Saving Seafood

N.J. fishermen and offshore wind firms learning to coexist

March 7, 2019 — Hunched over a laptop, Jeff Dement pointed to a virtual map showing lease areas for offshore wind off New Jersey’s coast.

He clicked on the legend and added a layer showing where scallop fishing overlaps with potential turbine locations.

“You could do this for days,” said Dement, fish tagging program director for the American Littoral Society, as he gave a tutorial of an online data portal published by the Mid-Atlantic Regional Council on the Ocean.

A few anglers gathered behind him inside a conference room in the Ocean County Library, where offshore wind developers and fishers gathered Wednesday evening to discuss how the two groups can lessen proposed wind projects’ disturbance of wildlife.

Read the full story at the Press of Atlantic City

MASSACHUSETTS: Governor Baker touts promise of wind power, new technology

March 7, 2019 — New York recently set a long-term goal of generating 9,000 megawatts of energy from offshore wind power, while New Jersey plans to build 3,500 megawatts.

But Massachusetts is seeking to produce just 1,600 megawatts, a target critics say is too modest.

Some environmentalists had hoped that Governor Charlie Baker would announce a loftier goal Wednesday at a forum in Boston about the future of offshore wind power.

Instead, Baker spoke more broadly about his administration’s efforts to bring the nation’s first large-scale offshore wind farm to the waters off Martha’s Vineyard, a project that could begin by year’s end.

He also spoke about the promise of new battery technology that in a few years could make wind and other renewable energy reliable enough to replace fossil fuels.

“There’s a tremendous amount of momentum and enthusiasm about what’s possible with respect to deep-water wind off the East Coast,” Baker said at the forum, which was organized by the Environmental League of Massachusetts and State House News. “It’s a significant opportunity to dramatically improve our environment and to take literally millions of metric tons of emissions off the grid.”

Read the full story at The Boston Globe

$2B offshore wind farm gets R.I. approval

February 27, 2019 — Vineyard Wind cleared a major hurdle on Tuesday when Rhode Island coastal regulators determined the $2-billion wind farm proposed in offshore waters to be consistent with state policies.

Although the 84-turbine project is planned in Atlantic Ocean waters south of Martha’s Vineyard where the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management holds lead permitting authority, it needs consistency certifications from the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council and its counterpart in Massachusetts primarily because it would affect the states’ fishing industries.

With the Massachusetts approval still under consideration, the decision from the Rhode Island coastal council represents a step forward for a project that has divided opinion and would have come as a relief to Vineyard Wind.

“It has a been a long process. It has been a very intense process. It has also been a process when emotions have run high from time to time,” said company CEO Lars Pedersen.

Even though the Rhode Island council ended up voting unanimously in favor of the wind farm, it was far from certain until just a few days ago whether Vineyard Wind would be able to secure the approval at all.

Read the full story at the Providence Journal

R.I. fishermen, Vineyard Wind reach deal on compensation

February 25, 2019 — A Rhode Island fishing board on Saturday voted in favor of a revised compensation offer from offshore wind developer Vineyard Wind in a decision that boosts the New Bedford company’s chances of securing a key approval from state coastal regulators later this week.

In a unanimous vote at the special meeting, the Fishermen’s Advisory Board accepted the new offer that includes $4.2 million in payments over 30 years for direct impacts to commercial fishermen from Vineyard Wind’s 84-turbine wind farm proposed in Rhode Island Sound, as well as the creation of a $12.5-million trust set up over five years that could be used to cover additional costs to fishermen resulting from the project.

The Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council is now set to vote Tuesday night on whether it believes the $2-billion project is consistent with state coastal activities, including fishing. With the vote by the fishermen’s board, the prospects of Vineyard Wind winning approval appear much improved from just weeks ago when the two sides were mired in negotiations.

But the board’s decision does not amount to an endorsement of the 800-megawatt proposal, which is aiming to be the first large-scale offshore wind farm in the nation, following the completion two years ago of a test project off Block Island.

Read the full story at the Providence Journal

Fisheries Survival Fund Releases New Video on British Fishermen’s History with Wind Farms

February 22, 2019 — SEAFOOD NEWS — The Fisheries Survival Fund, representing the offshore scallop industry, sent two people to the UK last year to make a short film on the interactions between wind farm development and the fishing industry.

