Saving Seafood

Offshore wind halt urged by Native Americans seeking sway

February 27, 2023 — The National Congress of American Indians on Thursday called for a moratorium on offshore wind development along U.S. coasts, insisting the Biden administration do a better job protecting tribal interests.

The decision by the largest lobbying group for tribes in the U.S. follows a plea Tuesday by 30 New Jersey mayors to halt offshore wind activity so government officials can investigate recent whale deaths. And even before those moves, developers were confronting a slew of economic challenges, from inflation-stoked costs to supply chain woes, that are making it harder to build the nation’s first large commercial wind farms.

Native Americans have complained about being cut out of the planning, permitting and contracting process as developers seek to build more than a dozen wind projects along both the West and East coasts, despite vows by President Joe Biden and top administration officials to consider indigenous knowledge in government decisionmaking. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, the nation’s first Native American cabinet secretary, also has put a new focus on environmental justice and indigenous rights as head of the department that oversees offshore wind.

Read the full article at the Press of Atlantic City

MASSACHUSETTS: Webinar tackles concerns about wind farm projects

February 28, 2023 — At the nascent stage of wind farm development in the Gulf of Maine, a webinar last week looked at the possible impacts to marine life, coastal communities and fisheries while acknowledging there are many unknowns to such projects.

The webinar was hosted Thursday by the UMass Amherst Gloucester Marine Station at Hodgkin’s Cove, the Gloucester Fishermen’s Wives Association and the Cape Ann Climate Coalition, with about 90 participants taking part on Zoom.

At one point, the panel was asked about the use of floating turbines out in Gulf of Maine that would be anchored to the seabed, how they might be interconnected and how the power might be cabled ashore.

When asked why wind farm developers were looking at using floating turbines, panelist Tom Nies, executive director of the New England Fishery Management Council of Newburyport, said: “My understanding is the main reason they are looking at floating turbines in the Gulf of Maine is the depth of water, that it’s difficult to create a fixed structure in the deeper water of the Gulf of Maine.”

Nies said it’s presumed such turbines would be designed to withstand nor’easters and regular storms.

Fishing concerns

Capt. Al Cottone, a commercial fisherman and executive director of the Gloucester Fisheries Commission, said the industry has “a ton of questions that haven’t been answered yet. And I don’t think these questions will be answered in the time frame that was shown earlier in the presentation and it’s very concerning to the industry.”

Cottone presented a map from the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management of the Gulf of Maine showing the draft “call area” where wind farms might be sited. He showed that area side-by-side with a NOAA Fisheries “heat map” showing fishing activity taken from the vessel monitoring system tracking commercial groundfish vessels in the Northeast fishery. He said areas shown on the VMS heat map overlap with where wind farms might go.

Read the full article at Gloucester Daily Times

Biden’s Offshore Wind Dreams Face Rising Controversy, Opposition

February 28, 2023 — In stark contrast to its do-nothing approach to holding lease sales for offshore oil and gas exploration, the Biden administration has mounted an aggressive push to speed along the development of offshore wind farms in the federally-owned waters of the United States. But that effort is now facing pushback from a rising number of stakeholders, even as a series of mysterious whale deaths along the Atlantic coast has raised concerns about potential negative impacts on marine life from the projects.

By now, most Americans are likely aware of the increasing number of whales that have been found grounded on Atlantic beaches, some of which lie adjacent to offshore wind projects already under development. At least 10 whales have died in such events along the coasts of New York and New Jersey in recent months, leading to speculation that noise and other impacts arising from offshore wind-related activities might be the cause. Increasing public concerns over the whale deaths led 30 New Jersey mayors last week to call for a moratorium on further offshore wind activities pending additional studies to assess possible cause and effect.

While no conclusive linkage between the projects and the marine mammal deaths has been scientifically established, the controversy is leading some to wonder why the same environmental groups that have traditionally urged a cautious approach to oil and gas projects to protect marine life have failed to raise similar objections to the offshore wind activities. This apparent lack of concern seems especially questionable given that some of the whale deaths have been among American right whales, an endangered species consisting of just 340 remaining individuals.

Read the full article at Forbes

U.S. rule change equips offshore wind developers for faster growth

February 24, 2023 — Last month, the Biden administration set out new streamlined regulation for offshore wind development as it chases its highly ambitious installation target of 30 GW by 2030.

In the first major regulatory shakeup since 2009, the U.S. Interior Department will offer more flexibility on survey requirements, reform lease auctions and improve the verification of project designs, it said.

The new rules come as the Interior Department plans to hold up to four additional offshore lease sales by 2025 and aims to complete environmental reviews of at least 16 offshore wind projects by 2025, representing over 20 GW of new capacity.

Read the full article at Reuters

NEW JERSEY: New Jersey Republicans up pressure on offshore wind development over whale deaths

February 24, 2023 — Representative Chris Smith of New Jersey is asking the Government Accountability Office to scrutinise the US Bureau of Offshore Energy Management (BOEM) and the National Marine Fisheries Service’s process of environmental reviews of proposed offshore wind projects.

