Saving Seafood

RODA calls for revisions to port access study used in offshore wind project impact statements

July 7, 2020 — The Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA), an organization representing fishing industry interests related to proposed offshore wind projects in New England, has officially requested that the U.S. Coast Guard correct a study done relating to port access in parts of the region.

The study, the Massachusetts and Rhode Island Port Access Route Study (MARIPARS), does not fully take into account the full depth of fishing industry use in the region, according to a letter sent by RODA to the U.S. Coast Guard. RODA claims the report, issued on 27 May, 2020, does not take into account certain information, resulting in “fundamental omissions and calculation errors that compromise the quality, objectivity, and integrity of the information contained therein.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source

US fishing alliance challenges offshore wind study

July 2, 2020 — The Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA) has called for a correction to a US Coast Guard (USCG) offshore wind study.

Referring to the Massachusetts and Rhode Island Port Access Route Study (MARIPARS), the fishing industry group has cited “serious foundational and analytical errors that merit correction”.

On 29 June RODA filed a formal Request for Correction under the Information Quality Act in order to “improve the objectivity and utility” of the disseminated information.

The MARIPARS study examined current waterway uses in the areas off the coast of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, which are sites of proposed offshore wind energy development.

RODA stated: “Understanding these ocean use patterns is critical for successfully designing any offshore development, and for minimising interactions between the proposed developments and existing activity.

“Unfortunately, the Coast Guard’s final report, issued on 27 May, contained several key errors, and the process ‘failed to address nearly all of the substantive comments from fisheries professionals’”.

Read the full story at ReNews

Coast Guard challenged on offshore wind traffic study

July 2, 2020 — A Coast Guard study that recommends against designated vessel transit lanes through New England offshore wind turbine arrays “contains serious foundational and analytical errors that merit correction,” commercial fishing advocates say in a formal objection to the findings.

The Coast Guard’s Massachusetts and Rhode Island Port Access Route Study endorsed wind power developers’ proposal for a uniform grid layout of 1 nautical mile between turbine towers on their neighboring federal leases off southern New England.

The report found fault with a proposal for up to six vessel transit lanes, up to four nautical miles wide, that was proposed by the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance, a coalition of fishing industry groups.

Developers of Vineyard Wind, the first 800-megawatt project to start construction in the region, and their supporters stressed the Coast Guard’s support for a uniform grid layout as the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management commenced public hearings on its environmental review of the plan.

RODA fired back this week, filing a request to revisit the Coast Guard’s study that was released in the May 27 issue of the Federal Register.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Responsible Offshore Development Alliance Calls for Correction on Coast Guard Study; Cites ‘Serious’ Errors

July 1, 2020 — The following was released by the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA):

The Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA) has officially requested that the U.S. Coast Guard revise and correct its Massachusetts and Rhode Island Port Access Route Study (MARIPARS), citing “serious foundational and analytical errors that merit correction.” On June 29th, it filed a formal Request for Correction under the Information Quality Act in order to improve the objectivity and utility of the disseminated information.

The Coast Guard MARIPARS study examined current waterway uses in the areas off the coast of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, which are sites of proposed offshore wind energy development. Understanding these ocean use patterns is critical for successfully designing any offshore development, and for minimizing interactions between the proposed developments and existing activity.

Unfortunately, the Coast Guard’s final report, issued on May 27th, contained several key errors, and the process “failed to address nearly all of the substantive comments from fisheries professionals.” These include dozens of comments from vessel operators, fishing companies, and fishing associations, as well as independent experts including the New England Fishery Management Council, the New Bedford Port Authority, the Rhode Island Fisheries Advisory Board, and Dr. Thomas Sproul.

One key error involved the Coast Guard’s reliance on “inappropriate data sources.” RODA previously warned the Coast Guard that most fishing vessels in Massachusetts and Rhode Island do not use Automatic Identification System (AIS) technology onboard, and that any analysis of fishing vessel activity and movement should not rely on AIS data. Despite this warning, the Coast Guard cited only AIS data in its study. Additionally, while the MARIPARS contains a list of nearly 900 contacts in its “stakeholder outreach” section, only two are active commercial fishermen – hardly sufficient to inform a study primarily focused on fishing vessels.

Despite drawing conclusions about the amount of space necessary to conduct fishing operations, the study similarly did not include important information on the nature of fishing activity in the region, including the spatial requirements of vessels and their gear, and the changes in vessel traffic patterns that are likely to result from wind turbine construction.

