Saving Seafood

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

New Jersey State Senator Michael Testa claims ENGO hypocrisy on offshore wind and whales

May 19, 2023 — The following transcript is excerpted from an interview by New Jersey State Senator Michael Testa on Fox & Friends:

Fox & Friends: GOP lawmakers in New Jersey want an immediate stop to offshore wind projects over growing concern about a spike in whale deaths. Since December alone, 32 dead whales have washed up on beaches along the East Coast. Republican state senators are asking for a 30 to 60 day pause on construction to see if it helps. Michael Testa is one of them and he joins us now.

So who exactly are the groups or the people who would be opposing a 30 to 60 day, very sensible pause to see what’s going on with the whales?

Sen. Testa: Well, it seems to be Ørsted, who’s the company that wants to have the wind farms, as well as the Sierra Club and Greenpeace, which makes absolutely no sense to me because I always thought that those were the groups that were there to protect the whales and to create bumper stickers that say ‘save the whales.’ And I think that they’re being completely intellectually disingenuous here. We know that if this were an exploration for offshore oil drilling, that if one whale carcass were to wash up on one of New Jersey’s shores, they would be surrounding that carcass holding hands with, you know, tears streaming down their face, singing Kumbaya.

Fox & Friends: What is their explanation for not wanting to see an environmental impact on whales?

Sen. Testa: Well, their explanation is the reason that the whales and dolphins are washing up on our shores in record numbers is due to climate change. That’s why we need to rush to erect these massive wind farms, which, you know, quite frankly, a lot of people have now testified and believe are contributing to whales washing up on our shores in record numbers. But it’s always their cry. This is their mantra. This is climate change. And if you ever question their green energy agenda, you’re labelled a science denier, a climate change denier.

We also have to really question what the environmental impact is going to be to our commercial fishing industry as well as our recreational fishing industry and look, Cape May County, Atlantic County, Ocean County and Monmouth County, tourism is the lifeblood of their summer economy.What are these wind farms going to do if whales and dolphins continue to wash up on our shores?

We also don’t know what the erection of these massive wind farms [is] going to do to our ocean floor and what type of environmental long term environmental impact that is going to have on our oyster business, scallop business.

Watch the full interview here

NEW JERSEY: Wind project scope ‘staggering’

May 18, 2023 — It wasn’t “until the whales and the dolphins started washing up that people’s attention was able to focus” on the offshore wind farms, according to Cindy Zipf, and when people looked beyond the whales, they realized what is happening is “staggering.”

“I don’t think ever in the history of mankind have we proposed to industrialize an ecosystem this fast and at this magnitude,” she said.

Zipf is executive director of Clean Ocean Action, a coalition of groups dedicated to protecting the ocean.

She said the group is not against offshore wind farms but ardently believes there should be a pilot project to determine their impact on the ocean, marine species and industries that thrive on the ocean rather than a headlong rush to place turbines up and down the coast not just off New Jersey, but from South Carolina to Massachusetts.

The project closest to fruition here is Ocean Wind 1 by the Danish company Ørsted. Ocean Wind 1 plans 98 massive wind turbines 15 miles off the coast of Atlantic and Cape May counties with transmission cables that would run through Ocean City to Beesleys Point in Upper Township, where they would connect to the power grid.

Read the full article at Ocean City Sentinel 

NEW JERSEY: Snooki, Tucker Carlson and the battle for offshore wind in New Jersey

May 18, 2023 — On a recent drive to the Statehouse here, New Jersey’s top utility regulator turned on 101.5 FM, a conservative talk radio station, and got an earful about the offshore wind farms the state has staked its energy future on.

The morning show host was going off about a surge in whale deaths and an unfounded link between the dead whales and wind energy.

“All I do on the way down is yell at the radio,” said Joseph Fiordaliso, the president of the state Board of Public Utilities.

It isn’t just radio conspiracy theories, though. Mainstream Republicans and leading conservatives like former Fox News host Tucker Carlson — not to mention reality star Snooki — have been attacking Gov. Phil Murphy’s offshore wind plans as whales wash ashore. It’s a problem not just for the Democratic governor, who’s pinning his climate change agenda on coastal wind farms, but also for President Joe Biden.

Murphy is hoping New Jersey will be the nation’s leading producer of wind energy by 2040, so a stumble here could blow a hole in the side of the Biden administration’s clean energy goals.

Read the full article at Politico