They found that initially, the UK government granted leases without even informing fishermen, who found out only when their grounds were already slated for development.   Subsequently, new process have brought in the industry very early on in the license process, but many feel they are ‘listened to, but not heard’.

One of the biggest issues on one of the wind farms highlighted in the film are the sediment plumes which have changed the ecology of the local area, and driven away fish.

The Fisheries Survival Fund is particularly concerned about placement of leases in major scallop grounds, making the suggestion in the film that changes in sediment, water turbidity, and tide flows could negatively impact scallops.

The video highlights the need for fishing knowledge and input early in the process of siting and developing offshore wind farms. English fishermen explain how they were not given the opportunity to provide input into the siting of the Thanet Offshore Wind Farm, which lies seven miles off the coast of Kent, England, right in the middle of important fishing grounds.

Several leases have already been awarded for wind farms off the East Coast of the U.S., including one in an area that is prime grounds for sea scallops. Additional lease areas are also currently under consideration.

Watch the video here

This story was originally published by SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

More Wind Farm Proposals Pitched to New York State

February 21, 2019 — New York State has received bids from four groups proposing new offshore wind farms to feed the state’s electrical grid, including a proposal from the companies behind the “South Fork Wind Farm,” which have proposed a new “Sunrise Wind” project that if selected would be sited over 30 miles east of Montauk Point.

The New York State Energy and Research Development Authority (NYSERDA) closed bidding Thursday on the offshore wind power park, which it hopes will have a capacity of at least 800 megawatts of energy. It is expected that NYSERDA will select the winning bid in May.

According to a press release issued by New York State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr., a total of 18 separate proposals for up to 1,200 megawatts of energy have been submitted.

In a press release issued Thursday, Ørsted and Eversource — the companies that purchased South Fork Wind Farm developer Deepwater Wind last fall — said its “Sunrise Wind” proposal had been “carefully planned to help achieve Governor Andrew M. Cuomo’s nation-leading offshore wind and renewable energy goals, and to do so with the highest possible levels of public support.” While details of bids have not yet been released by the companies or by NYSERDA, in its press release Ørsted and Eversource confirmed “Sunrise Wind” would be in the 500-mile federal lease area it already controls in the same area that the South Fork Wind Farm is proposed.

Read the full story at Sag Harbor Express

Public Comment Period for Vineyard Wind Closes Friday

February 21, 2019 — The public comment period for Vineyard Wind’s Draft Environmental Impact Statement closes Friday.

The DEIS is a preliminary analysis by the federal government describing the project’s environmental and socioeconomic impacts of the offshore wind proposal.

The project seeks to construct an 800-mega-watt wind farm about 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard. Visit Cape Cod dot com for comment submission options.

The purpose of the review is to ensure the technical accuracy of all aspects of the document and offer an opportunity for the public to raise questions, express concerns and provide comment.

Comments can be submitted online at www.regulations.gov and searching for BOEM-2018-0069.

Comments can also be submitted by mail. Envelopes should be labeled “Vineyard Wind COP Draft EIS” and postmarked by February 22.

The submission address is Program Manager, Office of Renewable Energy, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, 45600 Woodland Road, Sterling, VA 20166.

Read the full story at CapeCod.com

New video shows impacts of offshore wind on U.K. fishermen, provides lessons for U.S. industry

February 21, 2019 — The following was released by the Fisheries Survival Fund:

A new video, Winds of Change, released today by the Fisheries Survival Fund (FSF), documents how the arrival of offshore wind blindsided U.K. fishermen, and how the wind farms have permanently changed their traditional fishing grounds and how they make their livelihoods.

Last year, two members of FSF traveled to the United Kingdom to learn how fishermen in Ramsgate, England and Aberdeen, Scotland have been impacted by offshore wind development. Those lessons are documented in Winds of Change.

“As offshore wind moves forward here in the U.S., it’s essential that it’s able to co-exist with the fishing communities that have depended on these waters for generations,” said Andrew Minkiewicz, an attorney for FSF. “We must learn from the experiences of European fishermen if we want to avoid the same pitfalls and make the best decisions for American fishermen and offshore wind developers.”

