Saving Seafood

MAINE: Dock Talk: An array of risks

April 8, 2021 — In June 2019, Maine’s Gov. Janet Mills signed a bill requiring the state Public Utilities Commission to approve the contract for an offshore wind pilot project in Maine. This project will operate an 11-MW turbine off of Monhegan Island.

Though touted as research to explore clean energy alternatives, this project is an experiment. And during this experiment, power generated will be sold for profit, likely to out of state consumers. Information from this research will not just benefit scientists, but also big-money energy investors who want to develop wind farms throughout the Gulf of Maine.

“When you a look at a chart of where all the preferred wind farm leases are on the East Coast and compare that to the chart NMFS has made showing the most heavily fished areas, almost every lease is based directly on or adjacent to the best grounds,” said fisherman Glen Libby.

There is a lot more at stake here than may meet the eye. Drilling the ocean meters down, placing cables and topping with an artificial cover for miles will at the very least disrupt and at the very worst destroy countless marine life habitats, ecosystems and breeding grounds, which will influence the food chain from there on up, not to mention the unknown long-term effects chemicals coating the underground cables may have on the environment and consumers.

Electromagnetic fields and noise from offshore wind turbines can interrupt the natural cycles of robust native species as well as endangered and protected marine species — including right whales, for which lobstermen have changed fishing practices and gear to avoid doing any potential harm.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Don’t Forget Fishermen in the Rush To Expand Wind Energy

April 8, 2021 — On April 6th, 1,665 members of fishing communities in every U.S. coastal state submitted a letter to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) requesting a transparent and balanced national planning process for offshore wind development.

Offshore wind development poses direct conflicts with fishing and the current permitting process provides no meaningful opportunity to include the needs of sustainable seafood harvesting and production in strategies to mitigate climate change. Recent interagency announcements to fast-track offshore wind energy production have provided no commitments to address this transgression of the federal government’s public trust duties.

On the eve of the expected Record of Decision for the Vineyard Wind I project, which would be the first commercial-scale offshore wind energy project in U.S. federal waters, the signers request that BOEM adopt reasonable and consistently requested fisheries mitigation measures for the project if it is approved.

Read the full story at OCNJ Daily

Dock price: The cost of cutting access to healthy fisheries

April 7, 2021 — In the early 1980s, when I was fishing a dayboat dragger out of Ogunquit, Maine, a noise ordinance came before the town meeting under the terms of which, as we understood them, fishermen would not be able to start their engines before 7 a.m.

On the bait wharf, we viewed the proposal as the child of well-heeled folks from away who liked the idea of water views and fishing boats but drew the line at having to listen to diesel engines starting up before breakfast.

Talk of the ordinance created quite a stir in the run-up to town meeting, but not so much among the fishermen. We would fish on our schedule, noise ordinance or no.

But that was then. Tourism was not yet a year-round industry nor was new-home construction a way of life. Coastal communities were still home to “working class” families, and during winter it was common to find laid-off construction workers, restaurant help and others on the back deck of fishing vessels trying to earn a paycheck. As a result, the connection to fishing was not casual, but intrinsic. Fishing was woven into the fabric of coastal communities.

Much has changed, especially, for example, in New England’s groundfish ports. The wharves in Portland, Maine, and Gloucester, Mass., that I scrambled over in my youth are no longer jammed with trawlers rafting two or three deep, to say nothing of the chandleries, gear lofts and fuel boats that have disappeared.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Deal on offshore wind jobs highlights tensions with Maine fishermen

April 7, 2021 –Wednesday’s announcement that Maine organized labor and the developer of a pilot offshore wind farm are partnering to train and hire construction workers took place against a backdrop of rising tensions between two marine-related job creators.

One, the fishing sector, is longtime symbol of Maine’s independent work ethic and an economic mainstay in many coastal communities. The other, offshore wind, is part of a fast-evolving clean-energy industry that’s taking shape along the Eastern Seaboard.

With offshore wind, the interests of these two water-dependent activities are colliding. At issue is access to the ocean and to what degree floating turbine platforms, subsea anchoring systems and  buried cables can coexist with boats that haul lobster traps and drag for ground fish and scallops.

