Saving Seafood

Virginia advances legislation against harassing fishermen

February 6, 2024 — Virginia state legislation to protect commercial fishermen and their boats from harassment from sport fishermen at sea was approved 8-0 by the state House Courts of Justice – Criminal Subcommittee on Feb. 2 and will move on to the next level of the House in Richmond, Va.

Virginia House Bill 928, sponsored by Delegate Hillary Pugh Kent, increases penalties for harassing watermen to a Class I misdemeanor which is confinement in jail for not more than twelve months and a fine of not more than $2,500, either or both. Anyone convicted will forfeit Virginia’s hunting and fishing licenses for one year on first offense, and three years on a second offense.

The bill was prompted by a dangerous engagement between a jet skier and an Ocean Harvesters menhaden fishing crew that occurred on September 23, 2023, which was documented in a video by a menhaden spotter pilot.

The incident occurred approximately 1.5 miles east of Buckroe Beach off Hampton, Va., in Chesapeake Bay. As an Ocean Harvesters’ crew was making a set, the rider of the jet ski ran his boat between the two purse boats and was able to get inside the set and out before the set was completed. This was the third harassment issue by a recreational boater occurring last year, said Monty Deihl, CEO of Ocean Harvesters, a U.S. fishing company that has a long-term contract to harvest and deliver menhaden for Omega Protein.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

 

VIRGINIA: Virginia Legislature Subcommittee Acts Favorably on Bill to Combat Threats and Interference with Commercial Fishing Vessels

February 6, 2024 — The Virginia House of Delegates Courts of Justice – Criminal Subcommittee, has favorably reported HB 928, legislation to protect commercial watermen, by a unanimous, bipartisan vote of 8-0.

In response to a rising number of threats and at-sea harassment targeting commercial fishermen operating legally in Virginia waters, two bills were introduced in the 2024 Virginia legislative session. The bills, from Delegate Hillary Pugh Kent and Delegate Robert S. Bloxom, Jr. would increase the penalties for intentionally interfering with commercial fishing operations. Today Delegate Kent’s bill was considered, amended, and passed by the subcommittee. The bill increases penalties to a Class 1 misdemeanor which is confinement in jail for not more than twelve months and a fine of not more than $2,500, either or both. Additionally, anyone convicted will forfeit hunting and fishing licenses for one year on first offense, and three years on a second offense.

Dangerous incidents are growing in number and aggression and physical injury, and the lives of union-member, commercial fishermen are being increasingly threatened. These hazardous confrontations have been conducted on jet skis and with recreational boats, endangering all involved. Current law provides for minor penalties, like small fines, which are an insufficient deterrent to individuals with the financial means to own and operate recreational watercraft.

Read the full article at Access Wire

Dominion gets Virginia offshore wind approval

February 1, 2024 — Dominion Energy announced Jan. 30 received the last two major federal approvals it need to start construction of the 2.6-gigawatt Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project, with completion anticipated in late 2026.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s final approval of CVOW’s Construction and Operations Plan clears the way for starting work on what would be the largest offshore wind project in U.S. waters with 176 turbines across 113,000 acres of leased bottom. It comes after many months of  inflation, supply chain issues and other challenges forced other wind developers to withdraw from or re-bid project commitments  with other East Coast states.

“Virginia is leading the way for offshore wind as we near the start of offshore construction for Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind,” Bob Blue, Dominion Energy’s chair, president, and chief executive officer said in announcing the permit. “These regulatory approvals keep CVOW on time and on budget as we focus on our mission of providing customers with reliable, affordable and increasingly clean energy.”

Read the full article at Workboat

VIRGINIA: Dominion wind project gets final 2 permits

January 31, 2024 — Federal regulators have issued the last two major approvals needed for Dominion Energy to begin construction of the largest U.S. offshore wind farm.

The facility, 25 miles in the Atlantic off the Virginia Beach Oceanfront, will have 176 turbines capable of generating enough electricity to power up to 660,000 homes.

The more than $9 billion project is due to come on line in 2026.

The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management issued its final approval of Dominion’s construction and operations plan. This is a detailed plan for building and operating an offshore facility that the bureau reviews for its environmental impact and technical feasibility.

Read the full article at the Richmond Times-Dispatch

VIRGINIA: Virginia lawmakers could order sweeping study of menhaden

January 16, 2024 — The Virginia State Legislature is considering a three-year study of the ecology, fishery impacts, and economic importance of the Atlantic menhaden population in the waters of the Commonwealth.

House Bill 19 was introduced in Richmond, Va., on Jan. 10  by Delegate R. Lee Ware of Powhatan County. The bill directs the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) in collaboration with Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC) and with the cooperation of relevant stakeholders, including recreational anglers, Omega Protein – the lone company in the state’s reduction fishery – bait fishery sectors, and nongovernmental organizations, all to participate in the three-year study.

The bill states that the study must address nine concerns, which will include the seasonal abundance of Atlantic menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay; the movement rates of Atlantic menhaden between the Atlantic coast and Chesapeake Bay; and the impacts of predator demand and consumption of Atlantic menhaden on the menhaden population.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Rare unveils new impact bond for small-scale fishers

December 31, 2023 — Rare, an international nonprofit based in Arlington, Virginia, U.S.A., has created what it calls a first-of-its-kind small-scale fisheries (SSF) Impact Bond to finance community-led co-management of small-scale fisheries.