Winds of Change explains the impacts offshore wind can have on marine ecosystems, including altering the flow and direction of the tide, churning up sediment, and changing fish behavior or causing them to leave the area altogether. It also shows how wind farms can affect fishing operations, leaving vessels with little room to maneuver through wind turbines and interfering with navigation systems.

The video highlights the need for fishing knowledge and input early in the process of siting and developing offshore wind farms. English fishermen explain how they were not given the opportunity to provide input into the siting of the Thanet Offshore Wind Farm, which lies seven miles off the coast of Kent, England, right in the middle of important fishing grounds.

“One of the developers turned up one day with these agents…and said ‘we’re going to build a wind farm here,’” says John Nichols, Chairman of the Thanet Fishermen’s Association, in the video. “And they said ‘but we’re not worried about the fishermen because it’s divide and conquer, fishermen can’t stick together.’”

Several leases have already been awarded for wind farms off the East Coast of the U.S., including one in an area that is prime grounds for sea scallops. Additional lease areas are also currently under consideration.

NEW YORK: Okay for Wind Cable Route Soil Tests

February 15, 2019 — By a 3-to-2 vote that was marked by sharp disagreement, the East Hampton Town Board authorized an agreement with Orsted U.S. Offshore Wind last Thursday that will allow it to conduct archaeological and soil tests along a proposed cable route in Wainscott.

The company, which until its November acquisition by the Danish energy company Orsted was known as Deepwater Wind, plans to construct the 15-turbine South Fork Wind Farm approximately 35 miles east of Montauk.

Separately, Eversource, New England’s largest energy company, announced on Friday that it had purchased a 50-percent stake in the South Fork Wind Farm and Orsted’s Revolution Wind as well. The $225 million deal also included a federal lease area south of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Orsted took over all three assets in November as part of its acquisition of Deepwater Wind, the Rhode Island company that first developed the projects. Deepwater Wind is now called Orsted U.S. Offshore Wind.

The South Fork Wind Farm was originally proposed as a 90-megawatt installation; Orsted U.S. Offshore Wind officials say now that improvements in turbine technology will allow generation of up to 130 megawatts. According to the company’s timeline, it could be operational in late 2022.

On eastern Long Island, Deepwater identified the oceanfront end of Beach Lane in Wainscott as the preferred site to land the wind farm’s transmission cable. From there, the cable would run underground to the Long Island Power Authority substation in East Hampton.

Archaeological test pits are to be excavated by hand to depths of up to 4 feet and approximately 18 inches in diameter, at 50 to 100-foot intervals. The pits are to be filled upon completion. The work is planned along Beach Lane, Wainscott Main Street, Sayre’s Path, Wainscott Stone Road, and Wainscott Northwest Road, where it will continue to the intersection with the Long Island Rail Road right of way. Soil samples will come from two test borings and there will be a drainage test within the town-owned right of way at Beach Lane.

Read the full story at The East Hampton Star

MASSACHUSETTS: Vineyard Wind can seek local permits for cable

February 7, 2019 — Vineyard Wind can now move forward with regional and local permitting for its planned offshore wind farm after receiving a critical certificate from state environmental officials, and regulators on the Cape and Islands say they are ready.

“We’ve looked at cables before,” said Paul Foley, the development of regional impact coordinator with the Martha’s Vineyard Commission.

The commission will hold its first public hearing Feb. 21 on Vineyard Wind’s cable-laying plans after receiving a referral from the Edgartown Conservation Commission. The hearing is only on the cables but Foley said he expects community members to be curious about the entire project, which could be the first industrial scale offshore wind farm in the country.

As planned, the two undersea cables would start at an 84-turbine wind farm 15 miles south of the Vineyard and then run north between the Vineyard and Nantucket, in Muskeget Channel, to William H. Covell Memorial Beach in Barnstable, which is the company’s first choice for landfall. The cables would then run underground for about five miles to a new substation off Independence Drive, where they will connect to an existing substation that leads to the regional electricity grid.

Read the full story from the Cape Cod Times at the New Bedford Standard-Times