June 17, 2024 — Gulf of Maine fishermen are feeling stressed as the plan for hundreds of offshore wind turbines continues to move forward. Eight leases will be held in the large area that has been fished for many generations off the New England coast. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) recently released the eight proposed areas that will be auctioned this fall.
If the area gets totally developed, it would be nearly 1 million acres. The project addresses large-scale environmental concerns regarding the power and uncertainty of fish species in the area. According to Global Seafood, while the process of developing widely supported offshore wind farms in the Gulf of Maine has been years in the making- and another decade could pass before any floating wind turbines become operational- simply entering the lease auction phase has some commercial fishermen fearing the worst.
Jerry Leeman, a former commercial fisherman and the CEO of the New England Fishermen Stewardship Association (NEFSA), told Global Seafood, “There’s not enough data to support the areas that have been chosen for wind development. As now laid out, the plan could take away valuable fishing grounds from New England’s fishing fleet, post navigational hazards, and create new environmental threats.”