Saving Seafood

Expo News: Static electricity

November 17, 2020 — The fledgling U.S. offshore wind industry is gathering critical mass in southern New England, where a forthcoming environmental assessment of the 800-megawatt Vineyard Wind plan could determine how it and a dozen other East Coast projects might proceed.

Fishermen in the Northeast fleets, heirs to a 400-year New England industry, are deeply engaged on scientific, political and legal fronts, trying to slow what they see as federal and state governments overenthusiastic about granting wind developers chunks of the outer continental shelf.

In June 2018, East Coast fishing industry leaders organized the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance to represent fishermen’s interests to the wind industry and government regulators. Annie Hawkins, RODA’s executive director, says fishermen on every coast need to get involved.

“Just because the current projects are not located in your area doesn’t mean they won’t affect you,” Hawkins wrote in a July 2 commentary in NF. “A relatively small group of developers own the leases, and the federal permitting process is being tested and tweaked in real time.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Making Waves: Offshore Wind and Commercial Fishing

November 17, 2020 — Join NF editors Kirk Moore and Jessica Hathaway for a discussion on the future of offshore wind power with panelists Annie Hawkins, executive director of the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance in Washington, D.C.; Mike Conroy, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations in San Francisco; and Bonnie Brady, executive director of the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association; Montauk, N.Y.

Ask questions for the panel in our Member Forum — details below the video.

We will be talking about the latest developments with proposed wind energy projects off the East Coast — and how soon those proposals will come to the West Coast. Topics include the upcoming federal environmental impact statement on the cumulative impacts of Vineyard Wind and other East Coast projects; the status of wind energy planning off the West Coast; the state of relations and communications between fishermen and the wind industry; and fishermen’s concerns with safety and adequate vessel traffic lanes between turbines.

Bonnie Brady: “It’s really important for fishermen to lock arms and work together before they get run over by these things on their historic fishing grounds.”

Read the full story at National Fisherman

BOEM pushes back final findings on Vineyard Wind

November 16, 2020 — A sweeping environmental review of the Vineyard Wind offshore wind project is now tracking to be finalized Jan. 15, as the federal Bureau of Offshore Energy Management completes its review of public comments.

BOEM received more than 13,000 comments on its Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for Vineyard Wind, a planned 800-megawatt turbine array off southern New England, according to an agency spokesperson.

The final EIS is to be published Dec. 11, with the agency issuing its final record of decision Jan. 15 – a month’s delay for the report long-waited by the offshore wind supporters and its critics alike.

The second BOEM study was ordered up by Interior Secretary David Bernhardt in August 2019, after the National Marine Fisheries Service Greater Atlantic regional office refused to sign off on the first one. The supplemental study also looked at potential cumulative impacts of Vineyard Wind and 14 other potential wind projects now at various stages off the East Coast.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

U.S. agency again delays key permit for first major U.S. offshore wind farm

November 13, 2020 — A federal agency said on Thursday it has again delayed a long-awaited environmental study crucial to permitting the first major U.S. offshore wind project, but final approval of the project is expected by mid-January.

The study of the 800-megawatt Vineyard Wind project planned for the waters off the Massachusetts coast is expected to be released by Dec. 11, according to a government timeline. It had been anticipated later this week.

The document has been repeatedly pushed back since April of 2019 due to concerns that the project’s wind turbines will harm fisheries and navigation.

The delays have been a setback to President Donald Trump’s efforts to fast-track big energy infrastructure projects and have stymied the administration’s plans to launch a promising new domestic industry.

Read the full story at Reuters

Louisiana pursuing wind energy opportunities in the Gulf of Mexico

November 12, 2020 — Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards announced a renewable energy initiative for the Gulf of Mexico, with plans to harness Louisiana’s strengths in offshore energy production for the development of wind power, the U.S.’s No. 1 source of renewable energy.

Gov. Edwards presented his vision at the inaugural meeting of the Climate Initiatives Task Force he created earlier this year. Offshore wind energy will be one of many strategies pursued by the task force to curb the growth of greenhouse gas emissions that have reduced air quality, contributed to coastal erosion through sea rise, and increased the severity of weather events.

“I have asked Dr. Walter Cruickshank and the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to help us establish a task force of federal, state and local officials who will build a blueprint for renewable energy production in the Gulf of Mexico,” Gov. Edwards said. “This is not some ‘pie in the sky’ promise of economic opportunity. We already have an emerging offshore wind energy industry, and Louisiana’s offshore oil and gas industry has played a key role in the early development of U.S. offshore wind energy in the Atlantic Ocean.”

Off the coast of Rhode Island, Lafayette-based Aries Marine Corp. and Galliano-based Falcon Global LLC are Louisiana liftboat operators that helped develop the nation’s first commercial offshore wind farm — Block Island. For that project, Metairie-based Keystone Engineering provided design assistance and Houma-based Gulf Island Fabrication built foundation jackets and piling.

