Saving Seafood

National Fisheries Institute Statement on the NOAA Appointment of Janet Coit

June 22, 2021 — The following was released by the National Fisheries Institute: 

The National Fisheries Institute is pleased the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has appointed Janet Coit to lead the agency as the assistant administrator.

During her tenure at the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, she developed an ability to work with stakeholders to ensure seafood was harvested the right way, streamlined agency processes, and promoted seafood locally and abroad. This same approach is needed at the federal level.

We look forward to working with Janet Coit in her new role.

RHODE ISLAND: Former DEM chief Janet Coit named to lead U.S. fisheries office

June 22, 2021 — It’s a rare thing for someone to occupy a Cabinet-level position in state government under three different governors. But Janet Coit was able to do it, steering the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management for a decade, the longest tenure of any director in the 44-year history of the agency.

Now, she’s set to take a set of traits — diligence, diplomacy, likeability — that she used to great effect as Rhode Island’s top environmental official to what will surely be a more challenging position on the national stage. On Monday, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, Coit’s former boss in the Rhode Island State House, announced the selection of Coit to lead the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s fisheries office.

Raimondo described Coit as a source of trusted counsel while she was governor and said she will bring a wealth of experience to what’s also known as the National Marine Fisheries Service.

Read the full story at the Providence Journal

South Fork wind farms reduce turbines, but fisheries groups have “serious concerns”

June 10, 2021 — The developers of the offshore wind farm, which will power South Fork, agreed to reduce the number of turbines in the LIPA contracted project from 15 to 12, but Road Island fishermen said turbines. The reduction was useless and provided a $ 12 million compensation package. Insufficient packaging.

Orsted and Eversource are partners in more than $ 2 billion of projects to be built off the coast of Rhode Island and Massachusetts by 2023, and are considering whether to issue a permit for the project. Prior to the Coastal Commission, we announced the changes last week.

In a statement, the two companies said they would “move forward by reducing the total number of turbines in the project from 15 to 12” while providing compensation packages to Rhode Island fishermen. If $ 12 million is accepted, the two companies will move forward. In particular, it will compensate for the loss of income of those who have been banned from fishing due to the construction and installation of turbines.

Read the full story at the Florida News Times

Ørsted Will Use Fewer, But Larger, Turbines; Cox Ledge Concerns Remain

June 3, 2021 — The developers of the South Fork Wind Farm said they have reduced the number of turbines they plan to connect to the South Fork from 15 to 12 — though the amount of power sent ashore in East Hampton will remain the same.

The shift is a product of the availability of much larger turbines than when the project was originally proposed. An Ørsted spokesperson said that the company has settled on using 11 megawatt turbines for the project, which allows the total number of turbines to be reduced from 15 to 12 while still meeting the 132-megawatt planned power supply that the company has agreed to with the Long Island Power Authority.

The turbines used in the Block Island Wind Farm, and visible from the shores of Montauk on clear days, are rated at 6 megawatts. They tower to about 590 feet above the surface of the sea, while the current 11-megawatt Siemens turbines reach nearly 800 feet and a turbine being produced by GE that will also top the 11 megawatt nameplate tower soars to more than 850 feet.

But it also comes amid the public review process of the project by the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council. Analysts and fishing groups from around New England and New York have objected to the company placing the turbines in ecologically sensitive areas close to Cox Ledge — an undersea ridge of rocky bottom that is an important fishing area for Montauk and Rhode Island fishermen and a critical nursery for bottom dwelling fish species like the beleaguered Atlantic cod.

Read the full story at The Southampton Press

South Fork Wind Farm to reduce turbines but fishing group has ‘serious concerns’

June 1, 2021 — Developers of a planned offshore wind farm to power the South Fork have agreed to reduce the number of turbines for the LIPA-contracted project to 12 from 15, but Rhode Island fishermen offered a $12 million compensation package say the turbine reduction won’t help and the package is inadequate.

Orsted and Eversource, partners on the $2 billion-plus project set to be built off the coast of Rhode Island and Massachusetts by 2023, disclosed the change last week before a Rhode Island coastal commission that is considering whether to issue a permit for the project.

