Saving Seafood

MASSACHUSETTS: Gov. Baker urges Interior: Keep NY turbines out of prime fishing grounds

November 5, 2018 — Gov. Charlie Baker wrote to Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke on Thursday to ask him to consider eliminating the highest-priority fishing areas from future leases for offshore wind, particularly in the New York Bight, a heavily fished area south of Long Island.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has begun evaluating potential locations in the New York Bight for wind.

“Some of the areas under consideration for leasing represent very productive and high-value grounds for fishermen from Massachusetts and other states,” Baker said in the letter.

He cited an assessment of fish landings earlier this year by the National Marine Fisheries Service and the New England and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Councils that calculated the value of fishing within the proposed areas at more than $344 million from 2012 to 2016.

“Views of the fishing industry must be valued, which has been fundamental to the successful process in Massachusetts,” he said.

New Bedford fishermen and city officials expressed serious concerns about the New York locations in a meeting with BOEM in September. At the time, vessel owner Eric Hansen said 40 to 50 percent of the scalloping grounds fished by New Bedford scallopers are within that area.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times

Federal Environmental Review Begins for Deepwater Wind

October 25, 2018 — The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management published a notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement on plans by Deepwater Wind to develop the South Fork Wind Farm roughly 30 miles off the coast of Montauk.

BOEM will lead the federal review of Deepwater Wind’s proposal to construct up to 15 wind turbines as a part of its South Fork Wind Farm Project. The New York State Public Service Commission will lead the state review of the project.

According to a press release issued by U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke, the notice was published in the Federal Register on October 19 and will have a 30-day public comment period that will close on November 19.

“The U.S. is making offshore wind a major priority for our energy future. The South Fork Wind Farm, New York’s first offshore wind farm, will be a centerpiece of that vision,” said Deepwater Wind CEO Jeffrey Grybowski in a statement. “Starting the EIS review is a major step forward for the South Fork Wind Farm and an important milestone. This extensive review will examine the project’s Construction and Operations Plan (COP) and related environmental considerations.

“The public will have the opportunity to review the COP and to provide their input to BOEM at three community meetings held in East Hampton, in Rhode Island and in Massachusetts, or through written comment. Our timeline is right on-schedule. We’re on-track to begin construction on the South Fork Wind Farm once the EIS and permits are in-hand, by 2021, and to deliver clean energy to the South Fork starting in 2022.”

Read the full story at Sag Harbor Express

California and the Trump administration rarely agree on energy policy. Here’s an exception.

October 23, 2018 — Under President Trump, the federal government and the nation’s most populous state have clashed on a number of fronts when it comes to energy and environmental policy.

But there’s at least one thing California and the Trump administration can agree on. Both want to erect wind turbines off of the state’s coast.

The Department of the Interior took its first steps last week toward developing offshore wind energy off the West Coast. “We’re opening the Pacific,” Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said Wednesday at a wind energy conference in Washington.

“Regardless of what you read in the news, I get along with Jerry Brown,” Zinke added, referring to the outgoing Democratic governor of California who has emerged as one of the fiercest critics of the Trump administration’s energy policies. “Some things are not Republican or Democrat. A lot of things are red, white and blue.”

Read the full story at The Washington Post

CALIFORNIA: U.S. Department of Interior soliciting interest in developing Central Coast offshore wind farms

October 19, 2018 — The U.S. Department of the Interior is taking public comment on two possible areas for wind farms on the Central Coast.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is accepting interest in three sites off the California coast for potential wind development. One section would stretch from Cambria to San Simeon approximately 32 miles offshore, while a second site sits offshore the present Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant.

The third area for potential wind development in California is near Humboldt Bay. Much of California’s coastline is otherwise off-limits to offshore wind farms.

The U.S. Department of the Interior is accepting interest from companies who want to develop the wind sites. A 100-day public comment period is also open until January 27.

The administration hopes that will lead to the West Coast’s first offshore wind auction.

Trident Winds, a German company, has already expressed interest in the Morro Bay site. Trident has proposed building roughly 100 floating wind turbines that would generate enough power for 300,000 homes.

Read the full story at KSBY

Trump administration to hold Massachusetts offshore wind auction in December

October 19, 2018 — Nearly 400,000 acres of the Massachusetts Wind Energy Area will be up for grabs in December, as the Trump administration holds its next offshore wind auction, officials announced this week.

U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke revealed Wednesday that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will auction off 388,569 acres located on the Outer Continental Shelf offshore Massachusetts on Dec. 13.

A total of 19 companies — including Deepwater Wind New England, LLC, Mayflower Wind Energy LLC, and Northeast Wind Energy, LLC, among others — have qualified to take part in the auction, according to the agency’s final sale notice.

The bureau will auction off three leases that are located in an area where two former leases were unsold during the Atlantic Wind Lease Sale in January 2015. The new lease areas will respectively cover about 129,000 acres, 127,000 acres and 132,000 acres.

Zinke touted the December auction, offering that “the Massachusetts sale has a lot of potential for both energy and economic activity.”

“If fully developed, the wind auction could support approximately 4.1 gigawatts of power to supply nearly 1.5 million homes,” he said in a statement. “This is just one example of the importance of fostering wind energy as a new American industry.”

Read the full story at MassLive

Offshore wind farms planned on East and West coasts

October 19, 2018 — The U.S. government is taking steps to develop offshore wind farms off both coasts.

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke announced this week the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will hold an offshore wind auction Dec. 13 for nearly 390,000 acres (157,831 hectares) of ocean off Massachusetts.

