Saving Seafood

Special zone around Block Island proposed

September 16, 2019 — OK, you fish Block Island and want to bring your black sea bass, summer flounder or scup catch back to your home port in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut or New York. You caught the fish in state waters — within the three-mile limit surrounding Block Island (federal water is from three to 200 miles offshore) and you have a state fishing permit.

But here’s the catch. To get those Block Island fish home you need to cross federal waters as Block Island’s northern tip is about seven miles from shore. So you will need to cross a mile-wide section of federal waters, and if you do, you may be transporting them illegally.

The State of Rhode Island, under the leadership of the Department of Environmental Management (DEM), has been advocating to establish a Block Island Sound Transit Zone for state-only permitted vessels fishing in, and returning to state waters.

The transit zone would mirror the current transit area for striped bass and allow for transit by state-only permitted commercial, party/charter vessels and private recreational anglers with summer flounder, scup, and black sea bass on board that were legally harvested in state waters.

Read the full story at The Providence Journal

Fishermen unsatisfied with wind turbine plans

September 16, 2019 — When Rhode Island commercial fishermen sat down a year ago with offshore wind developers, they say they made it clear that for the sake of navigational safety the minimum spacing of any turbines installed in ocean waters needs to be at least one nautical mile in every direction.

That meeting in July 2018 at the East Farm Commercial Fisheries Center of Rhode Island, in South Kingstown, with Vineyard Wind and Deepwater Wind (which has since become part of Ørsted U.S. Offshore Wind) wasn’t the first time that fishermen say they argued their demands for spacing and for the orientation of wind farms from east to west in a symmetrical grid pattern.

But, with Vineyard Wind and Ørsted both moving forward since then with layouts that fall short of what the fishermen want, it wouldn’t be the last.

Again, on Monday night, in a meeting with Ørsted and its partner Eversource Energy to discuss the companies’ 130-megawatt South Fork Wind Farm, members of the state’s Fishermen’s Advisory Board reiterated what they say is needed to allow them to fish within and transit through the project of up to 15 turbines that would be built in Rhode Island Sound.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Nation’s first mega-offshore wind project stalled for additional study

September 16, 2019 — The nation’s first large-scale offshore wind farm has been delayed by the federal government, leaving unclear how long it will be until America’s next renewable energy sector will launch. The main opposition: outspoken commercial fishing interests in New England.

On most afternoons in Point Judith, Rhode Island, commercial fisherman Brian Loftus steers his trawler back into port after a 12-hour day. Loftus unloaded some 1,500 pounds of whiting, scup, skate and squid. Estimated revenue: $3,000. Loftus has fished for three decades here, but to him there’s a looming problem: Offshore wind developers plan to plop turbines more than 70 stories high into his fishing grounds.

“Some of the grounds are just east of where the wind farms are,” Loftus said. “Some of them are right around where they want to put the wind farms. And there’s a lot of other fish that migrate through there.”

At issue: Vineyard Wind, the nation’s first large-scale offshore-wind farm, 14 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. Vineyard Wind had scheduled construction to begin by the end of 2019. It is the first of several offshore wind farms planned on the Atlantic Coast; the projects span from Rhode Island all the way down to the waters off North Carolina.

Read the full story at Marketplace

Connecticut, Rhode Island vie for roles in emerging offshore wind industry

September 11, 2019 — While each state wants to be the hub offshore wind, experts say there should be plenty of opportunity for both to succeed.

When Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont signed legislation last June authorizing up to 2,000 megawatts of offshore wind development, the new law signaled big ambitions.

“Connecticut should be the central hub of the offshore wind industry in New England,” Lamont proclaimed at the time.

Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo made a similar statement about two weeks later when a major British wind turbine maintenance company announced it would set up its U.S. headquarters there.

“As this industry continues to grow,” Raimondo said, “we will keep working to ensure Rhode Island remains the economic epicenter of offshore wind in the United States.”

Read the full story at Energy Central

How A Tough New England Coral May Help Its Tropical Cousins

August 26, 2019 — Koty Sharp emerges from the ocean off the coast of Fort Wetherill, Rhode Island, and walks onto the rocky beach. She’s wearing scuba gear and carrying a red mesh bag. Sharp is an ecologist at Roger Williams University in nearby Bristol, and the red bag holds a treasure.

She opens it for inspection. “This what a coral colony looks like, here in Rhode Island,” says Sharp, gazing fondly into the bag. Inside there are about 30 small gray rocks, each about the size of a quarter. The rocks appear to be covered with snot.

“It’s not as charismatic as tropical corals, we will definitely accept that,” says Sharp. “But these stand to tell us a lot of basics about corals.”

Read the full story at WBUR

NEFMC SSC – Listen Live – August 21, 2019 – Monkfish, Skates, Red Crab, GB Yellowtail OFLs, ABCs

August 14, 2019 — The following was released by the New England Fishery Management Council:

New England Fishery Management Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) will meet on Wednesday, August 21, 2019.  The public is invited to attend in person or listen live via webinar or telephone.  Here are the details.

