Saving Seafood

Offshore wind advocates see Gulf of Mexico opportunity

August 25, 2021 — Building on moves by Louisiana, offshore wind advocates see the Gulf of Mexico as a next major step for developing the U.S. industry – possibly including re-use of offshore oil and gas platforms and pipelines as assets for an allied “green hydrogen” industry.

“We know offshore wind takes a long time to get off the ground…we’ve got to move fast,” said Liz Burdock, president and CEO of the industry group Business Network for Offshore Wind, on the opening days of its International Partnering Forum conference in Richmond, Va.

BNOW’s Gulf of Mexico working group conferred by video Tuesday with officials in Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards’ administration and the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which has been working since June on Bel Edwards’ request to seek commercial interest in developing wind power off his state.

The agency is taking its early look at a swath of the gulf outer continental shelf out to 4,000-foot depth for potential siting of fixed-foundation and floating wind turbines.

“We are at the very beginning of that process,” said Tershara Matthews of BOEM. The agency is reviewing comments from stakeholders – along with some proprietary information offered by potential wind developers – to assess its next steps.

“There was interest in both fixed and floating,” added Mike Celata of BOEM, with more tending toward fixed development on the shallower shelf. Most of that is focused west of Lafayette, La., with “overlapping interest” by different developers, he said.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

New Date: BOEM Holds Virtual Public Meetings on Proposed Wind Energy Project Offshore New York and New Jersey

August 24, 2021 — The following was released by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management:

On August 10, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced the availability of a draft Environmental Assessment (EA) that assesses the potential impacts of the issuance of commercial and research leases within the nearly 800,000-acre wind energy areas of the New York Bight, and granting of rights-of-way and rights-of-use and easement in the region.

BOEM is holding two virtual public meetings regarding the EA. Due to ongoing storm impacts to the Northeast region, BOEM has rescheduled the virtual meeting originally planned for Tuesday, August 24 to Thursday, August 26. The new dates and times are as follows:

August 25, 2021 at 5:00 PM Eastern
Register for this meeting here:
https://cbuilding.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_rm8imA4AREeZUB9G5yZbpQ  

August 26, 2021 at 1:00 PM Eastern [please note new date and time]
Register for this meeting here:
https://cbuilding.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_uLhhaX9hRoiwCeAuyMrWDg

Participants who previously registered for the August 24 meeting do not need to re-register for the August 26 meeting date. We apologize for any inconvenience as a result of this change.

The draft EA, detailed information about the proposed leasing in the New York Bight, and how to comment, can be found on BOEM’s website at https://www.boem.gov/renewable-energy/state-activities/new-york-bight.

We hope to see you there.

Adverse impacts to commercial fishing from South Fork wind project, report says

August 20, 2021 — “Moderate to major” impacts on commercial fishing would be expected with construction of the planned South Fork offshore wind energy project south of Rhode Island, according to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s final environmental impact statement.

“These impacts would occur due to the increased presence of offshore structures (cable protection measures and foundations) that could reduce fishing access and increase the risk of fishing gear damage/loss,” the report states. “The extent of adverse impacts would vary by fishery and fishing operation due to differences in target species, gear type, and predominant location of fishing activity.”

Some for-hire recreational fishing operators could see long-term opportunities for fishing near turbines, when construction of towers and their rock scour protection creates an artificial reef effect to attract some species, the report notes.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Feds See Turbines as a Mixed Bag

August 20, 2021 — The construction and operation of the South Fork Wind farm is likely to have negligible to moderately adverse impacts on marine life and habitat, with some moderately beneficial impacts also likely. For commercial fisheries, however, moderate to major adverse effects, either temporarily or long term, are predicted, with minor to moderate disruptions on for-hire recreational fishing.

But climate change, other offshore development and vessel activity, and fishing itself will have “continuing temporary to long-term impacts” on commercial and recreational fishing. The wind farm’s impact on birds and bats, marine mammals, and air and water quality would be negligible to moderately adverse.

These are among the conclusions of the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s final environmental impact statement on the proposed wind farm, issued on Monday and signaling BOEM’s completion of its environmental review.

The statement represents an exhaustive analysis of the potential environmental impacts of activities detailed in the wind farm developers’ Construction and Operations Plan. It follows BOEM’s January publishing of a draft environmental impact statement for the wind farm. In the ensuing 45-day comment period, the bureau received 1,300 public comments. It also held three virtual public meetings to solicit feedback on the draft environmental impact statement from individuals and groups including commercial fishermen and other stakeholders. Those comments are incorporated into the final statement.

