Saving Seafood

Fishing advocates propose transit lanes for offshore wind

January 7, 2020 — A coalition of commercial fishing groups is calling for 4-mile-wide transit lanes through offshore wind turbine arrays off New England, as federal ocean planners and the Coast Guard consider maritime safety aspects of the projects.

In a Jan. 3 letter to those agencies, the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance proposed six vessel traffic lanes — each 4 nautical miles wide and up to 70 miles long — through wind turbine areas proposed by energy companies south of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket off Massachusetts.

Those developers submitted their own proposal Nov. 1 to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the Coast Guard, offering a consistent grid layout across their federal offshore leases that would space turbine towers 1 nautical mile apart.

Without endorsing that spacing — opposed by Rhode Island squid fishermen and others who say they cannot not work amid such arrays — the alliance letter is a counter-proposal that superimposes wider transit lanes on the developers’ plan.

“The proposal presented here utilizes the uniform 1×1 nm spaced turbines presented in the Nov. 1 proposal and includes transit lanes of adequate widths to preserve safe and efficient passage along the routes most often used by fishermen,” the letter states.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Fishermen call for 4-nautical-mile lanes between offshore wind turbines

January 7, 2020 — Northeastern commercial fishermen and seafood businesses are calling for transit lanes four nautical miles wide between rows of offshore wind turbines.

The Responsible Offshore Development Alliance, a fishing lobby group whose members hail mainly from New England and New Jersey, wrote a letter to the U.S Coast Guard and other federal authorities to make its case for wider lanes, saying they would:

– Allow enough room for a vessel to make a significant alteration of course if needed;

– Provide space for vessels to pass one another;

– Compensate for reduced radar effectiveness; and

– Serve as passageways for marine life.

In November, wind developers proposed spacing turbines one nautical mile apart and laying them out in uniform rows.

With regard to the proposed spacing of one nautical mile, the fishing group wrote, “RODA reiterates, consistent with each of our previous comments on the record, that most fishing vessels will not be able to operate in this array and significant displacement will still occur due to (one-nautical-mile) spacing.”

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Warren releases ‘Blue New Deal,’ a plan to help ailing oceans

December 10, 2019 — Senator Elizabeth Warren on Tuesday released an addendum to her vision for a Green New Deal: the Blue New Deal.

The new plan seeks to address how climate change is affecting oceans and other waters, while ensuring a vibrant marine economy, she said.

“While the ocean is severely threatened, it can also be a major part of the climate solution,” she wrote in a nine-page summary of the plan. “That is why I believe that a Blue New Deal must be an essential part of any Green New Deal.”

“Not being consulted on this isn’t a good start to the relationship,” said Drew Minkiewicz, an attorney for the Fisheries Survival Fund in Washington, D.C., which represents the scallop industry. “We expected something more well-thought-out from her.”

Annie Hawkins, executive director of the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance, a coalition of fishing industry associations and companies, said that “any large industrial project in the ocean will have significant impacts to the sustainability of established activities and the marine environment.”

“To me, it seems like it was written by staff, and they did a lot of Googling,” said Robert Vanasse, executive director of Saving Seafood, a Washington-based group that represents commercial fishermen. “It’s disappointing, because we know Senator Warren has a more sophisticated understanding of fisheries.”

Read the full story at The Boston Globe

Fisheries Survival Fund warns changes to Jones Act interpretation give foreign offshore wind companies advantage over U.S. maritime industries

December 2, 2019 (Saving Seafood) — WASHINGTON — The Fisheries Survival Fund (FSF) submitted a letter to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) late last month warning against a proposed new interpretation of the Jones Act that would allow foreign wind energy developers to use foreign vessels for the rapid build-out of offshore wind farms. For nearly a century, commercial fishermen have been required to use domestic manufacturing for construction of their scallop vessels due to Jones Act requirements, FSF wrote.

FSF, which represents the vast majority of full-time Limited Access permit holders in the Atlantic scallop fishery, wrote that the proposed modifications “would place foreign-owned offshore wind energy companies at a unique advantage not afforded to the thousands of U.S.-owned maritime industries” and “would jeopardize the countless job opportunities for domestic laborers who would otherwise benefit from the build-out of offshore wind facilities.”

In its letter, FSF emphasized that is has been actively engaged in the public input process for the planning and development of offshore wind leases, and has worked with both government agencies and offshore wind developers to better understand and reduce the potential impacts of offshore wind development.

The Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA) also wrote to CBP expressing “serious concern” over the proposed modifications.

Read FSF’s full letter here

Turbine spacing unites offshore wind executives

November 21, 2019 — Executives representing the offshore leaseholders off Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket announced their joint support for a one-nautical-mile width between all their proposed wind turbines.

