Saving Seafood

New Jersey awards 2,658 megawatts in biggest U.S. pact

July 1, 2021 — The EDF/Shell Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind venture and a second phase of Ørsted’s Ocean Wind project were awarded a combined 2,658 megawatts of capacity by New Jersey utilities regulators Wednesday, in what state officials call the largest U.S. combined award to date.

The vote by the state Board of Public Utilities raises the state’s total planned capacity to over 3,700 MW, nearly half of a goal of 7,500 MW by 2035 set by Gov. Phil Murphy.

The board allocated 1,510 MW to Atlantic Shores and 1,148 MW to Ocean Wind II for their neighboring federal leases off Long Beach Island and Atlantic City, N.J.

Both developers will build new manufacturing facilities at the New Jersey Wind Port planned at the mouth of the Delaware River in Salem County, and use a foundation manufacturing facility upriver at the Port of Paulsboro, state officials said. Those projects are projected to be commissioned in 2027 through 2029.

“Combined, the two projects are estimated to create 7,000 full- and or part-time jobs across the development, construction and operational phases of the projects. This yields approximately 56,000 full time equivalent job-years, as some jobs will be shorter term and others will last for many years,” according to a BPU statement. “They will also generate $3.5 billion in economic benefits and power 1.15 million homes with clean energy.”

The BPU agreement requires the developers to contribute $10,000 per megawatt of capacity – some $26 million in all – to fund environmental research initiatives and wildlife and fishery monitoring in the region, with the money administered by the BPU and state Department of Environmental Protection.

Read the full story at WorkBoat

Some New Jersey residents fighting the state’s wind farm plan

June 16, 2021 — New Jersey is moving forward with plans to build an enormous wind farm 20 miles off the coast, but not everybody is thrilled.

Proponents, including Gov. Phil Murphy, insist the Ocean Wind project, which calls for constructing about a hundred giant wind turbines out in the ocean over the next five years, and hundreds more in the future, will boost the state economy, create thousands of new jobs and provide enough green energy to run hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses.

Tricia Conte, the founder of Save Our Shoreline, is dead set against the wind farm.

“I was initially concerned about the view,” she said. “And then the more research I did I realized there were greater issues than the view.”

She said, “In other areas where there has been green energy installed, California, Germany and Denmark, there was significant increases in the cost of electricity.”

Read the full story at NJ 101.5

The U.S. vs. Atlantic fisheries

April 28, 2021 — In its rush to burnish its green bona fides, the Biden administration is showering billions of dollars of subsidies onto European offshore wind developers, and in the process threatening both the environment and the livelihoods of Atlantic coast commercial fishermen.

The most recent example is the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s (BOEM) decision to fast-track offshore leases to wind energy companies in the New York Bight — a 16,000 square mile triangular area off the coast between Long Island and New Jersey, where Govs. Andrew Cuomo and Phil Murphy want to construct at least 18,000 MW of wind. All told, the Biden administration wants to construct 30,000 megawatts of offshore wind by 2030, which would require erecting one 850-foot-tall wind turbine virtually every single day for the next decade.

The Atlantic coast contains some of the most productive fisheries in the world. BOEM is supposed to work with fisheries interests to ensure offshore wind development does not adversely affect habitat and the livelihood of fishermen. In fact, in December of last year, the Department of the Interior issued a detailed memo stating that the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act prohibits offshore wind approvals if a project would interfere with fishing. But just a few weeks ago, the administration reversed those findings.

Read the full story at The Daily News

NEW JERSEY: Offshore wind critics say farms will damage Shore economies and ruin ocean views

March 11, 2021 — Opposition to New Jersey’s coming surge in offshore wind farms is growing at the Jersey Shore.

The hundreds of wind turbines due to be built up to 20 miles off New Jersey in the next five years or so will spoil ocean views, undermine local economies and hurt wildlife while boosting the profits of overseas developers, critics say.

These opponents reject claims by wind farm builders and their enthusiastic supporters, including Gov. Phil Murphy, that the clusters of turbines are emissions-free. The manufacture and maintenance of the massive steel structures will require huge amounts of fossil fuel-powered energy, they argue.

They also say they fear that the tourism-dependent economies of many Shore towns will be damaged if visitors flee because they don’t want to look at an array of wind turbines on the horizon, or if the new structures disrupt marine life so much that recreational and commercial fishermen stay away.

And if fewer people want to spend time at the Shore, real estate values of coastal properties will drop, the critics predict.

“If people decide they don’t want any part of coming here, they will go elsewhere,” said Suzanne Hornick, administrator of SaveourshorelineNJ, a Facebook page that’s dedicated to opposing the industry, and has about 3,100 members.

Read the full story at the New Jersey Spotlight

Some worry N.J. offshore wind project will affect views, fishing, and tourism

February 16, 2021 — A half-dozen people stood on an oceanfront deck with a million-dollar view, asking a hundred questions about what’s on the horizon. On this clear, winter afternoon, it was the Atlantic as far as the eye can see.

