Saving Seafood

Pacific fishery council calls for new start to offshore wind planning

March 13, 2023 — Proposed offshore wind energy areas off the Oregon coast must be set aside and the planning process started anew, using more planning tools “to minimize siting impacts to fisheries and ecosystem resources,” according to the Pacific Fishery Management Council.

At its meeting in Seattle, the council voted Thursday to recommend the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management do a complete reset on outlining “call areas” off the Oregon coast, an early step in planning for future wind power leases to gauge potential developers’ interest.

A motion approved by the council calls for rescinding the Brookings and Coos Bay call areas previously outlined by BOEM. The council further “requests that BOEM restart the process to identify call areas and consider all water off Oregon from 12 miles and beyond, including waters that are greater than 1,300 meters in water depth, and using marine spatial planning tools to minimize siting impacts to fisheries and ecosystem resources.

“Exclude from further consideration all offshore banks and seamounts and require an adequate buffer zone surrounding them as determined by collaborative work” among the council and state and federal agencies.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

NEW JERSEY: New Jersey opens third offshore wind solicitation, amid pressure for moratorium

March 8, 2023 — New Jersey energy officials moved to open a third round of solicitations from offshore wind energy companies that could double the state’s already aggressive wind power goals.

The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities voted Monday to open applications for between 1.2 gigawatts and 4 GW of capacity, on top of 3.75 GW already in the pipeline set by Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration.

“Today marks a pivotal next step toward accomplishment of our offshore wind development goals,” according to a statement from Murphy, who has talked of building out to 11 GW of potential power offshore – rivaling the goals of neighboring New York State.

“Offshore wind constitutes a crucial component of our journey to 100 percent clean energy by 2035, a benchmark that solidifies our position at the national forefront of climate action,” said Murphy. His administration is building infrastructure initiatives like the New Jersey Wind Port near the mouth of the Delaware River to position New Jersey as a hub for building projects off the Mid-Atlantic coast.

The solicitation comes as the Murphy administration and federal agencies are under fire from offshore wind critics, who contend a series of whale strandings on the state’s beaches require a pause in offshore wind geotechnical surveys using sonar and seafloor drilling.

The latest whale deaths include a whale reported this week on Bethany Beach, N.J. on Delaware Bay, and a humpback at Seaside Park, N.J., that investigators say showed evidence of a fractured skull, likely from a vessel propeller.

The Ocean Wind and Atlantic Shores turbine arrays planned off New Jersey already had local opposition from residents and businesses in beachside towns. The whale deaths since December have energized their effort, and generated publicity from Fox News and other conservative commentators who have picked up the critics’ narrative that survey noise could have disoriented the whales’ sense of hearing.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Northern Wind expanding its lobster traceability with right whales in mind

March 8, 2023 — New Bedford, Massachusetts, U.S.A.-based Northern Wind is expanding its scallop traceability program into its lobster supply, with an aim of developing the technology to help reduce the risk of North Atlantic right whale entanglements.

Northern Wind finalized a partnership with traceability technology company Legit Fish in 2021, enabling full-chain of its North Atlantic scallop supply. That technology, which traces product origin, harvest area, and landing-date – verifiable to government records – will now be utilized in the company’s lobster supply.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

New Jersey seeks more offshore wind projects; foes want halt

March 7, 2023 — New Jersey utility regulators are seeking additional offshore wind farm projects to generate electricity, even as opponents of wind power want to pause or halt the projects.

The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities approved a third solicitation of offshore wind projects Monday; three wind farms have already been approved for the waters off southern New Jersey.

“Today marks a pivotal next step toward accomplishment of our offshore wind development goals,” said Gov. Phil Murphy. “Offshore wind constitutes a crucial component of our journey to 100% clean energy by 2035, a benchmark that solidifies our position at the national forefront of climate action. In addition to safeguarding our communities from the worsening impacts of climate change, this emerging industry will generate thousands of good-paying jobs and economic opportunity across the state.”

The Democratic governor has set a goal of having 11 gigawatts of offshore wind energy in New Jersey by 2040, which could power 3.2 million homes.

Read the full article at the Associated Press 

As More Dead Whales Wash Ashore in NJ and NY, Research Into East Coast Wind Farms Eyed

March 6, 2023 — As dead whales continue to wash ashore on the East Coast — and particularly the Jersey Shore — officials and academics are planning a wide array of monitoring and research aimed at preventing or minimizing harm to whales and other marine life during construction and operation of offshore wind farms.

