July 23, 2018 — Concern from the fishing industry is the latest development in the escalating debate over offshore wind farms near Ocean City.
Representatives say wind farms could cause harm by driving marine wildlife away, disturbing the ocean environment and making navigation more difficult for fishers and mariners.
“Now with the current offshore wind leasing process, we have these fishing grounds being sold right out from under us,” said Meghan Lapp during a recent presentation to the Ocean City Town Council. Lapp is a fishing liaison for Seafreeze Ltd., a Rhode Island commercial fishing company.
But marine biologists and wind farm officials say the impact won’t be that severe.
“I think they took an emotional approach to the problem. … So there was some degree of misinformation,” said Salvo Vitale, general counsel for U.S. Wind, one of the offshore wind energy companies involved in the Maryland project.
Conflicting information has muddied many discussions surrounding offshore wind energy. This back and forth pattern of counter arguments has persisted throughout the history of the project.