By 2024, nearly 100 of the world’s largest, most powerful wind turbines could be spinning 15 miles off the coast. With blades attached, the windmills could reach as high and wide as 850 feet, and simulations created by Orsted, the Danish-based power company behind the Ocean Wind project, show the turbines are visible, faintly, from beaches in Brigantine, Avalon, Stone Harbor, and Joe and Tricia Conte’s deck in Ocean City.

“Some of those pictures are deceptive, though, because they were taken on a cloudy day,” Joe Conte said. “The pictures they have of a clear day give you a much more vivid view of what it’s really going to look like.”

The project will power a half-million homes in New Jersey and, according to Orsted, create thousands of jobs, both offshore and on during the initial construction process, which could begin this year. It has the support of both Gov. Phil Murphy, who has actively pushed for alternative energy in the state, and President Joe Biden.

Murphy’s office did not return a request for comment for this story, but Jeff Tittel, director of the Sierra Club’s New Jersey chapter, said there was talk of offshore oil wells under past administrations.

Read the full story at The Philadelphia Inquirer

N.J.’s sinking fishing industry nabs $11M life raft from state

January 29, 2021 — Nearly a year after being approved by federal lawmakers, financial relief is being handed out to New Jersey’s battered fishing industry.

Gov. Phil Murphy and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection announced Friday that $11.3 million in grants are being distributed to Garden State fishermen, and the businesses that support them.

“Our fishing communities and seafood industries are important parts of our New Jersey identity, and crucial components of our state’s economy,” Murphy said in a statement. “The grants our administration is making to our partners in fishing industries will help the business and communities impacted by this public health emergency. I continue to encourage our New Jersey family to support our fishing industry by buying from local seafood suppliers and enjoying fishing through our local charter boat operations and bait and tackle shops.”

Read the full story at NJ.com

New Jersey seafood workers aim to ensure they’ll be among first round of essential workers getting COVID-19 vaccine

December 28, 2020 — A group of New Jersey fishing businesses and organizations sent a letter to New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy this month urging him to keep the seafood industry’s workers as a high-priority group for COVID-19 vaccinations.

Seafood employees, like others in the food processing industry, are considered essential workers. According to guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that group falls in Phase 1b, along with public transit employees, first responders as well as teachers and other school staff.

Those federal guidelines, though, stand just as a recommendation as the states will be making the call on who gets priority. New Jersey’s COVID-19 vaccination plan calls for defining the essential workers group in early 2021.

The state says it plans to follow the CDC recommendations, but it’s expected there will be more intended recipients than available vaccines. With that anticipated shortage, officials believe they’ll need to prioritize within the Phase 1b grouping.

Read the full story at KPVI

Atlantic Shores, Ørsted apply in new round of offshore wind contracts

December 11, 2020 — Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind and Ørsted said Thursday they have applied to the state in the second round of competition to supply up to 2,400 megawatts of offshore wind power to New Jersey.

In September, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities announced it would open the application window for the state’s second solicitation of offshore wind development. The window closed Thursday, and a decision is likely to take months.

The current solicitation will award between 1,200 and 2,400 megawatts of offshore wind energy, the BPU said, “potentially tripling the state’s committed capacity from 1,100 MW to 3,500 MW.”

It is part of the board’s work to achieve Gov. Phil Murphy’s goal of creating 7,500 MW of offshore wind energy in the state by 2035, to power 3.2 million homes, the board has said.

Read the full story at the Press of Atlantic City

New Jersey fishing industry to receive $11 million in pandemic relief funding

October 19, 2020 — The fishing industry in New Jersey will soon receive an economic boost in the form of grant money from the state’s government, legislators announced.

New Jersey will put $11.3 million in federal fisheries relief towards commercial and recreational fishing businesses that have been negatively impacted by COVID-19. Money will be provided to businesses in the form of grants using funds allocated to the state as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act.

Fishing businesses that have seen their revenue decline by at least 35% will be able to apply, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, DEP Commissioner Catherine R. McCabe and Gov. Phil Murphy announced Thursday.

Read the full story at The Philly Voice

New Jersey puts out $11.2 million in covid-19 fishing aid

October 16, 2020 — The state of New Jersey is making $11.2 million in financial aid available to commercial and recreational fishing businesses that have seen their income plummet during the covid-19 public health emergency, Gov. Phil Murphy and state environmental commissioner Catherine R. McCabe announced Thursday.

The funding is available as grants to eligible businesses that document a 35 percent loss in revenues as a result of the pandemic. As the Garden State’s share, the funding is from a $300 million allocation for fishing industries in coastal states provided by the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

“Fishing is an integral part of New Jersey’s identity and a critical component of our economy,” Murphy said in announcing the grants. “This grant program will help these businesses recover losses they have incurred during very difficult times. And we can all play a role in supporting New Jersey’s fishing industry by buying from local seafood suppliers and enjoying fishing through charter boat operations and bait and tackle shops.”

The New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife’s Marine Fisheries Administration will review applications and administer financial assistance to eligible business. An online application process will start Monday, October 19, 2020, through DEP’s electronic grants management system, NJDEP SAGE at https://njdepsage.intelligrants.com

Read the full story at National Fisherman