LOCATION:  The meeting will be held at the Hotel Providence in Providence, RI.

START TIME:  9:00 a.m

WEBINAR REGISTRATION:  Online access to the meeting will be available at Listen Live.  There will be no charge to access the meeting through this webinar.

CALL-IN OPTION:  To listen by telephone, dial +1 (562) 247-8422.  The access code is 927-194-100.  Please be aware that if you dial in, your regular phone charges will apply.

AGENDA:  The SSC will develop overfishing limit (OFL) and acceptable biological catch (ABC) recommendations for:
  • Monkfish fishing years 2020 through 2022;
  • Deep-sea red crab fishing years 2020 through 2022;
  • The Northeast skate complex for fishing years 2020 and 2021; and
  • Georges Bank yellowtail flounder for fishing years 2020 and 2021 as managed under the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan.
The SSC also may discuss internal organization issues and other business.
 
COMMENTS:  The deadline for submitting written comments for consideration at this meeting is 8 a.m. on Monday, August 19.  Address comments to Council chairman Dr. John Quinn or Executive Director Tom Nies and email them to comments@nefmc.org.  The address for mailing comments is:  New England Fishery Management Council, 50 Water Street, Mill #2, Newburyport, MA 01950.
 
MATERIALS:  Meeting materials will be posted on the Council’s website at SSC August 21, 2019 documents.
 
QUESTIONS:  Contact Joan O’Leary at (978) 465-0492 ext. 106, joleary@nefmc.org or Janice Plante at (607) 592-4817, jplante@nefmc.org.

NY spending $2M to study offshore wind impact on waterways, fishing

August 9th, 2019 — New York State said Thursday it will spend more than $2 million for five studies to examine ways to reduce offshore wind farms’ impact on marine environments and commercial fishing.

The studies, awarded by the state Energy Research and Development Authority, or NYSERDA, followed Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s announcement of the first two large offshore wind projects for the state power grid.

The projects will produce 1,700 megawatts of a potential 9,000 megawatts planned by the state by 2040. Hundreds of turbines upward of 800 feet high will spin in waterways off Long Island, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts.

Another project by Norway-based Equinor for 816 megawatts will be located as close as 15 miles offshore from Long Beach.

Read the full story at Newsday

You Asked, We Answered: How Will Vineyard Wind’s Compensation Plan To Fishermen Actually Work?

August 7, 2019 — Manuela Barrett, a listener, wants to know more about how Vineyard Wind’s compensation plan to Rhode Island and Massachusetts fisherman is actually going to work?

First off, the compensation package assumes that the presence of wind farms will have an economic impact to commercial fishermen. That’s the basis of this entire compensation plan offered to both Rhode Island and Massachusetts fishermen. Both plans include an annual direct payout to fishermen for potential lost income because of the wind farms and also a supplemental trust fund dedicated to paying fishermen for unforeseen situations including damaged gear.

Let’s say, for example, a fisherman gets his net destroyed in the wind farm’s transmission cables. Vineyard Wind will use the money from the trust fund in order to pay for that damage.

The Rhode Island compensation plan for commercial fishermen has been finalized. That’s a $16.7 million plan. But the Massachusetts plan is still currently being reviewed by state regulators. Right now Vineyard Wind has proposed a $10 million compensation plan.

Read the full story at The Public’s Radio

Rhode Island fishermen critical of wind farm plan

August 5, 2019 — The nation’s first major offshore wind farm won a key approval from Rhode Island regulators in February, but only after stirring acrimony within the state’s fishing industry.

Now, amid an atmosphere of suspicion created by the 84-turbine Vineyard Wind project, the next offshore wind proposal in line is being considered for a key approval by the state Coastal Resources Management Council. And there are concerns that the project, the South Fork Wind Farm, will lead to more difficulties for commercial fishermen who ply their trade in the waters between Block Island and Martha’s Vineyard.

Just like with Vineyard Wind, the potential complications arise from the orientation and spacing of the project’s turbines.

Developers Ørsted U.S. Offshore Wind and Eversource Energy say that they’ve taken into account the concerns of fishermen by configuring the wind farm’s up to 15 turbines from east to west with rows that are 1 nautical mile (about 1.2 miles) apart. The spacing from north to south, however, would be smaller, with either 0.8 or 1 mile between turbines.

Read the full story at the Providence Journal

Rhode Island delegation raises concerns with speed of offshore wind review

July 31, 2019 — If the nation’s first major offshore wind farm doesn’t get off the ground, there will be plenty of finger-pointing to go around.

Some may be pointed at Rhode Island’s congressional delegation.

The state’s two senators and two representatives sent a letter on July 12 to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, expressing concerns about how the federal agency has handled the review of offshore wind development. In particular, they want BOEM to be more sensitive to potential conflicts with fishermen and marine life. (They also want the agency to open a regional office in Rhode Island.)

Read the full story at The Boston Globe