Saving Seafood

MASSACHUSETTS: New Bedford Port Authority to become fisheries rep to offshore wind

November 21, 2018 — The New Bedford Port Authority has reached an agreement with all offshore wind developers operating in the Massachusetts/Rhode Island market to serve as the designated Fisheries Representative of the commercial fishing industry to each of the development companies, according to a news release.

Under federal guidelines issued by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management offshore wind developers must establish a fisheries representative to be the fishing community’s primary point of contact for communicating project-related concerns to the developer.

“The NBPA has been contracted by the developers to represent the interests of commercial fishermen, and to be a conduit of information between the developers and the commercial fishing industry as offshore wind farms are developed on the Outer Continental Shelf,” said Port Authority Director Ed Anthes-Washburn in a statement. “We’re very excited to have all three developers on board for this timely announcement. Adequate and sustained engagement with the fishing industry will translate into more conciliatory communications and interactions with fishing communities up and down the eastern seaboard as the offshore wind industry begins in the United States.”

In this role, the Port Authority will act as a central clearinghouse of information, convene stakeholders, facilitate dialogue between fishermen and respective developers, and advocate for ways to mitigate impacts of wind projects on commercial fishermen, according to the release. The Port Authority will also work with state and federal agencies to adopt policies and regulations needed to ensure the viability of commercial fishing operations.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

 

Whiting webinar to address limiting fishery access

November 14, 2018 — The New England Fishery Management Council has reopened the comment period on the proposal that could establish limited entry into the whiting fishery and is holding a webinar Wednesday for interested stakeholders.

The extended comment period, necessitated by discrepancies in early draft documents, will close on Nov. 23. The council expects to take final action on the amendment at its meetings Dec. 4 to 6 in Newport, Rhode Island, according to Janice Plante, council spokeswoman.

The amendment, referred to as Amendment 22, proposes a limited access plan for the small-mesh, multispecies fishery. It targets three stocks collectively considered whiting — northern silver hake, southern silver hake and offshore hake — as well as northern red hake and southern red hake.

The amendment delves into three areas: limited access qualification criteria; whiting and red hake possession limits; and permit conditions that would apply if the council approved a limited access program.

The council, however, has made clear its lack of enthusiasm for restricting access to the fishery. Last December, it voted for “no action” as its preferred alternative when the proposal initially went out for public comment.

Stakeholders interested in participating in the webinar, which is set to run 3 to 5 p.m., may do so online or via telephone.

The online link may be accessed through the council’s website or directly at https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/843126117. The phone number is 872-240-3311, with an access code of 843-126-117.

Comments also will be accepted by email at comments@nefmc.org or by traditional mail to Tom Nies, executive director, New England Fishery Management Council, 50 Water St., Mill 2, Newburyport, MA 01950.

Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times

Fishermen ask for more time to study wind impact

November 12, 2018 — Fishermen, fish processors and others warned on Thursday that fishing grounds will be lost with the construction of Vineyard Wind, and some expressed doubt that planned UMass Dartmouth research can happen fast enough to document the loss.

“We have this huge area we’re going to develop, and obviously we’ve got a pretty close timeline,” said Ed Barrett, a commercial fisherman from the South Shore. “How are you ever going to even come close to figuring out an impact? … I have zero faith in that.”

UMD’s School for Marine Science and Technology held the meeting to collect fishing industry comments as researchers begin to design monitoring studies that would occur before, during and after construction. Vineyard Wind has hired SMAST to help write a monitoring plan to submit to federal regulators, Professor Steve Cadrin said in an interview prior to the meeting.

Three similar meetings are planned for Rhode Island, Chatham and Martha’s Vineyard.

Katie Almeida, fishery policy analyst for The Town Dock, a squid dealer and processor in Rhode Island, said that for two years, her company has been asking for at least five years of pre-construction fishery monitoring, and the conversation has not gone any further.

“And now we’re down to what, a year?” she said. “How can we get any meaningful science and study done that’s going to actually hold up to any kind of scrutiny for baseline studies?”

People have been asking for a delay, she said.

Cadrin and Professor Kevin Stokesbury hosted the meeting. One of the problems they will face in designing a study, Stokesbury said, is that whatever survey methods they use before construction, they have to be able to use during and after construction, to eliminate variables.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Closer scrutiny for offshore wind energy

November 9, 2018 — The first environmental impact assessment for a major offshore wind energy project in federal waters got underway this week.

The South Fork Wind Farm, Deepwater Wind’s plan for 15 turbines east of Montauk, N.Y., was the subject at a round of scoping meetings held in Long Island and southern New England by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.

It is the first step in developing an environmental impact statement for what will be the second commercial East Coast wind project, following Deepwater’s Block Island Wind Farm, the five-turbine demonstration project that came in line in Rhode Island in late 2016.

Read the full story at WorkBoat

Harvest of popular sushi fish shut down until March

November 6, 2018 — The federal government is shutting down a chunk of the Atlantic Ocean fishery for a species of mackerel for several months.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says commercial harvest of the Atlantic’s migratory Spanish mackerel in federal waters is shut down until March 1. The closure went into effect on Nov. 4.