The study’s flaws were not limited to its analysis of fishing activity. The Coast Guard also failed to properly analyze a range of alternative spacing proposals for wind turbines that included dedicated transit lanes for fishing vessels. Rather than provide an analysis of the impacts transit lanes would have, the Coast Guard simply asserted “project developers have made clear that larger corridors … would result in reduced [turbine] spacing.” RODA asserts in its appeal that the Coast Guard should have conducted a full, independent evaluation of this claim. Instead, “it relied on developers’ attestations that there are a predetermined number of turbines that will be placed in the wind energy areas,” which is at odds with the public record and how the development process is supposed to work.

RODA’s Request for Correction raises further issues, including unsubstantiated claims made by the Coast Guard about the nature of potential radar interference from wind turbines as well as simple calculation errors included in the study.

In light of these numerous errors, RODA considers the conclusions of the study “wholly unsupported and unsubstantiated by the record” and is requesting that the Coast Guard address and correct these errors. It is specifically asking for relief in the form of: (1) revising the analysis using appropriate data and calculations; (2) clear documentation of the MARIPARS’ limitations; (3) a formal, independent peer review; and (4) not using the MARIPARS as a basis for regulatory decisions pending these corrections.

Since the publication of the final MARIPARS, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management released the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the Vineyard Wind I project to analyze cumulative impacts of offshore wind energy development off of New England. That document relies heavily on the MARIPARS in assessing the navigational safety impacts of the project’s preferred layout.

Read RODA’s full Request for Correction here

Coast Guard backs wind industry on turbine layout

June 1, 2020 — The offshore wind power industry cleared one of its last remaining bureaucratic hurdles Wednesday with the release of a long-awaited report from the Coast Guard that essentially agrees with an industry proposal on turbine layout.

The Coast Guard’s Massachusetts and Rhode Island Port Access Route Study has concluded that turbines should be spaced 1.2 miles apart and oriented in the same direction across seven offshore wind lease areas totaling around 1,400 square miles south of Nantucket.

Concerned with vessel safety and the ability to maneuver while fishing, some fishermen and industry groups sought larger lanes, as wide as 4 miles, to transit to fishing grounds, but the five wind power companies holding the leases said that would force them to crowd turbines outside the travel lanes, making it less safe to navigate and fish.

The offshore wind leaseholders — Equinor, Mayflower Wind, Orsted/Eversource and Vineyard Wind — had been concerned that some of the layouts proposed by other stakeholders could reduce the number of turbines and power generation. The increasing efficiency and power capacity of newer turbines have alleviated some of that concern.

Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times

Coast Guard favors turbine corridors sought by energy developers

May 28, 2020 — The U.S. Coast Guard has concluded that the best way to maintain maritime safety and ease of navigation in the offshore wind development areas south of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket is to install turbines in a uniform layout to create predictable navigation corridors.

The results of the Coast Guard’s Massachusetts and Rhode Island Port Access Route Study are largely in line with a proposal that the five developers that hold leases for offshore wind sites off New England made late last year to orient their turbines in fixed east-to-west rows and north-to-south columns spaced one nautical mile apart.

Having a consistent turbine layout across the seven adjacent lease areas, the companies said, would provide fishermen with the benefit of not having to change their practices as they pass from one lease area to another, and would promote safe maritime navigation. The Coast Guard agreed.

“The USCG has determined that if the MA/RI [Wind Energy Area] turbine layout is developed along a standard and uniform grid pattern, formal or informal vessel routing measures would not be required as such a grid pattern will result in the functional equivalent of numerous navigation corridors that can safely accommodate both transits through and fishing within the WEA,” the Guard wrote in a summary of its findings published in the Federal Register.

Read the full story at the Taunton Daily Gazette

Coast Guard breaks up Mexican poachers’ red snapper incursion off Texas

April 10, 2020 — Thirteen Mexican fishermen were detected poaching red snapper far north of the U.S. maritime boundary off south Texas Monday when the Coast Guard moved in to break up their longlining operations, Coast Guard officials said.

Three lanchas – small, slim-hulled outboard boats of 20 to 30 feet that can run at 30 knots – were corralled about 50 miles inside the boundary and detained by crews on a Coast Guard cutter, small boat and helicopters.

The haul brought in 12 miles of longline gear, other fishing equipment illegal under U.S. law, and 2,020 pounds of poached red snapper.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Lawsuit threatened over ship strikes on whales near California ports

March 11, 2020 — An environmental nonprofit has moved closer to pursuing a lawsuit claiming the Trump administration is not providing enough protection for whales and sea turtles threatened by ship strikes near ports along California’s coastline.

On March 2, the Center for Biological Diversity filed a “notice of intent to sue,” in which it demanded that the National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Coast Guard change how they protect marine life within the next 60 days or face legal action.

