Saving Seafood

Right whale defenders question energy industry donations

April 27, 2022 — A group opposing wind projects off the coast of Massachusetts released a report Tuesday that documents contributions from wind energy developers to environmental groups in the state, donations that the authors of the report say cast questions on the ability of groups to analyze the impacts that wind projects have on the endangered North Atlantic Right Whale.

The report, released by the Save Right Whales Coalition, catalogs $4.2 million between wind developers like Vineyard Wind, Bay State Wind, and Orsted to environmental groups in Massachusetts such as the Environmental League of Massachusetts, New England Aquarium, and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute.

The flow of money, coalition member Lisa Linowes said, raised a “red flag” for potential conflicts of interest when it comes to investigating the environmental impacts of offshore wind development in places where the North Atlantic Right Whale resides. The whale is one of the most endangered large whale species in the world, according to NOAA Fisheries.

“The public has come to trust the word of these organizations, that when they say wind turbines can be safely sited within and near the waters where the right whale lives, breeds, feeds, that they will be safe,” Linowes said. “Based on their public statements and based on the donations … we should question the priorities of these organizations.”

The Save Right Whales Coalition study says the New England Aquarium received a “donation pledge” of $250,000 in 2018 from Bay State Wind, a joint venture between Orsted and Eversource during the 2019 procurement process for offshore wind energy, an undisclosed amount from Vineyard Wind in 2019, and an undisclosed amount in 2020 from Equinor, a petroleum company with offshore wind ventures.

Read the full story at WHDH

Paul Simon Galtsoff: Oyster Researcher and Woods Hole Lab Advocate

May 20, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries: 

Born in 1887 in Moscow, Russia, Paul Simon Galtsoff was trained at the Imperial Moscow University. He graduated in 1910 with a degree in zoology and chemistry and married Eugenia Troussoff in Moscow in 1911. He soon became one of Russia’s leading scientists. As unrest took hold in the country, he joined the Imperial Russian Army in 1914. The couple moved to Sevastopol where, at age 27, he became the director of the Marine Biological Station, a branch of the Imperial Academy of Science.

Coming to the United States

As the Bolshevik Revolution spread, Paul and Eugenia were forced to leave Sevastopol during “The Great Exodus” November 13-16, 1920 with just hours to spare. Landing in the Port of New York on January 20, 1921, he found that marine research was in its infancy in the United States. With extensive experience in zoology, he eventually found a temporary position with the Bureau of Fisheries. He surveyed the Mississippi River for marine life after construction of a dam in Iowa. Two years later he was appointed to the Woods Hole Lab to serve as naturalist aboard the research vessel Albatross.  

Eugenia had pursued undergraduate and graduate studies in Russia in biology and zoology. After the couple emigrated to the United States, she worked at George Washington University as a histology assistant for many years. Paul Galtsoff pursued graduate studies at Columbia University. He earned a doctoral degree in biology in 1925 while still working at the Woods Hole Lab.

Read the full release here

Bay State Wind Announces Plans For Grants to Protect New England Fisheries, Whales

April 12, 2018 — SEAFOOD NEWS — Bay State Wind, an offshore wind developer, announced on Tuesday that they plan on providing more than $2 million in grants for research and programs to protect New England’s fisheries and whale populations.

The grants would be spread out amongst different organizations. The developer plans to offer $1 million for a Bay State Wind Marine Science Grant Program for directed fisheries resources research on the Bay State Wind lease area. Woods Hole Oceanography Institute, which has been working on a ropeless fishing concept to protect whales, would receive a $500,000 multi-year grant to use for the development of advanced whale detection systems. The New England Aquarium Right Whale Research Project and the Lobster Foundation of Massachusetts would each receive $250,000 to prevent gear entanglement of the North Atlantic Right Whale. Bay State Wind also plans on offering grants to Whale Alert Project, Center for Coastal Studies and the National Ocean Science Bowl/ Blue Lobster Bowl.

“These grants demonstrate Bay State Wind’s commitment to environmental responsibility,” Bay State Wind environmental manager and whale biologist Laura Morse said in a press release. “We are taking steps to strengthen the population of the North Atlantic Right Whale, which is weakened by boat strikes and fishing gear entanglements. In addition, Bay State Wind will address two of the main threats to marine life – rising ocean temperatures and ocean acidification – with the clean energy that is wind farms will produce.”

Bay State Wind is currently in the running to supply offshore wind power to Massachusetts, a hot topic for the Massachusetts fishing industry. Just this week a group of fishing industry officials set a letter to Governor Charlie Baker suggesting changes to “make offshore wind more palatable.” The group suggested that the state’s first offshore windfarm be “modest in size and scope” so that the impacts on commercial fishing can be studied.

Bay State Wind, which is a joint venture between Ørsted, the offshore wind global leader, and Eversource, a New England transmission builder, released a statement reaffirming their commitment to the fishing industry in Massachusetts: “We are the only project that has hired a marine biologist to ensure that we protect marine species and do not interfere with migration patterns, and we will continue to work closely with the fighting industry in the South Coast to minimize disruption and to preserve fish stocks for future generations.”

This story originally appeared on Seafood News, it is republished with permission.