August 9th, 2019 — New York state energy officials announced Thursday more than $2 million has been allocated for new studies on how offshore wind energy development will affect fisheries and wildlife.
The projects include joint efforts with the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance, a coalition of East Coast fishing and seafood industry groups that have been advocating for the state and federal governments to move more cautiously on proposals for massive turbine arrays in Northeast and Mid-Atlantic waters.
The next studies continue offshore environmental surveys begun in 2017 by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, including digital aerial surveys of birds, marine mammals, sharks and fish shoals that concluded in spring 2019 after collecting more than 3.5 million images across the New York Bight.
NYSERDA originally set out with 20 studies of environmental, social, economic and regulatory issues with building offshore wind power in one of the nation’s busiest seaways. The new studies will build on that with more environmental, maritime and social issues to analyze.