Ships near the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, the nation’s two busiest ports, are on a voluntary slow-down program to reduce the striking of whales and curtail air pollution. But data from marine mammal experts and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration indicate voluntary compliance has not sufficiently reduced the number of ship strikes.

“Ship strikes kill far too many endangered whales off California’s coast, and the Trump administration can’t keep ignoring a deadly threat that’s only getting worse,” said Brian Segee, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “We want good science to determine how shipping lanes are placed and managed. Ships simply don’t need to kill as many whales and sea turtles as they do.”

Read the full story at The Mercury News

WPFMC Leaders Express USCG Appreciation for Combatting IUU Fishing in Western Pacific Region

March 2, 2020 — Western Pacific Fishery Management Council Chair Taotasi Archie Soliai and Executive Director Kitty M. Simonds laud the US Coast Guard’s recent success in combating illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing in the Western Pacific Region.

On Monday, the Maritime Executive reported that for the first time since 2012, the Coast Guard’s Honolulu-based 14th District intercepted foreign vessels illegally operating within the U.S. exclusive economic zone waters off Guam and Hawai’i.

Read the full story at Seafood News

WPRFMC: Kudos to the Coast Guard for Combatting IUU Fishing in the Western Pacific Region

February 28, 2020 — The following was released by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council:

Taotasi Archie Soliai and Kitty M. Simonds, chair and executive director of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, laud the US Coast Guard’s recent success in combating illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing in the Western Pacific Region.

On Monday, the Maritime Executive reported that for the first time since 2012, the Coast Guard’s Honolulu-based 14th District intercepted foreign vessels illegally operating within the US exclusive economic zone (EEZ) waters off Guam and Hawai’i.

“While regulation compliance among US fishers is near 97 percent, some of the lowest policed areas, such as the waters in the Western and Central Pacific, are responsible for the highest percentage of significant violations,” said Lt. Jason Holstead. He reported that the Coast Guard has addressed foreign incursions in the EEZs of partner countries and IUU fishing on the high seas but not in the US EEZ in the past eight years.

The interdiction of the foreign vessels in the US EEZ came on the heels of last week’s 2020 State of the United States Coast Guard address delivered by Admiral Karl Schultz. “China, with the world’s largest distant water fishing fleet, is one of the worst predatory fishing offenders, engaging in what we call illegal, unreported, unregulated fishing–or IUU,” Schultz said. “This is far more than just about conservation and sustainability, this is a national security challenge warranting a clear response.”

Schultz noted that many Pacific Island Countries, “and even American island territories, lack the capability and capacity to fully police their sovereign waters …”

“To enhance maritime domain awareness across the Pacific Ocean, we are fostering a partnership with Global Fishing Watch,” Schultz said. Additionally, the Coast Guard is “on track to take delivery of the first two 154-foot Fast Response Cutters to be home-ported in Guam” by the end of the year, Schultz added. They will replace 40-year-old vessels and strengthen the Coast Guard’s capabilities in the region.

“We have advised the government over the years that China is an aggressive player in Oceania in search of natural gas, minerals, fish and other raw materials,” said Simonds. “This aggressiveness is in part demonstrated by its heavy subsidizing of its fishing fleets.” According to Marine Policy (vol. 68), in 2013 the Chinese central government spent $6.5 billion on fisheries subsidies. In recent years, China’s South Pacific albacore catch has increased to 40 to 50 percent of the total catch for all countries, while the catch by American Samoa has decreased to 2 percent of the total catch, which has jeopardized the local albacore longline fleet. In response, the Council recommended allowing the local fleet access to waters from 12 to 50 nautical miles of shore in the US EEZ around American Samoa. “It is good to see that our government has begun to recognize the threat to our nation’s fisheries in the Western Pacific,” Simonds said.

Sean Martin, president of the Hawaii Longline Association, noted that China’s presence is in the Eastern Pacific as well. It recently received a quota for 6,000 metric tons (mt) of longline-caught bigeye tuna transferred from Japan. Korea also received a 2,000-mt quota transfer from Japan. “One third of Hawai’i effort is in Eastern Pacific,” Martin said, noting that 8,000 mt is equivalent to the total annual bigeye tuna catch of the Hawai’i longline fleet in both the Western and Central Pacific and Eastern Pacific combined.

The issue of international tuna management and enforcement is on the agenda for the Council’s 181st meeting, which convene March 10-12 in Honolulu. Prior to this meeting, the Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee will meet next week to review the scientific aspects of the topics on the Council’s agenda. For more information on these meetings, go to http://www.wpcouncil.org/meetings-calendars/ or contact the Council at (808) 522-8220 or by email at info.wpcouncil@noaa.gov.