Saving Seafood

BOEM looks at fishermen compensation — but not everyone wants it

February 24, 2022 — Recent detailed proposals from the Fisheries Survival Fund and Responsible Offshore Development Alliance – coalitions of the commercial fishing industry – and the American Clean Power Association representing the offshore wind industry, presented the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management priority lists for their industries’ coexistence.

Some of those recommendations distinguish between ‘mitigation’ – avoiding conflicts between wind development and fishing – and ‘compensation’ – paying to make up for fishermen being displaced from longtime fishing grounds.

Fishing advocates say BOEM should be following a “mitigation hierarchy” under the National Environmental Policy Act to “avoid, minimize, mitigate and compensate” for impacts of offshore wind development.

BOEM officials and wind energy advocates say that’s being done. As examples they point to modifications to the South Fork Wind project east of Montauk, N.Y., to preserve critical bottom habitat, and shifts in the New York Bight wind energy lease areas to reduce conflicts with the scallop fleet.

Read the full story at WorkBoat

What to watch in Biden’s first offshore wind auction

February 24, 2022 — The Biden administration will hold a long-awaited offshore wind auction today, with both established players in the developing industry and new competitors expected to vie for a chance to raise turbines in the shallow-water region sandwiched between New Jersey and New York.

Industry has long pushed for a new auction in the New York Bight, where developers haven’t seen a lease sale since 2016, and expectations are high that it could result in a blockbuster sale.

“These leases will, in all likelihood, fetch historically high prices,” said Fred Zalcman, director of New York Offshore Wind Alliance, which advocates for the industry. “I think it’s going to be a very vibrant market.”

The bight offers acreage between two states with some of the most aggressive offshore wind targets in the country.

Read the full story at E&E News

Rep. Pingree, New England lawmakers urge Biden administration to study sustainable offshore wind development

February 22, 2022 — Rep. Chellie Pingree and other New England lawmakers are pressuring federal ocean regulators charged with siting offshore wind energy projects to pay close attention to the health of Gulf of Maine ecosystems and fishermen.

Pingree chairs a House Appropriations subcommittee that oversees the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s budget, and she’s concerned that with the Biden administration’s push to open up new offshore leases as soon as 2024, the gulf’s ecosystems and economies might get overlooked.

Read the full story at Maine Public

Pingree, New England Colleagues Urge Biden Administration to Study Sustainable Offshore Wind Development in Gulf Of Maine

February 22, 2022 — The following was released by The Office of Congresswoman Chellie Pingree:

U.S. Reps. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), Annie Kuster (D-N.H.), and Chris Pappas (D-N.H.) are urging the Biden Administration to fund critical baseline research and scientific studies to advance sustainable offshore wind opportunities in the Gulf of Maine. In a letter to Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Director Amanda Lefton, the New England lawmakers urged BOEM to prioritize two studies that are crucial in determining habitat use and distribution of species in the Gulf of Maine—information they say is needed to protect critically important habitats for American lobster and Atlantic cod.

“Our states have enormous potential to produce significant renewable energy as well as anchor a burgeoning industry and workforce through the responsible development of offshore wind,” Pingree, Moulton, Kuster, and Pappas wrote. “While our state governments are already engaging with leaders of our region’s fishing industries and other ocean users to lessen conflicts with existing users and marine life, it is still crucial that BOEM complete further stakeholder outreach and scientific research to inform the agency’s planning process before conducting lease sales.”

“BOEM’s work to support regional outreach and comprehensive habitat and wildlife data collection and analyses using the best available science will be essential to advancing offshore wind in a way that is environmentally and economically responsible,” they continued.

In late January, Maine Sens. Angus King and Susan Collins, and Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) also wrote to Director Lefton to highlight the significant potential for offshore wind in the Gulf of Maine, but stressed that additional thorough research is needed to assess the impacts on local industries and ecosystems.

Pingree, who is a member of the House Appropriations Committee and current Chair of the House Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Subcommittee, which oversees funding for BOEM, has been a longtime supporter of the efforts to develop sustainable offshore wind power.

Full text of the letter is available here and below.

Dear Director Lefton,

As members of the Congressional delegations of Maine, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, we write in support of funding for critical baseline research and scientific studies to advance sustainable offshore wind opportunities in the Gulf of Maine. The recent announcement from Interior Secretary Deb Haaland outlining BOEM’s plans to pursue offshore wind leases in the Gulf of Maine by mid-2024 brings new urgency to commence key research studies that will ensure offshore wind development in this area is underpinned by robust scientific research.