The job projections for offshore wind are tantalizing. New England Aqua Ventus, the developer of a demonstration floating wind turbine planned for construction next year off Monhegan Island, said building a single floating platform will create hundreds of union-wage jobs. Full-scale commercial wind farms with multiple turbines could require thousands of skilled workers, the company says.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

Incidental Take Authorization: Ocean Wind, LLC Marine Site Characterization Surveys off of New Jersey

April 5, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries has received a request from Ocean Wind, LLC (Ocean Wind) for authorization to take marine mammals incidental to marine site characterization surveys offshore of New Jersey in the area of Commercial Lease of Submerged Lands for Renewable Energy Development on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Lease Area OCS-A 0498 (Lease Area) and potential export cable routes (ECRs) to landfall locations in New Jersey. NOAA Fisheries is requesting comments on its proposal to issue an incidental harassment authorization (IHA) to incidentally take marine mammals during the specified activities. We are also requesting comments on a possible one-year renewal that could be issued under certain circumstances and if all requirements are met. We will consider public comments prior to making any final decision on the issuance of the requested MMPA authorizations and agency responses will be summarized in the final notice of our decision.

Read the full release here

The U.S. set ambitious offshore wind power targets – what will it take to meet them?

April 2, 2021 — The United States’ offshore wind industry is tiny, with just seven wind turbines operating off Rhode Island and Virginia. The few attempts to build large-scale wind farms like Europe’s have run into long delays, but that may be about to change.

The Biden administration announced on March 29, 2021, that it would accelerate the federal review process for offshore wind projects and provide more funding. It also set a goal: Develop 30,000 megawatts of offshore wind capacity this decade – enough to power 10 million homes with clean energy. To put that in perspective, the U.S. has just 42 megawatts today.

Several wind farm developers already hold leases in prime locations off the Eastern Seaboard, suggesting plenty of interest. So, will the government’s new goals and promise of additional funding be enough to finally launch a thriving offshore wind industry?

As engineering professors leading the Energy Transition Initiative and Wind Energy Center at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, we have been closely watching the industry’s challenges and progress. The process could move quickly once permitting and approvals are on track, but there are still obstacles.

Read the full story at the Portland Press Herald

NEW YORK: Biden Puts Spotlight On Waters Off Long Island For Wind Power Future

April 1, 2021 — President Joe Biden’s administration this week declared all of the waters between the south shore of Long Island and the New Jersey coast — including a swath of water less than 20 miles south of the Shinnecock Canal — a priority area for the development of offshore wind.

It’s the foundation of an already accelerating rush to establish a new multibillion-dollar industry, create tens of thousands of jobs and set the United States on a course away from reliance on fossil fuel energy.

To do so, the White House threw its weight behind accelerating the pace of planning and development of offshore wind farms in the waters south of Long Island, which potentially could see thousands of turbines, each nearly 800 feet tall, sprout from the sea in the coming decade.

The call for an even faster pace of growth than is already underway also could mean that regions seen as suitable for wind farm development directly south of Southampton and East Hampton will get closer consideration.

While the administration’s announcement made no actual reference to specific areas of the sea where wind turbines should be built, it did say that the Department of the Interior will advance the creation of new leases of ocean floor for the development of wind farms. The goal will be to have 16 projects approved and ready for construction by 2025.

The regions of ocean directly south of the East End are particularly sensitive for fishermen, according to Bonnie Brady, a commercial fishing advocate from Montauk, since they are critical grounds for the small boats that sail out of Shinnecock Inlet and Montauk to harvest sea scallops, fluke and squid.

Placing wind turbines in Fairways North, she said, would pose a navigational hazard and would drastically change the habitat of the ocean in the area, which is currently a sandy ocean plain, to one of hardened structure, which could upset the ecological balance that fishermen rely on.

Commercial fishermen have been the most strident opponents of offshore wind farm development and met this week’s announcement from the White House with renewed exasperation at the breakneck speed with which offshore wind development is apparently going to be introduced to the ocean off the Northeast coastline.

“Here we have the administration that holds science so near and dear just throwing science right out,” Ms. Brady said. “They are throwing up $4 billion to create this future industry, but they are not funding the science that should be the basis of all this and has to be done before build all these turbines. They could screw it all up, and then they’ll just say, ‘We didn’t know’ — but it’s the fishermen who will be hung out to dry.”

Read the full story at The Southampton Press

MAINE: Fishing gear removed from path of offshore wind project survey

April 1, 2021 — Maine Marine Patrol officials and local fishermen have made headway over the last week in clearing fishing gear from a 23-mile long path being surveyed for an offshore wind development project, state marine officials say.