The executives also announced agreement on an east-west orientation of the wind turbine rows. Orsted North America president Thomas Brostrom, Equinor Wind US president Christer af Geijerstam, Eversource Energy-enterprise energy strategy executive vice president Leon Oliver, Mayflower Wind president John Hartnet, and Vineyard Wind CEO Lars Thaaning Pedersen signed a letter to the U.S. Coast Guard advocating for the one-nautical-mile spacing and east-west configuration. The letter was accompanied by a report executed by W.F. Baird & Associates Ltd. that concludes such distancing and orientation of turbines is advantageous.

For Vineyard Wind, the width is a mile short of what it previously supported. As The Times reported in December 2018, Vineyard Wind was in support of two-mile transit corridors, while fishermen pushed for four-mile corridors. However, the executives contend in their letter that the widths are “responsive to fishermen’s requests.” Among other reasons, fishermen in Rhode Island and Massachusetts have pushed for wider navigation spaces between wind turbines for safety reasons, due to the length of mobile gear some fishing vessels trail. The executives state the width they propose addresses mobile gear concerns.

In a statement to The Times, Meghan Lapp, fisheries liaison for Rhode Island’s Seafreeze Ltd. and a board member of the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA), found the executives’ announcement foreseeable, and as evidence they may not be taking fishing industry input to heart.

Read the full story at the Martha’s Vineyard Times

US harvesters cold on wind farm industry’s proposed turbine standards

November 20, 2019 — A group of wind farming companies with hopes of building soon off the North Atlantic coast of the United States released on Tuesday their proposal to the US Coast Guard (USCG) for how to consistently position turbines across the region in a way that they believe will satisfy safety concerns raised by commercial fish and shellfish harvesters.

The proposal includes requiring a minimum of one nautical mile (1.2 miles) between each turbine and an east to west configuration, just as harvesters earlier asked.

However, the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA), a group of 160 commercial harvesters and processors with vessels spread across nine states and operating in about 30 different fisheries, said on Tuesday morning that it would rather wait on the results of a scientific study from the USCG — expected soon — before accepting the wind industry’s plan.

And the Fisheries Survival fund, a group that represents Atlantic scallop harvesters, has flat out rejected the wind industry’s proposal, saying it doesn’t meet their needs.

Read the full story at Undercurrent News

RODA Submits Comments on Proposed Changes to Interpretation on the Jones Act

November 18, 2019 — The following was released by the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance:

On Friday, the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA) submitted a letter to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection expressing serious concern with proposed modifications to ruling letters that would allow non-Jones Act compliant vessels to be utilized for a wide range of offshore activities, including offshore wind energy facility construction.

For nearly a century, fishermen have complied with the Jones Act. RODA is concerned that the proposed modifications and revocation of ruling letters to CBP’s application of the Jones Act would not hold offshore wind energy developers to the same standards. The proposed definition is too broad and violates the purpose of the Jones Act. Carving out a broad exemption for an entire new industry does nothing to aid the development of U.S. marine commerce.

As the number of proposed offshore wind energy projects continues to grow throughout the U.S., their widely promised economic benefits must accrue to the citizens who are displaced, and to U.S. coastal communities at large. For offshore wind energy-related operations that can be executed with existing American vessels and crew, this means delivering on promises to fully utilize those resources. For larger construction tasks for which there may not currently be qualified vessels, foreign-owned wind energy companies should contract with U.S. shipyards to build the necessary Jones Act-qualified boats.

The actions proposed in the notice also have significant bearing on national security and environmental protection. Monitoring and enforcement of U.S. environmental and security laws on foreign vessels poses extraordinary challenges due the additional permissions needed by the Coast Guard to board non-U.S. flag vessels.

Finally, RODA noted that CBP may only issue Jones Act interpretations relevant to these activities through a public rulemaking process and after conducting thorough interagency evaluations. Due to the highly case-specific nature of ruling letters, any CBP action that affects the maritime community or the public more broadly must follow the Administrative Procedure Act. The notice overreaches a ruling letter’s authority by proposing to adopt a new and unprecedented definition for “vessel equipment.” The inclusion of specific, previously uncontemplated activities—and the materials for use in those activities—in the definition of “vessel equipment” is a new statutory interpretation, and unfit for adoption through modification of existing ruling letters.

The proposed changes are described at page 12 here: https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/assets/documents/2019-Oct/Vol_53_No_38_Title.pdf. Comments are due by November 22nd and must be submitted by postal mail.

Read RODA’s submitted comments here

EnBW North America Appoints Fisheries Liaison

October 23, 2019 — Highlighting the critical connection between early and effective engagement with the fishing industry and successful offshore wind development, EnBW North America today has welcomed long-time fishing advocate Beth Casoni as the company’s fisheries liaison. The company has also announced its new membership in the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance’s (RODA) joint industry task force, devoted to addressing issues of mutual interest to commercial fisheries and offshore wind.