Zinke said the area, if fully developed, could supply power to nearly 1.5 million homes.

He also announced the bureau is opening its environmental review of a 15-turbine project off Long Island, New York, proposed by Deepwater Wind, operators of the nation’s lone commercial wind farm off Rhode Island.

And in California, Zinke announced the bureau is seeking comment on possible areas for wind development off the state’s central and northern coasts.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at ABC News

MASSACHUSETTS: Feds see much potential in state’s offshore wind

October 19, 2018 — The federal government plans in December to hold an offshore wind auction featuring 390,000 acres off the coast of Massachusetts, an area that officials say could provide enough power to serve 1.5 million homes.

“The Massachusetts sale has a lot of potential for both energy and economic activity,” Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said in a statement after announcing plans for the Dec. 13 auction while addressing the American Wind Energy Association’s Offshore Wind Conference on Wednesday in Washington.

The federal government has previously leased waters off the coast of Massachusetts for offshore wind development and one of those leaseholders, Vineyard Wind, was selected by state and utility officials to build an 800-megawatt commercial wind energy installation south of Martha’s Vineyard.

On March 30, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced its notice to prepare an environmental impact statement for the construction and operations plan submitted by Vineyard Wind.

Read the full story at The Salem News

Trump administration opens door for California offshore wind farms

October 18, 2018 — The Trump administration is considering allowing companies to build offshore wind farms off the coast of California.

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said his department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) will start taking comments this week on potential areas within about 1,073 square miles on California’s outer continental shelf that could host wind turbines.

The announcement, initially made at an industry conference Wednesday, came alongside news that BOEM will hold an auction in December to sell the rights to build offshore wind farms in an area off Massachusetts’s coast and that officials will start the environmental review process for the proposed South Fork Wind Project, a 15-turbine wind farm off Rhode Island.

While the Trump administration has sought to promote fossil fuels across numerous policy actions, Zinke said officials also strongly support wind power.

“I’m very bullish on offshore wind, and harnessing this renewable resource is a big part of the Trump administration’s made in America energy strategy,” Zinke said in a statement.

“We are always looking at new ways to increase American innovation and productivity to provide abundant and affordable energy for our homes and manufacturers. I think this is a win for America.”

The United States currently has just one utility-scale offshore wind farm, the Block Island project off Rhode Island. Companies have leased spots off the East Coast for other potential wind projects.

Read the full story at The Hill

NCFC Members Urge BOEM to Include Commercial Fishermen in Windmill Siting Decisions in the New York Bight

August 17, 2018 — WASHINGTON — The following was released by Saving Seafood’s National Coalition for Fishing Communities:

Late last month, members of Saving Seafood’s National Coalition for Fishing Communities (NCFC) submitted two letters asking Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to consider the economic importance of the commercial fishing industry before deciding where to site windmills in the New York Bight.

367 individuals signed a national letter calling on Secretary Zinke not to rush offshore energy development and to ensure projects are “sited, constructed, and operated using the best scientific information available.”

“The Interior Department should provide for intelligent and deliberate offshore renewable energy development, rather than fall prey to the gold rush mentality promoted by BOEM and financially-interested wind developers, most of which are foreign-owned,” the NCFC members wrote.

The signers also invoked President Donald Trump’s campaign promise to support working class Americans.

“When President Trump campaigned and was elected, he promised to look after America’s working middle class, of which we are all a part,” the letter stated. “You will not be honoring the President’s commitment if you allow BOEM to lease ocean areas first, and ask and answer the necessary questions later.”

Another 103 individuals and 32 vessels and businesses from Massachusetts signed a separate letter asking BOEM to reconsider its plan to develop four offshore wind farms in the New York Bight. They specifically cited the damage such development would cause to important Northeast fisheries such as the scallop fishery.

“This is an ill-conceived idea that will cause irreparable economic harm within the fishing communities along the entire East Coast,” the signers wrote. “The harm to Massachusetts will be especially significant, given that it is the center of the Atlantic sea scallop fishery and contains major surf clam and ocean quahog operations.”

The letter pointed out that, on average, nearly $54 million is generated by scallop landings annually from the areas under consideration in the New York Bight, according to data from the National Marine Fisheries Service. An additional $8 million is generated by surf clam and ocean quahog.

 

Senators question NOAA Fisheries-FWS merger proposal in hearing

July 24, 2018 — Members of the U.S. Senate got their first chance to look at the latest attempt to merge NOAA Fisheries with the Fish and Wildlife Service at a meeting on Thursday, 19 July.

Members of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee met to discuss the Trump administration’s plan to revamp agencies within the Department of Interior, which is where the proposed merged agency would be located. Two Democratic committee members spoke out against the proposal during the hearing.

A merger of the two agencies requires approval of the U.S. Congress.

U.S. Sen Maria Cantwell (D-Washington), the ranking minority member on the committee, said a merged FWS-NOAA Fisheries could trigger laying off thousands of workers and create “more bureaucratic mismanagement” of fisheries.

“Moving NOAA Fisheries from (the Department of) Commerce to the Department of Interior ignores the agency’s responsibility of managing multi-billion-dollar commercial fisheries,” said Cantwell, who added that she believes what fisheries need is “science and funding.”

Susan Combs, a senior advisor in Interior Department, said in her opening remarks that Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has reviewed the agency’s operations and sought to modernize it in order to serve the country well for the 21st century.

“The secretary’s vision is to establish science-based unified regional boundaries, where priority decision making is made at the local level with informed centralized coordination,” Combs said.

Read the full story at Seafood Source