Our states have enormous potential to produce significant renewable energy as well as anchor a burgeoning industry and workforce through the responsible development of offshore wind. While our state governments are already engaging with leaders of our region’s fishing industries and other ocean users to lessen conflicts with existing users and marine life, it is still crucial that BOEM complete further stakeholder outreach and scientific research to inform the agency’s planning process before conducting lease sales.

In BOEM’s National Studies List for 2022, the Office of Renewable Energy Programs identified two studies that would provide essential information and enhance BOEM’s capacity to assess, predict, monitor, and manage the potential environmental impacts of offshore wind in the Gulf of Maine prior to inform the agency’s planning process. The two studies include an Ecological Baseline Study of the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf Off Maine (AT-22-12), and a Comprehensive Assessment of Existing Gulf of Maine Ecosystem Data and Identification of Data Gaps to Inform Future Research (AT-22-11).

We urge BOEM to invest in the Gulf of Maine as funding decisions are made for the fiscal year by prioritizing these two studies, in particular the Ecological Baseline Study (AT-22-12). As part of this study, BOEM should consider using targeted benthic habitat surveys collected via high resolution multibeam mapping and ground truthing of the data using sediment sampling and benthic fauna characterization to generate detailed habitat and sediment maps.

Existing bathymetric and benthic habitat data is extremely limited for the Gulf of Maine, yet it is fundamental to determine habitat use and distribution of species. This information is needed to determine areas of complex habitats, which are critically important for several important species including American lobster and Atlantic cod. This survey would also protect areas in the Gulf of Maine that have been designated as critical habitat for the endangered North Atlantic Right Whale and other species. We also encourage you to prioritize a comprehensive marine mammal and wildlife surveys and the collection of fisheries data in coordination with NOAA and state marine resource agencies to inform our understanding of the potential impact of offshore wind development on regional fisheries and marine species.

Continuing engagement with regional stakeholders has identified gaps related to the socioeconomic and cumulative impact assessments of offshore wind development in the Gulf of Maine. Accordingly, we support regionally specific research to investigate the projected economic impacts of offshore wind development on existing ocean users, as well as its cumulative impacts on our natural resources, existing uses, industries, and people.

The State of Maine spent more than a year working directly with fishermen and other stakeholders to put forward a comprehensive application to BOEM for a research lease. This project would use an innovative floating wind turbine technology developed at the University of Maine, which was developed with funding from the Department of Energy. We strongly support this research array application and believe it would contribute valuable and complementary data to an Ecological Baseline Study and a comprehensive evaluation of existing ecosystem data in the Gulf of Maine. Together, the resulting information will help advance floating offshore wind in the U.S. and build on our collective understanding of how to best minimize impacts to the fishing industry and the environment.

BOEM’s work to support regional outreach and comprehensive habitat and wildlife data collection and analyses using the best available science will be essential to advancing offshore wind in a way that is environmentally and economically responsible. We thank you for your attention to the Gulf of Maine and look forward to continuing to engage with you as you initiate these essential studies to aid in responsibly developing offshore wind.

 

NEFMC Initiates Action for HAPC in Southern New England; Discusses Great South Channel Habitat Management Area

February 18, 2022 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

The New England Fishery Management Council will be developing a Habitat Area of Particular Concern (HAPC) in Southern New England to place additional conservation focus on Council-managed species that rely on essential fish habitat (EFH) within this area, which is south of Cape Cod.

During its February 1-3, 2022 webinar meeting, the Council initiated a framework adjustment to pursue the new HAPC. It also:

  • Discussed the Great South Channel Habitat Management Area (HMA) and the clam industry’s request for additional access to the HMA beyond the current three exemption areas;
  • Received a summary of the white paper titled “Habitat Management Considerations for the Northern Edge of Georges Bank,” which will help inform future discussions if the Council decides to consider habitat management changes on the Northern Edge as a work priority down the road;
  • Received an update on offshore wind activities in the Greater Atlantic Region (see presentation);
  • Was informed that the Council was finalizing its comment letter on the Amitié Subsea Cable project, which runs between Massachusetts and France and the United Kingdom; and
  • Agreed to submit a comment letter on the Running Tide Technology project, which proposes to grow kelp on the northwestern portion of Fippennies Ledge in the Gulf of Maine.