The closure applies from North Carolina to New York. Over the years, Spanish mackerel have been harvested from Florida to Maine, though the northern edge of the fishery is typically closer to Rhode Island. The biggest producer is Florida.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the New Jersey Herald

MASSACHUSETTS: Day-long dialogue between fishing, wind industries nets some progress

November 1, 2018 — Eight hours of ideas, conversation, debate and dialogue from two industries relying on use of the ocean filled the the large grand ballroom at the Crowne Plaza Hotel on Wednesday.

In a meeting described as the first of its kind, the fishing industry from Maine to New York as well as the offshore wind industry in Massachusetts and Rhode Island met for a workshop hosted by Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA) to discuss two key aspects: fishing transit lanes and input on potential mitigation. NOAA and the Coast Guard were also in the room to get all the key players in a single spot at one time.

“We didn’t reach full consensus at the end of the day but we made progress …It’s step one,” said Mary Beth Tooley of the the O’Hara Corporation in Portland, Maine. “I think that’s the biggest takeaway that we have for the day.”

Most of the discussion revolved around transit routes with some success. Both industries agreed for the most part on two routes, specifically a north/south route and an east/west route.

Two obstacles remain, though, including the width of the lanes as well as a diagonal northwest/southeast lane through the current and future leased land. The issues really pop up in the northwest corner of that diagonal lane.

“The next big step is to try to resolve whatever the issues are that exist and then move forward with a transit lane consensus so not only the industry knows what’s coming but future leaseholders (know),” Eric Reid of Seafreeze Shoreside said.

The fishing industry agreed on a 4-mile width for transit lanes. The offshore wind industry offered lanes at one nautical mile and 2 nautical miles.

At one point toward the end of the meeting, the discussion focused on a north/south transit lane passing through unleased space. The fishing industry posed a question if the land is currently not held by any company, could a 4-mile lane be established?

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

NOAA drafts habitat maps for wind lease zones

November 1, 2018 — After years of mapping, NOAA, WHOI, UMass Dartmouth, and Howard Marine Research Laboratory researchers have created bottom, or benthic, habitat maps for the eight Wind Energy Areas (WEAs) in the Northeast. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management funded the mapping project, which included areas in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina. A report from the habitat-mapping project titled “Habitat Mapping and Assessment of Northeast Wind Energy Areas” describes concerns with disturbing benthic environment in the process of assembling wind turbines. “Topics range from bottom water temperatures, bottom topography and features, types of sediments and ocean currents,” a NOAA release states, “to animals that live in and on top of the sediments and in the water column in that area either seasonally or year-round.”

Some of the details given in the release covered aspects of Massachusetts wind farm sites.

Read the full story at the Martha’s Vineyard Times

BOEM Announces Public Meetings For South Fork Offshore Project

October 31, 2018 — The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has announced three upcoming public meetings in New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island to discuss Deepwater Wind’s proposed South Fork offshore wind project.

BOEM plans to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) for the construction and operations plan (COP) of Deepwater Wind’s South Fork Wind, proposed offshore Rhode Island and Massachusetts. The plan would allow construction and operation of up to 15 turbines that connect via a transmission cable to a grid in East Hampton, N.Y., the east end of Long Island.

Read the full story at North American Wind Power

 

BOEM opens process for New York offshore wind power

October 31, 2018 — Federal energy officials are opening an environmental impact study for what could be the first offshore wind power project in East Coast federal waters, with public sessions next week on the South Fork Wind Farm proposal east of Montauk, N.Y.

The 15-turbine array is proposed by Deepwater Wind, the company that pioneered the first U.S. commercial offshore wind project at Block Island, R.I. Now in the process of being acquired by Denmark-based energy company Ørsted for $510 million, Deepwater Wind would build the South Fork array about 19 miles southeast of Block Island and 35 miles east of Montauk.

The Bureau of Offshore Energy Management is holding public scoping meetings Nov. 5 to Nov. 8 at Amagansett,  N.Y.;  New Bedford, Mass.; and Narragansett, R.I. Agency officials say they provide “multiple opportunities to help BOEM determine significant resources (e.g. avian, marine mammals) and issues, impact-producing factors, reasonable alternatives, and potential mitigating measures to be analyzed in the EIS.”

Read the full story at WorkBoat

BOEM to hold public meetings for proposed offshore wind farm

October 30, 2018 — The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) says it will prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Construction and Operations Plan (COP) submitted by Deepwater Wind that would allow it to construct and operate up to 15 turbines, an electric service platform offshore Rhode Island and Massachusetts, and an export cable to East Hampton, New York.

Comments may be submitted until November 19, 2018 by either of the following two methods:

  • Federal eRulemaking Portal: In the entry titled “Enter Keyword or ID,” enter BOEM– 2018-0010, and then click “search.”  Follow the instructions to submit public comments and view supporting and related materials available for this notice.
  • U.S.  Postal Service or other delivery service.  Send your comments and information to the following address:

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
Office of Renewable Energy Programs
45600 Woodland Road (VAM-OREP)
Sterling, Virginia 20166

BOEM’s scoping process is intended to identify any important issues and potential alternatives for consideration in the Deepwater Wind COP EIS. Throughout the scoping process, there will be multiple opportunities to help BOEM determine significant resources (e.g. avian, marine mammals) and issues, impact-producing factors, reasonable alternatives, and potential mitigating measures to be analyzed in the EIS.

Read the full story at Windpower Engineering & Development