The wind farm’s developers, Orsted U.S. Offshore Wind and Eversource Energy, plan a 12-turbine, 130-megawatt installation to be situated in a federal lease area approximately 35 miles east of Montauk Point. It would deliver electricity to the South Fork via an export cable making landfall at the ocean beach at the end of Beach Lane in Wainscott, a plan that has angered many residents of that hamlet and spurred a drive to incorporate a portion of it as a village.

Read the full story at the East Hampton Star

NORTH CAROLINA: Brunswick officials’ worries over offshore wind unresolved

August 19, 2021 — Brunswick County beach towns are back to square one in a push to ensure potential offshore wind farms are out of the line of sight from shore.

“Nothing has changed,” said Village of Bald Head Island Councilor Peter Quinn. “We’re still in the exact same situation. Nothing has been addressed.”

The village council first adopted a resolution in 2015 urging the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, or BOEM, to establish a buffer for offshore wind energy leases no closer than 24 nautical miles, or about 27 miles, off North Carolina’s southern coast.

In May, councilors once again passed a similar resolution, a move that triggered other beach towns in the county, including Sunset Beach, Ocean Isle Beach, Caswell Beach, most recently, Oak Island, and the county board of commissioners to follow suit.

As opposition mounts along North Carolina’s southernmost coast to wind turbines within the viewshed, or line of sight from shore, the federal government is ramping up proposed plans for what could be the first wind energy farms off the state’s coast. BOEM earlier this month began hosting a series of virtual public meetings as part of the agency’s environmental review of the proposed project’s construction and operations plans.

Read the full story at Coastal Review Online

BOEM advancement of New York offshore wind raising fishing industry concerns

August 18, 2021 — Two major offshore wind projects off the coast of the U.S. state of New York have taken steps forward over the past week, according to announcements made by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), and those developments have raised some significant concerns from the fishing industry in the U.S. Northeast.

On Monday 16 August, the agency issued its final environmental impact statement on South Fork Wind, a development that could generate 130 megawatts of power to the eastern end of Long Island.

However, according to letters from the Fisheries Survival Fund and the Port of New Bedford, Massachusetts, that’s not the case – at least in terms of the scallops fishery, one of the country’s most-lucrative fisheries.

Fishermen and port officials sent letters on Friday, 13 August, continuing to raise concerns about the largest planned development area, the so-called “Hudson South” area, which is located about 30 miles east of the central New Jersey coast and 60 miles south of western Long Island.

“The need for such precautionary measures is especially vital given that a sizeable body of research is shedding light on the extent of potential consequences to local fisheries from offshore wind-farm construction and operation,” wrote David Frulla, Andrew Minkiewicz, and Bret Spark – lawyers representing the FSF – in a letter.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Final Report on South Fork Wind Farm Cautions of Impacts to Fishing Industry

August 18, 2021 — The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has completed its environmental review of the proposed South Fork Wind Farm, and is expected to release its final decision on the project in October.

The agency said negative impacts to commercial and recreational fishing would be “major” and found there would be “minor to moderate” beneficial impacts in terms of jobs and investment in the local economy.

The Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) on the project, released on BOEM’s website Monday, Aug. 16, examines the potential environmental impacts of the proposal to build up to 15 wind turbines and an offshore substation in federal waters about 35 miles off the coast of Montauk. BOEM says in the FEIS that it prefers an alternative proposal to protect habitat by carefully siting just 11 turbines there.

The project, expected to be under construction by next year, would deliver approximately 130 megawatts of power to the South Fork, coming ashore at Beach Lane in Wainscott en route to a substation in East Hampton. It would be the first offshore wind farm to provide power to New York State.

The FEIS found the greatest potential for adverse impacts would be to the commercial and recreational fishing industry, “due to increased port congestion; changes to fishing access, primarily through reduced fishing opportunity when construction activities are occurring; damage to or loss of fishing gear; and impacts on the catch due to changes in target species abundance or availability during construction activities.”

“The “reef effect” of WTG foundations and associated scour protection would have minor beneficial impacts to for-hire recreational fisheries, depending on the extent to which the foundations enhance fishing opportunities,” they added. “Overall cumulative adverse impacts would be major.”

Read the full story at the East End Beacon

BOEM Completes Environmental Review of South Fork Wind Project

August 17, 2021 — The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has completed its environmental review of the proposed South Fork Wind project offshore New York and Rhode Island.

South Fork Wind – proposed by Orsted and Evercore – would be New York’s first offshore wind farm with 12 turbines and a transmission system that will generate enough power for 70,000 homes.

Expected to be operational by the end of 2023, the offshore wind farm will be located 35 miles east of Montauk Point. The underground transmission line will deliver power to the local grid in the Town of East Hampton, NY.