While federal Bureau of Offshore Energy Management (BOEM) rules require offshore wind area leaseholders to employ a fisheries liaison, EnBW North America says it made the decision to retain Casoni before obtaining site control in order to fully engage with the fishing community before project design and development. The company’s immediate attention is on the New York Bight – an area off the coasts of New York and New Jersey, where BOEM is expected to auction wind lease areas in late 2020.

Casoni, a Marshfield, Mass., resident, has worked at the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association since 2007 and has served as its executive director since 2014. Her experience includes serving on the Massachusetts Ocean Advisory Commission, which contributed to the development of the Massachusetts Ocean Management Plan. She serves also on the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team and several fisheries and seafood marketing boards, including the New England Marine Fisheries Herring and Habitat Advisory Panel and Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission Herring Advisory Panel. A fishing community native whose family includes commercial fishermen, Casoni is also a former reserve intermittent police officer with the Cohasset (Massachusetts) Police Department.

Read the full story at North American Wind Power

Fishermen demand a say in decisions on offshore wind energy

September 16, 2019 — Fishermen insisted Monday to a congressional subcommittee looking at offshore wind energy that they be consulted when crucial decisions are being made on the development of such projects, including where they are located and the level of access to the waters near them.

Fishermen should have been brought into the planning process from the start, Peter Hughes, of Atlantic Capes Fisheries, told U.S. House members from New Jersey and California who were holding a hearing at the Jersey Shore.

“Look at these slides,” he said, referring to diagrams of where proposed wind projects would be built. “They’re right smack dab where we are fishing. This is going to put people out of business.”

The purpose of the hearing was to gather input from the fishing industry and its advocates to be considered in future regulation of the nascent wind energy market. So far, a single five-turbine wind farm off Block Island, Rhode Island, is the only operating offshore wind farm in the U.S., but states up and down the East Coast are readying plans for similar projects.

Capt. Ed Yates, a fisherman from Barnegat Light, New Jersey, said flounder, cod and other species have moved away from underground cables at a wind project off Denmark.

“How does offshore wind energy affect the fishing industry?” he asked. “The answer we get from the wind operators is ‘We won’t fully understand the impacts until the facilities are already built.’”

The Responsible Offshore Development Alliance formed last year to represent the interests of the fishing industry regarding offshore wind. The group’s executive director, Annie Hawkins, said more scientific studies are needed, adding there has been virtually no public discussion of important questions like how wind energy projects would be dismantled after reaching the end of their lifespans.

The hearing was chaired by Rep. Alan Lowenthal, a California Democrat, and Rep. Jeff Van Drew, a Democrat who represents the area of southern New Jersey including the productive Cape May fishing port.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at The Washington Post

RESPONSIBLE OFFSHORE DEVELOPMENT ALLIANCE (RODA) STATEMENT REGARDING VINEYARD WIND FEDERAL REVIEW PROCESS

August 14, 2019 — The following was released by the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance:

In light of the recent decision by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to perform a cumulative impacts analysis regarding the proposed Vineyard Wind project, and the recently released communications between that agency and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), RODA would like to clarify certain statements and representations.

The RODA Board of Directors particularly notes the citation of its statement regarding turbine spacing and orientation in BOEM’s response to NMFS’ letter of nonconcurrence. To provide the full context of this statement, which is not readily apparent from BOEM’s letter, it is posted here in its entirety.

RODA has not taken a position to specifically support or oppose any offshore wind energy development. We have repeatedly stated in multiple formats that decisions on any new uses of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) that have the potential to affect commercial fishing must be based on a deliberative process and scientific record that fully incorporates the input of diverse fishing communities and avoids and minimizes such impacts to the maximum possible extent; and where impacts cannot be avoided effective mitigation strategies are developed to achieve co-existence.

During the development of the Vineyard Wind Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS), RODA signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with BOEM and NMFS in order to collaborate on the science and process of offshore wind energy development on the Atlantic OCS. We value the relationships and progress we are advancing with both agencies as well as those with developers, including Vineyard Wind, through cooperation on our Joint Industry Task Force and the Responsible Offshore Science Alliance.

The size, pace, and scope of proposed offshore wind energy projects on the Atlantic OCS demand that lawmakers, regulators, developers, and the public all employ due caution to ensure that these developments can coexist with our traditional and historic fisheries. It would be unacceptable to put at stake hundreds of thousands of skilled fishing jobs, healthy and sustainable seafood, important traditional ecological knowledge, and the very fabric of our coastal cultures in a rush to welcome a new industry before the trade-offs are fully considered. In many early natural resource-based industries—including the fishing industry—a race to develop without adequate science and planning has resulted in avoidable resource catastrophes. We would like to avoid those outcomes, and taking time to understand the cumulative impacts of multiple imminent industrial projects is critical to doing so.

Read the full release here