Saving Seafood

VIRGINIA: The Virginia General Assembly has passed HB 928, a bill designed to protect commercial fishermen and their boats from harassment at sea.

March 18, 2024 — The Virginia General Assembly has passed HB 928, a bill designed to protect commercial fishermen and their boats from harassment at sea.

The measure passed 38-1 by the state Senate and 99-0 in the lower House, and was signed on by legislative leaders in early March. Gov. Glenn Youngkin is expected to sign it into law, with a deadline for his action by April 8.

The bill, sponsored by Delegate Hillary Pugh Kent of the state’s 67th District on Virginia’s Northern Neck, increases penalties for harassing watermen to a Class I misdemeanor which is confinement in jail for not more than twelve months and a fine of not more than $2,500, either or both.

The Class 1 misdemeanor is for any person who knowingly and intentionally interferes with or impedes the operation of commercial fishing activity of a commercial fishing vessel within the territorial waters of the Commonwealth.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Virginia urges caution to avoid wind power conflicts with fishing, shipping industries

July 6, 2022 — Virginia state officials cautioned the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management that its proposed opening of 4 million acres off the Mid-Atlantic coast for wind energy development must include early steps to avoid conflicts with commercial fishing and navigation to the state’s ports.

Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s top cabinet officials sent a June 27 letter to BOEM stating support for wind power, but urging that planning “balance the competing interests of all stakeholders.”

The letter notes a potential for “millions of dollars of negative impact to Virginia’s commercial fishing industries.”

“While supportive of the growth of the offshore wind industry and the opportunities for the commonwealth to provide critical support to the offshore wind industry supply chain and become a key hub for future development, we must ensure any future leasing areas do not detrimentally impact or restrict maritime commerce or commercial navigation,” the letter states.

Virginia is heavily invested in offshore wind with a goal of making the Norfolk and Hampton Roads ports a major hub for the U.S. wind industry. Under former Democratic governor Ralph Northam the state committed to offshore wind in its future energy planning.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

VIRGINIA: Youngkin administration warns feds new wind areas could hurt commercial fisheries

July 1, 2022 — Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration told federal officials that large areas of ocean off Virginia being considered as potential offshore wind sites could cause “millions of dollars of negative impact to Virginia’s commercial fishing industries.”

“While supportive of the growth of the offshore wind industry and the opportunities for the commonwealth to provide critical support to the offshore wind industry supply chain and become a key hub for future development, we must ensure any future leasing areas do not detrimentally impact or restrict maritime commerce or commercial navigation,” wrote officials in a June 27 letter to the Bureau of Energy Ocean Management.

The letter was signed by Acting Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources, Secretary of Commerce and Trade Caren Merrick, Secretary of Transportation W. Sheppard Miller, Secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs Craig Crenshaw and Secretary of Labor Bryan Slater.

The administration’s comments came in response to a BOEM proposal for a 4 million acre Central Atlantic call area where the federal government could auction off lease areas to offshore wind developers. The public comment period on the draft call area closed Tuesday.

The Central Atlantic proposal is far larger than the expansion initially envisioned by former Gov. Ralph Northam. In a November 2020 letter to then-Acting Director Walter Cruickshank, Northam formally requested that the federal agency auction off “two additional 100,000-acre wind lease areas off the coast of Virginia.” The state also sent the federal government two potential scenarios for additional lease areas near the existing ones held by Dominion Energy and the state’s energy agency. One of the proposals was identified as having “the least conflict possible with shipping, fishing or marine mammals,” and the other had “minimal conflicts with military operations and shipping” but some conflicts with fisheries.

Read the full story at the Virginia Mercury