Read the full release from the NEFMC

Maine eyes concepts for developing Searsport as offshore wind hub

February 16, 2022 — State agencies have developed concepts to use the port of Searsport as a manufacturing hub for the burgeoning offshore wind industry.

“We envision an entire port concept,” said Matthew Burns, director of ports and marine transportation with the Maine Department of Transportation.

Burns spoke during a webinar last week, hosted by Augusta public policy nonprofit Maine Conservation Voters, on proposed plans to develop the port for offshore wind.

In November, Gov. Janet Mills directed her administration to study options for renewable energy development at the state’s commercial ports, calling offshore wind an “unprecedented economic and investment opportunity for Maine.”

Led by the Governor’s Energy Office, the Maine Department of Transportation and other agencies, officials are looking at a variety of wind options at Searsport, Portland, Eastport and others.

Read the full story at Mainebiz

New York breaks ground on 1st offshore wind farm, would be largest in U.S.

February 14, 2022 — The construction of a dozen wind turbines 35 miles off Long Island’s eastern tip has begun, officials said Friday, marking the state’s first offshore wind project launch.

The South Fork Wind Farm is planned to sit south of Rhode Island and send power to East Hampton. It could also put New York into rare air: Gov. Hochul has said the state will boast the largest offshore wind farm in the Western Hemisphere after the project’s completion.

The farm is projected to power up to 70,000 homes. New York is also whipping up several larger offshore wind plants that the government estimated will collectively power more than 2 million homes and create thousands of jobs.

“If you ask what the energy future looks like, I say: The answer my friends is blowing in the wind,” Gov. Hochul said in a rhetorical nod to Bob Dylan at the Friday groundbreaking ceremony. “This is just the beginning.”

Read the full story at the New York Daily News

Additional Offshore Wind Lawsuit Reflects LBI Opposition Concerns

February 11, 2022 — The U.S. Department of the Interior is facing another legal challenge to its handling of offshore wind, this time for its approval of an offshore wind project to be constructed on a 65,000-acre tract in federal waters south of Martha’s Vineyard. The suit comes three weeks after a grassroots organization from Long Beach Island made good on its intention to sue the federal agency.

Responsible Offshore Development Alliance, a broad membership-based coalition of fishing industry associations and fishing companies, filed suit Jan. 31 in the U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia.

“In its haste to implement a massive new program to generate electrical energy by constructing thousands of turbine towers offshore the eastern seaboard on the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf and laying hundreds of miles of high-tension electrical cables undersea, the United States has shortcut the statutory and regulatory requirements that were enacted to protect our nation’s environmental and natural resources, its industries and its people,” said Annie Hawkins, executive director of the alliance. “The fishing industry supports strong action on climate change, but not at the expense of the ocean, its inhabitants and sustainable domestic seafood.”

Read the full story at TheSandPaper.net

 

MASSACHUSETTS: New Bedford in line to get $30 million to improve waterfront Marine Commerce Terminal

February 10, 2022 — The Port of New Bedford was the nation’s highest value port for the 20th consecutive year in 2021 as announced by the National Marine Fisheries Service.

And the city could be getting $30 million to invest in improving the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal.

According to a news release from Sen. Mark Montigny, the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center Board of Directors voted to approve a motion authorizing $90 million to be spent from the Offshore Wind Industry Investment Fund created by the legislature in December 2021.

The funding reserves $30 million to expand capacity at the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal. The money is from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and state revenues that are held in MassCEC’s coffers to enhance the terminal.

Read the full story from the New Bedford Standard-Times

Lawsuit challenges Vineyard Wind approval

February 1, 2022 — A lawsuit challenging the federal approval of the nation’s first industrial-scale offshore wind farm off the coast of Massachusetts raises questions about the haste with which the project was approved and the fallout it will have on endangered right whales and the fishing industry.

The lawsuit, filed on Monday in federal court in Washington, DC, by the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance, which represents fishing interests, also highlights the dramatic scale of the wind farm and questions whether taxpayers were shortchanged by the leases the federal government negotiated with the developer, Vineyard Wind.

The lawsuit is one of a handful challenging the project on the grounds that several environmental statutes were violated in the Biden administration’s rush to kickstart the offshore wind industry.

Vineyard Wind filed its construction and operations plan initially in 2017. The Trump administration decided to extend its review indefinitely in 2019 to take into account the many offshore wind farms planned up and down the coast.

Read the full story at CommonWealth Magazine