Rare announced the bond at the COP28 meetings in the United Arab Emirates, and is targeting early 2024 for the launch of the program. Its plan for the SSF Impact Bond program is to scale up through three rounds, with a goal of mobilizing up to USD 160 million (EUR 146 million) to support the protection, restoration, and sustainable management of coastal ecosystems. Rare said along with the ecological and community benefits, the model is aimed at de-risking future investment in communities and small-scale fisheries

Read the full article at SeafoodSource 

Menhaden Fisheries Coalition Corrects Misleading Statements from Chesapeake Legal Alliance

December 26, 2023 — The Menhaden Fisheries Coalition addresses five inaccurate and misleading statements made in a recent press release by the Chesapeake Legal Alliance and the Southern Maryland Recreational Fishing Organization regarding their petition for rulemaking to the Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC). A brief overview of inaccuracies, expert statements, and scientific findings is listed below, followed by a more detailed discussion of each false claim.

Read the full article at Seafoodnews.com

VIRGINIA: As other wind projects stall, Virginia’s approach keeps Dominion’s on track

December 24, 2023 — Back in 2011, Dominion Energy sent Diane Leopold, then a senior vice president for generation, to Greater Gabbard wind farm, 14 miles off the English coast in the North Sea, to look at a new-to-the-U.S. way of making electricity: offshore wind farms.

She came back with news that they could work in Virginia — wind conditions were similar, turbines could be anchored in deep and choppy seas and, key for this engineering graduate of England’s Sussex University, there was a clear path from the 3-megwatt turbines she saw to the larger ones that would make wind an affordable way to generate electricity.

“The biggest issue at the time was what’s the cost going to be for the customers,” said Leopold, who is now Dominion’s chief operating officer. “The technology fully proved out … but the ability to go from 3-megawatt turbines to 6-megawatt turbines to 11 to now almost 15 helps the economies of scale really get that cost down for the customers,” she said as she recalled Dominion’s first steps toward what became a $9.8 billion plan for an offshore wind farm capable of powering up to 660,000 homes.

Read the full article at the Richmond Times-Dispatch

Scientists to study how offshore wind construction off Virginia Beach impacts fish

December 18, 2023 — Researchers with the Nature Conservancy and federal government are embarking on groundbreaking research off the coast of Virginia Beach to see how driving offshore wind turbines into the seafloor impacts fish behavior.

The research will provide guidance for how the government should craft environmental regulations for offshore wind development, which is increasing as the U.S. transitions from fossil fuel generation to renewable energy sources.

“The renewable energy sector is really critical to reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” said Kate Wilke, a marine scientist with the Nature Conservancy. “There really is a lot of scrutiny on this industry, and therefore we hope that that truly leads to better outcomes as the industry is developing and built out.”

While offshore wind has been slower to develop in the U.S. than in Europe or Asia, states along the East Coast have been racing to propose projects in recent years, especially after President Joe Biden announced a goal of having 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030. That’s enough to power roughly 10 million homes.

Virginia set its own goal of developing 5.2 gigawatts of offshore wind as part of the 2020 Virginia Clean Economy Act, which seeks to decarbonize the state’s electric grid by 2050. Dominion Energy, Virginia’s largest electric utility, is currently building a 2.6 gigawatt project that is expected to be the nation’s largest offshore wind farm when it’s complete.

The $9.8 billion Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project, also known as CVOW, will construct 176 turbines about 27 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach. While other projects along the East Coast have stalled because of economic pressures, Dominion has said CVOW is “on-time and on-budget.”

As the utility prepares to begin the drilling needed for the turbines, the Nature Conservancy is taking the opportunity to see how all the earth-shaking activity will affect fish.

“We are going to tag animals in such a way that it gives us the opportunity to observe behavior and gain an understanding of how that behavior may or may not change before versus during that construction activity,” said Brendan Runde, another scientist with the Nature Conservancy.

Read the full article at Virginia Mercury

Chesapeake Bay dead zone ‘smallest’ it’s been since 1985

December 2, 2023 — The “dead zone” in the Chesapeake Bay is the smallest it has been since recording began in 1985, according to new data from Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Old Dominion University and Virginia Institute of Marine Science.

The dead zone is the area in which there is a relative low amount of oxygen, a condition known as hypoxia. Typically, this means that polluted runoff has brought in phosphorus and nitrogen, which feeds growth of algal blooms. These blooms eventually die and decompose, removing oxygen from the surrounding waters faster than it can be replenished. Animals such as crabs, oysters and fish need healthy levels of oxygen in the water to survive.

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources reported dissolved oxygen levels in the Chesapeake Bay were “much better” than past years. The department reported the dead zone averaged 0.52 cubic miles from May to October this year, compared with the historical average of 0.97 cubic miles.

VIMS reported a dead zone of 0.58 cubic miles. The institute reported that hypoxia began earlier than usual, in April, but it remained “uncharacteristically low” from June until ending in late-September. The relatively early end resulted from cooling temperatures in September and strong winds during Tropical Storm Ophelia.

Read the full article at the Virginian Pilot