A dead whale washed ashore Thursday in New Jersey, a day after another was found in New York amid a continuing wave of whale deaths along the East Coast. Twenty-five of the animals have died since Dec. 1, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

A research and monitoring initiative announced last year by New Jersey environmental and utility regulators is launching numerous projects to establish a baseline of current ocean conditions, with plans for monitoring while wind farms are built and operated.

Read the full article at NY4

NEW JERSEY: Over 260,000 Sign Petition To Halt New Jersey Offshore Wind Farm Surveys

March 6, 2023 — Over 250,000 people have signed an online petition calling for Governor Phil Murphy to cease work on a massive off-shore wind energy farm off the Jersey Shore coast. Protest against the project began in December when dead whales mysteriously started appearing on beaches along New Jersey’s coastline.

Since December, thirteen whales have been found dead, eclipsing previous years’ data on file with NOAA.

The petition being disseminated by Protect Our Coast NJ calls for the immediate halt of all offshore wind activity along the New Jersey shore.

Read the full article at Shore News Network

NORTH CAROLINA: Offshore wind is ‘core’ to clean energy plans in N.C., Duke Energy VP says

March 6, 2023 — A Duke Energy official called offshore wind a “core part” of the company’s goals to reduce carbon emissions.

A bipartisan 2021 law requires North Carolina’s energy producers to reduce carbon emissions 70% by 2030 and be carbon neutral by 2050. Duke Energy, North Carolina’s largest energy producer, and the state Utilities Commission continue to refine plans to hit the carbon reduction goals.

“We have 9 gigawatts of coal, and we need to replace that,” said Venu Ghanta, a vice president with Duke Energy. Three of the four plans the company submitted to the state to hit carbon reduction goals include offshore wind. “Offshore wind seems to be a core part of getting to 70% by 2030.”

Read the full article at Spectrum News

MAINE: Maine Fishermen’s Forum returns amid offshore wind debate

March 3, 2o23 — The 48th Maine Fishermen’s Forum kicked off as a celebration of the industry and informed discussion on developing challenges.

“The greatest things that the Maine Fisherman’s Forum does it negates or lessens a lot of the animosity between the groups involved in the fishery,” said Stephen Train, lobsterman.

“We have a trade show, we have a dance, we have an auction, we give out scholarships to children and fishermen. And we have some really nice meals and the seafood reception is amazing,” said Train.

The highlight of the day was a series of seminars on how offshore wind development may impact local fisheries. Leaders at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shared data-driven presentations but noted several gaps remain in the process.

Read the full article at WABI

NEW JERSEY: Citing federal letter, Van Drew touts planned hearing on wind power

March 2, 2023 — U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-2nd, again criticized the Biden administration Wednesday over plans to greatly expand offshore wind power generation, which includes projects in his South Jersey district.

Van Drew and others have connected recent highly visible whale deaths in the Northeast with survey work undertaken in advance of the wind power projects. He plans to hold a hearing on the issue March 16 at the Wildwoods Convention Center. Scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have said there is no evidence linking offshore wind surveys with any whale deaths.

“If the federal government and these offshore wind companies have nothing to hide, then prove it. They must prove that the development of these projects will have no effect on the environment, which is hard to believe following the death of over a dozen whales in the Northeast region where surveying is currently taking place,” Van Drew said Wednesday. “It is also hard to believe when their own scientists have been wholly ignored when attempting to highlight concerns about these projects and their effect on endangered whale species.”

Read the full article at The Press of Atlantic City

Congressman Jared Golden to NOAA: Share Findings on Recent Whale Strandings

March 2, 2023 — Maine Congressman Jared Golden is calling on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to release more information on the recent increase in whale strandings that have been happening along the Atlantic Coast.

“As you are aware, in the past two months alone, the Marine Mammal Stranding Network has reported at least 18 cases of whales found washed ashore along the Atlantic Coast,” Golden wrote in a letter to U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and National Marine Fisheries Service Assistant Administrator for Fisheries Janet Coit. “Alarmingly, humpback whales and North Atlantic right whales – both species currently experiencing Unusual Mortality Events – are the two species that account for the majority of these strandings. At least seven dead humpback whales have already been reported in 2023, including four in New Jersey. This is in addition to a North Atlantic right whale that was found stranded along Virginia Beach earlier this month.”

Read the full article at Seafoodnews.com