On 21 February, the Marine Mammal Commission, an independent government agency, issued a statement: “Despite several reports in the media, there is no evidence to link these strandings to offshore wind energy development.”

Federal agencies have previously said that 40% of the carcasses examined showed evidence of vessel strikes or entanglement with fishing gear.

Read the full article at Windpower Monthly

Biden administration proposes offshore wind auction in the Gulf of Mexico

February 23, 2023 — The U.S. Department of the Interior on Wednesday proposed the first offshore wind auction in the Gulf of Mexico.

The proposed auction includes an area of more than 100,000 acres in the waters off Lake Charles, Louisiana, and two similarly sized areas off Galveston.

The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management seeks public comment on which of the two areas offshore from Galveston should be included in the final sale.

“This proposed lease sale will continue the legacy of energy production in the Gulf of Mexico, providing Americans with an affordable clean energy supply. It will also help secure our nation’s energy independence while reducing costs for consumers,” said Josh Kaplowitz, vice president for offshore wind for the American Clean Power Association.

Read the full article at Texas Public Radio

Marine commission: Whale deaths not linked to wind prep work

February 23, 2023 — An independent scientific agency that advises the federal government on policies that could impact marine mammals said there is no evidence linking site preparation work for offshore wind farms with a number of whale deaths along the U.S. East Coast.

In a statement released Tuesday, the Marine Mammal Commission became the third federal agency to reject a link between the deaths and the offshore wind energy industry, despite a growing narrative among offshore wind opponents that probing the ocean floor to prepare for wind turbine projects is killing whales.

Last month, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said there is no evidence linking offshore wind development with whale deaths.

The commission said 16 humpback whales and at least one critically endangered North Atlantic right whale have washed ashore dead on the East Coast this winter.

Read the full article at the Associated Press

Feds slash Gulf’s first wind farm areas to make room for drilling, shipping, fishing

February 23, 2023 — The Gulf of Mexico’s first slate of offshore wind farms will have much less space than the federal government proposed late last year.

A new wind energy lease sale plan released Wednesday by the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management slashes the Gulf’s offshore wind energy development areas by two-thirds, potentially reducing the amount of jobs and clean energy the region’s leaders had hoped wind farms would generate in the coming years. BOEM’s decision to cut the size of wind energy areas is aimed at easing potential conflicts with the Gulf’s many other users, including the oil and gas industry, shipping companies and the military.

The new boundaries include a 102,000-acre area south of Lake Charles, and two areas near Galveston, Texas that will likely be trimmed to one zone stretching across about 100,000 acres. The Gulf’s total combined area will likely be just under 200,000 acres, according BOEM officials. That’s a substantial reduction from the 682,000 acres BOEM proposed in October.

It’s unclear how much the smaller areas may dampen the prospects for offshore wind development, which has been promoted as a potent force for job creation and clean energy in a region with deep but fading ties to the oil and gas industry.

BOEM had estimated the larger, 682,000-acre area could generate power for almost 3 million homes or enough electricity for all the residents of Houston, New Orleans and Baton Rouge. On Wednesday, BOEM cut its estimate down to 1.3 million homes, but that number could be cut again after the two Galveston zones are reduced to a single area.

Federal agency says no evidence offshore wind activity responsible for whale deaths

February 23, 2023 — In the latest jabs in the public debate over recent whale deaths along the Atlantic Coast, an independent government agency tasked by the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act to protect marine mammals, said Tuesday that offshore wind activities aren’t responsible for the recent spate of whale deaths here and elsewhere on the East Coast.

Eight whales have washed ashore dead in New Jersey since Dec. 1, while 23 have been spotted up and down the Atlantic Coast, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The Marine Mammal Commission said the deaths are part of the Humpback Whale Unusual Mortality Event (UME) declared by the National Marine Fisheries Service that began in 2016.

“Although these strandings have generated media interest and public scrutiny, humpback whale strandings are not new nor are they unique to the U.S. Atlantic coast. In fact, ten or more humpback whales have stranded each year during the UME, with a high of 34 in 2017,” the commission said.

Read the full article at app.

New York’s Wind Power Future Is Taking Shape. In Rhode Island.

February 22, 2023 — When Gov. Kathy Hochul laid out her plan for accelerating the development of New York’s offshore wind industry a year ago, she promised thousands of jobs for state residents.

Today, New York’s first wind farm in the Atlantic Ocean is under construction. Crews in hard hats are assembling platforms for giant turbines and building boats that will ferry technicians onto the water to ensure the massive blades keep rotating.

But the work is not being done in New York. It is happening more than 150 miles away in Rhode Island.

States and cities all along the East Coast are vying with New York to be hubs for the fast-growing business of harnessing wind power offshore. But Rhode Island took the lead by building the first offshore wind farm in the United States several years ago. Centrally located among projects planned from New York to Massachusetts, the nation’s smallest state has held on to many of the jobs and economic benefits that go with being first.

Read the full article at The New York Times