Saving Seafood

Opinion: Embarking on an America-first seafood strategy in Alaska

September 16, 2025 — In 1787, Alexander Hamilton stressed the need for a united national effort to protect America’s ocean resources from stagnation and unfair foreign trade practices. Absent vigorous federal action to free our fisheries from barriers to growth and trade, “that unequalled spirit of enterprise, which signalises the genius of the American Merchants and Navigators, and which is in itself an inexhaustible mine of national wealth, would be stifled and lost.”

Since Hamilton wrote those words, Alaska became first a territory, then the 49th state in the Union, cementing itself as a linchpin of the nation’s food supply, economy and national security.

Alaska has the largest federal fisheries in the nation—roughly 60% of America’s harvest by volume. The Alaska seafood industry produces roughly $6 billion in economic output for the state and employs 48,000 Alaskans.

In addition to feeding our own citizens, fisheries products are among the top three U.S. food, agriculture and related product export categories, and there is soaring global demand for these high-quality, high-value commodities.

Read the full article at Anchorage Daily News

US asks federal court to cancel permit for Maryland offshore wind farm

September 15, 2025 —  The Trump administration asked a federal judge to cancel the 2024 approval of a wind farm off the coast of Maryland, saying former U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration had underestimated threats it would cause to search and rescue operations and commercial fisheries, according to court documents filed on Friday.

If approved by the court, the motion would invalidate a years-long federal process that permitted US Wind’s Maryland Offshore Wind Project. The facility was expected to generate enough electricity to power 718,000 homes at a time of soaring U.S. demand.

Read the full article at Reuters

Orsted Sues Over Stop-Work Order

September 12, 2025 — Revolution Wind, a wind farm under construction in federal waters on the outer continental shelf, has sued the Trump administration following the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s August issuance of a stop-work order, with the 65-turbine installation already 80-percent complete.

The stop-work order was one of multiple actions apparently aimed at killing a nascent domestic offshore wind industry. In July, the federal Interior Department announced the end of what it called “preferential treatment for unreliable, subsidy-dependent wind and solar energy,” and in August launched investigations into bird deaths caused by wind farms. BOEM rescinded regulations outlining renewable energy lease sales early last month.

Read the full article at The East Hampton Star

Could Revolution Wind get back to work? Burgum comments suggest anything is possible.

September 11, 2025 — A week after Gov. Dan McKee asked to meet with President Donald Trump over the administration’s halt to the Revolution Wind project, he’s still waiting for an answer.

But U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum is suggesting the paused project might not be dead in the water after all. In an interview on CNBC Wednesday, Burgum, whose office oversees federal permits for offshore wind projects, indicated the administration was open to letting work resume on the 65-turbine project.

Read the full article at Yahoo News!

DOJ Tells Court to Reject Challenge to Empire Wind’s Licensing

September 11, 2025 — The U.S. Department of Justice filed a motion in an ongoing case challenging the licensing for the construction of the Empire Wind offshore energy project, citing the lack of merit in the opposition’s claims and defending the licensing process. The filing contradicts some of the positions the Trump administration has taken to challenge other offshore wind projects.

The filing was made on September 5 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in a case filed by local opponents of offshore wind that call their group Save Long Beach Island. The group has repeatedly filed claims in court seeking injunctions against the permits issued for the wind farm projects. The current case against the U.S. Department of Commerce is seeking emergency injunctive relief to enjoin the construction of Empire Wind, which is underway, as well as the effective dates of the project’s Record of Decision and the National Marine Fisheries Service’s Letter of Authorization.

In the past, the Trump administration has cited concerns over the regulatory approvals for offshore wind projects and claimed the Biden administration rushed projects through the approval process. In April, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management stopped offshore activity for Empire Wind, citing some of these same concerns, but a month later reversed its order and permitted the project’s offshore work to resume.

Read the full article at The Maritime Executive

VIRGINIA: The Lone G.O.P. Governor Opposing Trump’s War on Offshore Wind

September 10, 2025 — President Trump has sought to halt the construction of five giant wind farms off the coasts of Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey and Rhode Island — all states run by Democrats.

But there is one East Coast wind farm that has so far escaped the administration’s ire: a $10.8 billion project under construction off the shores of Virginia, where Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, has been its champion.

Mr. Youngkin has quietly pushed back against Mr. Trump’s war on wind energy. A supporter of the president, the governor has privately urged the Trump administration not to target the project known as Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, according to four people briefed on the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations.

Mr. Youngkin called Doug Burgum, the interior secretary, last month to voice support for the project, according to two of the people briefed on the matter. His office also called the White House in January to express concern about Mr. Trump’s executive order that paused permits for new wind farms on federal lands and waters, two of the individuals said.

Read the full article at The New York Times

How New England is handling Trump’s offshore wind assault

September 10, 2025 — President Donald Trump’s war on offshore wind power is clobbering New England, and officials there are warning of future grid reliability problems. In this new energy reality, though, many states in the region say they will try their best to muddle through.

In recent weeks, the Trump administration has stunned states and industry alike with a whirlwind of actions, highlighted by halting a nearly complete project off Rhode Island’s coast — Revolution Wind — and seeking to revoke a permit for a Massachusetts project. Other crucial projects in the region have been caught up in a temporary pause on leases.

In a recent Cabinet meeting, Trump reiterated his hatred of wind. “We’re not allowing any windmills to go up,” he said. “They’re ruining our country.”

Read the full article at E&E News

Ørsted and Iberdrola Are Trying to Save U.S. Offshore Wind Investments

September 9, 2025 — Two major offshore wind developers,  Ørsted and Iberdrola, have efforts underway to save their offshore wind projects in the United States. The companies are reportedly trying to win over the Trump administration, which opposes offshore wind energy, by emphasizing the larger investments in the United States.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright, Bloomberg reports, confirmed that the administration is “actively engaged in discussions” with Ørsted over the future of the Revolution Wind project off the coast of Rhode Island and Connecticut. According to the reports, Wright, during a presentation at the Council of Foreign Relations, confirmed that there is “a very active dialogue,” saying the issues of the wind farm were being “worked and discussed.”

Last month, the Trump administration issued a stop work order for the project, which Ørsted said is 80 percent installed. The company highlighted its large investment, saying that all of the foundations for the 704 MW wind farm are installed and that 45 out of the 65 wind turbines have also been installed. The export cabling and the onshore power substation are nearly complete.

Ørsted filed a lawsuit challenging the legal authority to suspend the project, calling it a necessary step. The company, however, also said it was continuing to seek a resolution with the administration.

Read the full article at The Maritime Executive

US Wind: Trump has plans to ‘kill outright offshore wind projects’

September 9, 2025 — US Wind, the Baltimore-based company behind plans to build a wind farm off the Delmarva coast, claims that a federal government plan to rescind permits for its project is a result of “political pressure” from President Donald Trump.

In a counterclaim filed Wednesday in response to a federal lawsuit originally brought by Ocean City, Md., attorneys for US Wind said the Trump administration’s efforts to rescind its permits “are inextricably tied to a wider plan to hinder or kill outright offshore wind projects.”

In the original lawsuit, Ocean City and a coalition of local groups challenged federal permits for offshore construction granted under the Biden administration. They claimed the approvals were part of a “coordinated effort” to bypass transparency and proper public notices to approve major offshore projects “as fast as possible.”

 In all, the competing claims are part of a volley of lawsuits that have plagued the ambitious energy project for more than a year.

Read the full article at Spotlight Delaware