June 26, 2012 – A group of Martha's Vineyard fishermen on Tuesday dropped a lawsuit aimed at derailing the planned Cape Wind offshore wind farm, saying they will instead work with the developers on ways to co-exist.
The fishermen sued the U.S. Department of the Interior in 2010 after it approved the 130-turbine project and granted it a federal lease for waters in Nantucket Sound.
Fishermen argued the project would make navigation more risky, prohibitively increase their costs and could even completely kick them out of the 25-square mile wind farm site.
On Tuesday, an attorney for the fishermen said it's still not clear how the various problems can be solved, but it became obvious that collaborating with Cape Wind would be more productive than lengthy litigation.
"The idea is to work together to figure out how to maintain fishing opportunities," said David Frulla, attorney for the Martha's Vineyard/Dukes County Fishermen's Association. "The concern is that you could end up in a never-ending grind of litigation."
Cape Wind officials say the settlement with the fishermen made sense because they share a goal of sustainable oceans. Spokesman Mark Rodgers added that offshore turbines can even benefit fishermen, because they've shown to form a sort of artificial reef that attracts marine life.
Read the full story by Jay Lindsay of the Associated Press at the Boston Globe.