The monthlong survey for the New England Aqua Ventus project began earlier this month, but the presence of fishing gear on the path was making it difficult for the vessel conducting a survey of the seafloor to do its work, according to a project spokesperson and Maine Department of Marine Resources officials.

Fishermen were asked to move their gear in advance of the survey, but given the contentious issue of wind development of the Gulf of Maine, some fishermen felt they shouldn’t have to move their traps for a project that they feel threatens their livelihood.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News

CFRF March 2021 Newsletter

March 31, 2021 — The following was released by the Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation:

Project Update: South Fork Wind Farm Fisheries Monitoring — Beam Trawl Survey

The South Fork Wind Farm beam trawl survey is well underway with six months of data collected on the benthic communities of the South Fork windfarm development area and two nearby reference areas. The beam trawl is designed to primarily target scallops and groundfish, however it is outfitted with a 2.4 cm knotless nylon liner to document all sizes of the benthic species present. The catch from each monthly survey has been relatively consistent with the eastern reference area dominated by crabs and skate and a handful of flatfish; the western reference area was rocky with many small invertebrates with high catches of scallop and skate with a few summer and winter flounder; and finally, the wind farm proposed area was predominantly little skate, scup, sea robins and a few scallops. In the colder months, with a few big storms moving though the area, we have seen a slight downturn in catch, particularly in finfish through the winter. Stay tuned to see what the warmer waters bring this spring as well as the beginning of our gillnet, ventless trap, and fish pot surveys each designed to target slightly different fisheries species in this area Visit the project webpage at www.cfrfoundation.org/sfwf-beam-trawl-survey to stay up to date with the catch information from this survey.

Project Results: River Herring Bycatch Avoidance Program

After over a decade of collaboration the River Herring Bycatch Avoidance Program has come to an end. The program, representing the work of CFRF, the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth School for Marine Science and Technology, the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, the commercial fishing industry, and contributions from several other organizations, fundamentally improved the understanding of river herring bycatch and how to reduce it in the Atlantic herring and Atlantic mackerel fisheries. It increased portside sampling of relevant vessels in Massachusetts and Rhode Island by over 100% at times. The data collected though portside sampling supported scientific publications, management decisions, and was the primary information source for near-real time communications of river herring bycatch. These communications positively influenced fishing habits and played a role in the approximate 60% decrease in total bycatch and 20% decrease in the bycatch rate prior to the establishment of river herring catch limits. Once river herring catch limits were established, the program helped the industry stay under these limits more often than what was expected by managers. Through the course of the project 26 vessels contributed data. This included 8 fishing companies and their 13 mid-water trawl vessels, representing the majority of Atlantic herring and mackerel catch in U.S., that were cornerstones of the program. The program was started with funding from the National Fisheries Wildlife Foundation, strengthened with funding from The Nature Conservancy, and then sustained by the Atlantic Herring Research-Set Aside Program. Cuts to the Atlantic herring quota made funding through the Research-Set Aside Program untenable and, along with the closure of near shore areas, reduced the need for the program. Thank you to all who supported and contributed to this program. More information can be found at www.umassd.edu/smast/bycatch/.

Read the full release here

RODA says it’s being ignored

March 31, 2021 — With America’s first industrial-scale offshore wind farm poised to receive final approval from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), fishermen continue to have reservations about potential impacts.

Vineyard Wind 1, an 84-turbine wind farm to be situated in the Atlantic 15 miles south of Aquinnah, is expected to get that final approval — a record of decision — from BOEM within a month.

Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA), a coalition representing fishing interests, has taken issue with the project from the get-go, notably the transit corridors. These are the lanes between turbine towers vessels would navigate through. Vineyard Wind and other developers that have leased sections of New England ocean for wind development have agreed to 1-nautical-mile transit lanes. RODA has long demanded wider lanes, preferably four miles wide.

That stance hasn’t changed, RODA’s executive director, Annie Hawkins, told The Times. Hawkins said a recommendation for wider lanes could have emerged from the project’s environmental impact statement, but that didn’t happen. Hawkins said the safe passage of fishing vessels, especially those towing any sort of mobile gear, is in question with the current spacing layout. It’s unknown if insurers will allow fishing vessels to travel inside Vineyard Wind 1 or the farms that will follow, Hawkins said.

Read the full story at the MV Times