCFA’s Emily Coffin, Seafood and Fisheries Policy Coordinator, at BOEM’s Gulf of Maine Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Task Force meeting in Augusta on May 10-11.

My name is Emily Coffin, I’m a 5th generation fisherman out of Brunswick and work for the Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association. We are an industry-founded organization that advocates for fishing communities and we believe in stewarding our marine resources for a sustainable and vibrant fishing future.

I’m here today to express my concern over the data collection approach with respect to the National Centers for Coastal Oceans Science (NCCOS) spatial modeling as well as the equity issues within the greater process of offshore wind development.

BOEM has asked fishermen for their fishing data, which is of high value, but the NCCOS model has not yet provided transparency about how exactly that data will be used. 

If BOEM values community engagement, support from the industry sector, and stakeholder participation, they will make a more significant effort not only to include and invite but seek out fishermen who share their data and answer that effort by returning information on where that data goes and how much it matters.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Feds move wind power proposals forward

May 23, 2023 — Two major wind power projects planned off the New Jersey coast have taken big steps forward with the completion of an environmental impact study for Ocean Wind 1 and the opening of the public comment portion of a draft environmental analysis for Atlantic Shores.

In announcing each development, the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management described each as supporting the Biden-Harris administration’s offshore energy goals. President Joe Biden has presented offshore wind as a key part of plans to reduce the impact of climate change and build the nation’s renewable power infrastructure.

Weighing in at 570 pages, not counting more than a dozen appendices, the environmental impact statement for Ocean Wind 1 supports the construction of 98 turbines starting 15 miles off the coast and describes most potential impacts of the project as minor or negligible.

 Read the full article at The Press of Atlantic City

New Bedford Port Authority weighs in on fisheries mitigation for offshore wind

May 24, 2023 — As offshore wind companies seek permits for new projects, officials in New Bedford are weighing in on the impact on the fishing industry.

SouthCoast Wind, formerly Mayflower Wind, is proposing a 2,400-megawatt offshore wind project located 30 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard.

New Bedford Port Authority Executive Director Gordon Carr is calling for SouthCoast Wind to follow Vineyard Wind’s lead in support of local fisheries programs and projects. Vineyard Wind is closing in on construction of its wind farm.

In a letter to the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management that oversees the process, Carr responded to the request for comments about SouthCoast’s draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) outlining the impact of the project.

Read the full article at the Standard-Times

MAINE: Role of Unionized Firms at Center of Maine’s Offshore Wind Debate

May 22, 2023 — On Thursday the Maine Legislature’s Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee held a public hearing on a proposal to pave the way for the development of offshore wind infrastructure in the Gulf of Maine, including the construction of a coastal manufacturing facility that would build the offshore floating wind turbines

Lawmakers also considered Thursday Rep. Tiffany Strout’s (R-Harrington) LD 1884, a bill that would block offshore wind developments.

In recent years, the prospect of filling the Gulf of Maine with hundreds of wind turbines has taken on an air of inevitability, with environmental groups, industry groups, and well-paid lobbyists pouring millions of dollars into political pressure campaigns and ad campaigns designed to build support for the project.

Unions, construction companies, investment companies, and lobbyists are all lining up to secure their share of what could be one of the largest taxpayer-funded projects in the history of the state.

Most of the activity during Thursday afternoon’s public hearing centered around LD 1895, a bill proposed by Sen. Mark Lawrence (D-York) that would expand offshore wind power in the Gulf of Maine.

The bill is cosponsored by nine Democratic State Senators and Representatives.

Sen. Lawrence’s bill would direct the Maine Public Utilities Commission (MPUC) to encourage the development of extraterritorial wind power projects in the Gulf of Maine, mandate Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) principles for an offshore wind power port project, create environmental monitoring standards, and ensure that any port project use agreements favorable to labor unions.

LD 1895 also directs the MPUC to solicit contracts for wind power projects, with the first solicitation to happen no later than June 1, 2025, and each subsequent solicitation required to be within two years of the previous one.

Read the full article at the Maine Wire

MAINE: Maine committee holds hearing on competing offshore wind bills

May 22, 2023 — Two competing bills – one accelerating offshore wind technology, the other hitting the brakes on it – were taken up by a Maine legislative panel Thursday during a lengthy, hours-long public hearing that stretched late into the evening.

The Maine Committee on Energy, Utilities, and Technology heard from dozens of environmental advocates, fishermen, and residents on Legislative Document 1884, an act to prohibit offshore wind energy development, and Legislative Document 1895, an action regarding the procurement of energy from offshore wind resources.

If enacted, LD1884 would change the course of ramping up offshore wind as a renewable energy source – not just within Maine but across New England and north of the international border.

Read the full article at The Center Square

Gulf of Maine offshore wind developers open for public comment

May 22, 2023 — As offshore wind developers inch closer to the horizon, fishermen on the East Coast are eagerly searching for answers.

On May 10-11, the Bureau of Offshore Energy Management (BOEM) hosted the Gulf of Maine Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Task Force Meeting at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor, Maine.

The purpose of the two-day meetings was to update task force members and the public on BOEM’s commercial and research offshore wind energy planning activities and discuss the next steps for the Gulf of Maine, including a Call for Information and Nominations.

More information from BOEM can be found here.

On May 3, 2023, BOEM announced the publication of the Gulf of Maine’s Notice of Intent to prepare an Environmental Assessment for a wind energy research lease on the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf offshore Maine in the Federal Register on May 4, 2023.

This meeting gave the greater public and fishermen the ability to ask questions in person to BOEM members, as well as an open 30-day public comment period that will end June 5 at 11:59 p.m.

Read the full article at National Fisherman

Judge rejects lawsuit by Nantucket residents to block wind turbines, protect right whales

May 19, 2023 — A federal judge has rejected a lawsuit brought by Nantucket residents who argued that the planned construction of dozens of wind turbines off the affluent resort island threatens the survival of endangered Northern Atlantic right whales.

Nantucket Residents Against Turbines said Vineyard Wind’s proposed project of some 62 turbines in waters 14 miles (22 kilometers) south of the island is in a crucial area for foraging and nursing for the dwindling species, which researchers estimate to number about 340.

In a ruling issued Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani found the group failed to show that either the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management or the National Marine Fisheries Service violated the Endangered Species Act or the National Environmental Policy Act in issuing a 2021 biological opinion or final environmental impact statement for the wind energy project.

Read the full article at the Gloucester Times