In a statement, the companies said they will “move forward with the reduction of the project’s total turbines from 15 to 12,” while offering a compensation package for Rhode Island fishermen. The $12 million, if accepted, would cover lost earnings, among other things, for those kept from fishing either by construction or placement of the turbines themselves.

Read the full story at Newsday

Rhode Island Fishermen Also Peeved With South Fork Wind

May 27, 2021 — In a virtual meeting of the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council on Tuesday night, members of its fisheries advisory board strongly objected to the council’s conclusion that the South Fork Wind Farm’s new “minimization alternative” — 12 wind turbine generators instead of 15, reducing its footprint — and a $12 million fisheries compensation package, are consistent with the state’s Ocean Special Area Management Plan.

The advisory board also took exception to the state council’s inclination to issue “conditional concurrence” pursuant to federal regulations. The project needs the council’s approval, along with that of a host of other state, federal, and local authorities.

The wind farm as first proposed called for a 15-turbine, 90-megawatt setup. Advances in technology have allowed instead for a 130-megawatt installation, using no more than 15 turbines. The South Fork Wind Farm will now have 12 wind turbine generators, its developers having entered into a contractual obligation with Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy for 11-megawatt turbines.

The developers, Orsted U.S. Offshore Wind and Eversource Energy, have also modified the layout, to a one-by-one nautical-mile grid.

Read the full story at The East Hampton Star

RHODE ISLAND: Alleging ‘backroom deal,’ fishermen’s group opposes new plan for South Fork Wind Farm

May 25, 2021 — A board of fishermen that advises Rhode Island coastal regulators on offshore wind development has come out in opposition to  state certification of the South Fork Wind Farm.

A lawyer for the Fishermen’s Advisory Board said a recommendation by staff at the Coastal Resources Management Council that was agreed to by developers Ørsted and Eversource to reduce the number of turbines in the 132-megawatt project and set up a fishing compensation fund does not meet the concerns of board members.

“It was a backroom deal that happened over the weekend without our participation,” said Marisa Desautel.

She spoke Tuesday morning, hours before the coastal council was set to vote on a mitigation package that includes a reduction in the number of wind turbines from 15 to 12 and the creation of a $12-million fund, to be paid into over 30 years, that would compensate fishermen for lost access to fishing grounds in the project area in Rhode Island Sound.

Read the full story at the Providence Journal

Few assurances for fishermen in federal offshore wind approval

May 17, 2021 — Offshore wind developers have assured the commercial fishing industry all along that the thousands of massive turbines that they want to install in the ocean up and down the East Coast won’t block fishermen from waters where they make their living.

But the final approval issued this week for Vineyard Wind 1, the nation’s first major offshore wind farm, offers few guarantees to commercial fishermen.

Take for instance this passage from the Army Corps of Engineers in the Record of Decision for the 62-turbine project that would be built off the coast of Rhode Island and Massachusetts:

“While Vineyard Wind is not authorized to prevent free access to the entire wind development area, due to the placement of the turbines it is likely that the entire 75,614 acre area will be abandoned by commercial fisheries due to difficulties with navigation.”

Read the full story at the Providence Journal

Amid negotiations, R.I. fishing industry remains concerned over offshore wind impact, compensation

May 7, 2021 — What is the price of loss of livelihood?

This question is at the center of negotiations between local fishing industry representatives and offshore wind developers. And despite recent efforts to strike a better deal, some local fishermen say no number is high enough to justify the devastation they believe the projects will create for their jobs and industry.

The R.I. Coastal Resources Management Council at the urging of Gov. Daniel J. McKee delayed its approval of the South Fork Wind Farm to give developers Orsted A/S and Eversource Energy more time to reach an agreement with the fishing industry, the Associated Press has reported.

The CRMC through its Ocean Special Area Management Plan gets a say in the federal certification process for wind farm projects within a certain distance of the state coastline. Compensation is intended to offset losses from the construction and operation of the projects to the fishing industry.

The payouts help Rhode Island and Massachusetts fishermen, but there are no such benefits for fishermen in other states, even though many also fish in these areas. Other states also get no say in the federal approval process, unlike Rhode Island.

“Rhode Island holds the keys to the kingdom,” said Bonnie Brady, executive director for the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association.

Read the full story at the Providence Business News