Read the full story at WorkBoat

LOUISIANA: Gov. Edwards Announces Renewable Energy Initiative for Gulf of Mexico

November 10, 2020 — Today, Gov. John Bel Edwards announced a renewable energy initiative for the Gulf of Mexico, with plans to harness Louisiana’s strengths in offshore energy production for the development of wind power, the nation’s No. 1 source of renewable energy.

Gov. Edwards presented his vision at today’s inaugural meeting of the Climate Initiatives Task Force he created earlier this year. Offshore wind energy will be one of many strategies pursued by the task force to curb the growth of greenhouse gas emissions that have reduced air quality, contributed to coastal erosion through sea rise, and increased the severity of weather events.

“I have asked Dr. Walter Cruickshank and the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to help us establish a task force of federal, state and local officials who will build a blueprint for renewable energy production in the Gulf of Mexico,” Gov. Edwards said. “This is not some ‘pie in the sky’ promise of economic opportunity. We already have an emerging offshore wind energy industry, and Louisiana’s offshore oil and gas industry has played a key role in the early development of U.S. offshore wind energy in the Atlantic Ocean.”

Read the full story at KATC

Orsted announces Skipjack Wind Farm project may be delayed again

November 10, 2020 — The completion of one of two proposed wind farms off the coast of Ocean City may be delayed for the second time this year, according to the company in charge of the project.

The completion of the Skipjack Wind Farm, which is being built by Ørsted, is facing another delay, according to comments by Ørsted CEO Henrik Poulsen last week.

“Assuming the permitting process starts moving within the first quarter of next year, it appears highly likely that Revolution Wind, Ocean Wind, Skipjack and Sunrise Wind will be delayed beyond the previously expected 2023 and 2024 construction years,” said Poulsen during a call with investors on Oct. 28.

The Skipjack Wind Farm is a proposed offshore wind project currently in the planning and regulatory review process. The project is slated to be more than 19 miles off the coast of Ocean City and the Delaware coast, and was originally expected to be completed in 2022.

Read the full story at Delmarva Now

Black Sea Bass Sensitive to Ocean Noise in Wind Energy Development Areas

November 10, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Scientists looking at the effects of underwater pile driving and construction noise on sea life have found that black sea bass can hear these sounds. The noise may interfere with their natural behavior.

Their study is the first to look at the impact of ocean noise on this fish species. It found that younger fish were more sensitive to sounds than older fish. The frequencies at which the fish are most sensitive to sound directly overlap with frequencies of human-produced noise pollution. This noise comes from activities like shipping and the underwater construction required for offshore wind farms.

“No one knew for sure how much black sea bass can hear and how that changes as they age,” said Beth Phelan, a fishery biologist at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center’s laboratory at Sandy Hook, New Jersey and a co-author of the study. “We do know that black sea bass are attracted to underwater structures, and have anecdotal information that they move away from noise. We had to first determine the range of sounds they can hear by giving them a type of hearing test, much like we do to humans.”

Black sea bass are a commercially and recreationally important fish in the Mid-Atlantic Bight, the coastal region from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina to southern New England. Wind farms planned in the region overlap with current black sea bass habitat, exposing fish to construction and operational noises. Pile driving, for example, produces sounds that might stress fish, impacting their choice of habitat, feeding, social interaction and reproduction.

Read the full release here

MARYLAND: Ocean City hopes multi-state wind deal brings more collaboration to local level

November 5, 2020 — Last week Gov. Larry Hogan announced that Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina would work together to develop the offshore wind industry off the three states. Now Ocean City is hoping that same collaboration trickles down to their level.

The agreement between the three Mid-Atlantic states will form a joint partnership called the Mid-Atlantic Regional Transformative Partnership for Offshore Wind Energy Resources (SMART-POWER), according to a copy of the agreement.

The new partnership goal is to help more rapidly develop the offshore wind industry and “promote the Mid-Atlantic and southeast United States as an offshore wind energy industry hub.”

Maryland is currently in the process of building two offshore wind projects off the state’s coast.

Read the full story at Delmarva Now

Fishing Report: Wind farm developer seeks angler input

November 5, 2020 — Ørsted, owner of the Block Island Wind Farm and five other wind farms off the East Coast, is sponsoring a free Fishinar Series. The aim of the series is to encourage comments from anglers regarding offshore wind farm plans while relating strategies and tactics about how to catch the fish we love to eat through expert charter captains and private anglers.

The first Fishinar, “Angling for Ground Fish,” will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 18, via Zoom. Panelists will include Capt. Chris Willi of Block Island Fish Works, Capt. BJ Silvia of Flippin Out Charters of Portsmouth and Rich Hittinger of Warwick, who is the first vice president of the Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association and a ground fishing expert in the near offshore. Species discussed will include summer flounder, cod, tautog and scup.

The second Fishinar, “Angling for Pelagic Fish,” will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 9, via Zoom. Panelists will include charter Capt. John McMurray of New York, president of the American Saltwater Guides Association and a member of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission; Capt. Charlie Donilon of Snappa Charters, who is a shark fishing and shark cage diving expert; and Richard Pastore, an RISAA member and near offshore fishing expert. Species discussed will include tuna, sharks and mahi.

Read the full story at The Providence Journal