Saving Seafood

Interior finishes review of Maryland offshore wind project

July 30, 2024 — The Interior Department released a final environmental review Monday of what could be the first offshore wind farm off the coast of Maryland, noting its potential to disturb fisheries and marine life.

Developed by US Wind, the three-phase wind array could power up to 770,000 homes, if approved by the Biden administration.

The final environmental analysis released Monday brings the project closer to that green light. If approved, the project would be the 10th offshore wind array advanced by the Biden administration. The White House aims to reach 16 approved offshore wind projects by the end of the year to fuel its goal of installing enough offshore wind to power 10 million U.S. homes by the end of the decade.

Read the full article at E&E News

Biden elects not to enact vaquita-related trade embargo on Mexico

July 19, 2023 — U.S. President Joe Biden will not issue an embargo on Mexican wildlife products, which he was entitled to do after Mexico was found in breach of a U.S. law requiring federal action against countries found to be violating the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

The U.S. Secretary of the Interior’s Department of Fish and Wildlife found Mexico in breach of the Pelly Amendment in May 2023, requiring Biden to decide whether to take punitive trade action against Mexico or explain his reason for not doing so. Mexico has not adequately protected the critically endangered totoaba from fishing or trading, which has “diminished the effectiveness” of CITES, according to the declaration. Illegal fishing for the totoaba has also resulted in the deaths of numerous critically endangered vaquita porpoises.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

U.S. Department of Interior Jump Starts Vineyard Wind, Inking Final Environmental Impact Statement

March 10, 2021 — In a major boost for Vineyard Wind, the U.S. Department of Interior announced Monday that a long-awaited environmental analysis of the plan to build the first commercial-scale offshore wind farm 12 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard is complete.

The announcement signals a sea change in the outlook for the emerging offshore wind industry under the Biden administration, and it puts the $2 billion Vineyard Wind I project solidly back on track to be first in the race to harness hundreds of square miles of ocean for the development of renewable energy.

“The United States is poised to become a global clean energy leader,” said Laura Daniel Davis, principal deputy assistant secretary for land and minerals management, in a press release Monday.

Completed by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the final environmental impact statement is due to be published in the Federal Register later this week, the announcement said.

Read the full story at the Vineyard Gazette