The project will deliver approximately 130 megawatts (MW) of power to the South Fork of Long Island, New York. If approved, it would be the second commercial-scale offshore wind project in the United States.

BOEM said Monday that the project, which could create up to 1,700 jobs, and the completion of the environmental review, were “a significant step towards achieving the Biden-Harris administration’s goal of accelerating responsible development of renewable energy on public lands and in offshore waters as a way of tackling the climate crisis and creating union jobs.”

Read the full story at Offshore Engineer

Study: Wind farm could have ‘major’ impacts on commercial fishing

August 17, 2021 — Development of the South Fork Wind Farm off the coast of Rhode Island would have an overall “major” adverse impact on commercial fishing, according to a newly released federal study.

Impacts to commercial fishing include navigational hazards from potential collisions, loss of fishing grounds and impacts from construction and operation, according to a final environmental impact statement released Monday by the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.

The study found that impacts to other categories studied such as the potential impacts to air and water quality, marine mammals and bats, were negligible to minor, with many offset by the benefits of wind energy in combating climate change.

The overall “major adverse impact” on commercial fishing reflects the finding that some “commercial fisheries and fishing operations would experience substantial disruptions indefinitely even if remedial action is taken,” the study said.

But it’s not just the turbines that will impact fishing operations, BOEM found, saying that impacts of climate change and fishing itself present greater threats to the industry.

BOEM “expects that regulated fishing effort and climate change will continue to be the most impactful impact-producing factor[s] controlling the sustainability of commercial and for-hire recreational fisheries in the area,” the study said.

Read the full story at Newsday

MASSACHUSETTS: New Bedford fishermen, officials question New York offshore wind areas as auction nears

August 17, 2021 — As sections of ocean off the coast of New York near auction to offshore wind developers, local fishermen have called on the federal government to do a better job not only engaging with the fishing industry, but also heeding its concerns and implementing its recommendations.

At stake for fishermen, wind developers and the Biden administration is the New York Bight — an area of shallow waters between Long Island, New York, and the New Jersey coast. Within the bight, commercial fishermen fish for scallops, summer flounder and surf clams, among other species.

In June, the U.S. Department of the Interior announced a proposed sale of more than 600,000 acres of the bight for offshore wind development. Before the public comment period for the proposed sale closed on Aug. 13, the U.S. Bureau of Ocean and Energy Management held virtual meetings with fishermen, during which many shared their frustration and concern.

During a meeting on Aug. 6 with BOEM officials, city officials and fishermen from along the East Coast shared concerns about engagement, accountability, transparency and safety. The top BOEM official, Director Amanda Lefton, appeared virtually and spoke directly to local representatives. The meeting took a hybrid format with more than 100 people via Zoom and about 20 people at the city’s Fairfield Inn.

David Frulla, an attorney who works with industry group Fisheries Survival Fund, told the Standard-Times it was “notable” Lefton was present at the meeting and directly responding to attendees. He said in his recollection, there hasn’t been communication at this level between the BOEM director and fishermen — including during the Obama and Trump administrations.

In a letter sent April 28 to Lefton, Mayor Jon Mitchell wrote the wind energy areas, particularly the Central Bight and Hudson South, were established on “significant” scallop fishing grounds. He proposed the removal of a five-milestrip along the eastern boundary of Hudson South to minimize fishery impacts.

Blair Bailey, general counsel for the Port of New Bedford, told BOEM officials that it appears to the fishing industry that fishermen have a greater burden to prove something than other stakeholders.

He said when they requested a buffer, the “immediate” response from BOEM was a request for the city to provide scientific support. He said the city can and will provide it, but that BOEM’s response “doesn’t seem to apply” to others who provide input.

“When somebody doesn’t want to see a turbine from their house that’s on shore, that wind energy area disappears,” he said. “But when the fishermen say, ‘We need this area, therefore we need you to move things or change things,’ the response doesn’t appear, again from the outside, to be as quick and as accepted as the input from other people.”

Eric Hansen, a retired New Bedford scallop fishermen who owns and operates a few commercial vessels, told the Standard-Times that wind development in the bight is “very concerning.” He said every scallop fisherman on the East Coast uses the bight because they have allocations to catch a certain amount of scallops from an access area there.

For the 20th consecutive year, New Bedford was the nation’s top-earning fishing port. Scallops account for 84% of the port’s value of landings, according to the National Marine Fisheries Service.

The trip from New Bedford to the bight can take 12 to 20 hours and last one to two weeks, Hansen said. The amount of scallops caught in the bight annually can vary, but he said it makes up a “significant” portion of a scallop fisherman’s catch.

Read the full story at the New Bedford Standard-Times