Saving Seafood

MASSACHUSETTES: Massachusetts fishermen say feds are hypocritical in Gulf of Maine wind energy designation

March 25, 2024 — A move to designate two million acres in the Gulf of Maine as a hub for wind energy is snagging a sharp hook from Massachusetts fishermen who say the development overlooks risks to the North Atlantic right whale.

A handful of Bay State fishermen advocacy groups are teaming with counterparts from across New England in criticizing the Biden administration’s plans to industrialize the area off the coasts of Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine.

The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management finalized the designation earlier this month, an action it says looks to support President Biden’s clean energy goals.

The area, which ranges from 23 to 92 miles off the coasts of the three states, has the potential to support generation of 32 gigawatts of clean energy, the bureau said. That amount of energy surpasses “current state goals for offshore wind energy in the Gulf of Maine: 10 GW for Massachusetts and 3 GW for Maine,” BOEM said.

Specifically, industrialization could lead to the deployment of 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy capacity by 2030 and 15 gigawatts of floating offshore wind energy capacity by 2035, according to the feds.

Local, state and federal officials over the years have mandated fishermen to follow a growing number of protocols to preserve the endangered right whales — in some cases, barring them from taking to certain waters.

Read the full article at the Boston Herald

MAINE: Maine fishermen caught more fish in 2023, thanks to a hunger relief program and COVID funds

March 25, 2024 — Maine fishermen bucked yearslong, industrywide trends last year and caught more fish, a development regulators and industry members said shows the impact of COVID-19 relief funds.

Maine has long been a leader in catching groundfish, which are bottom-dwelling species of fish such as cod and flounder that are often used in seafood staples such as fish and chips. The New England groundfishing industry has been in decline for decades due in part to past overfishing of key species and difficulty rebuilding those stocks.

But Maine’s groundfishermen had a stronger year than most in 2023, according to state data released earlier this month. The catch of haddock more than doubled to more than 500,000 pounds (226,796 kilograms), and the catches of Atlantic cod, witch flounder and Atlantic halibut were all up significantly.

Read the full article at the Associated Press

MAINE: $15 Million Secured For Coastal Communities in Maine Damaged By Recent Storms

March 20, 2024 — U.S. Senator Susan Collins announced this week that she has secured $15 million dollars to help coastal communities in Maine rebuild, following infrastructure damage caused by recent storms.

The Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations bill includes $10 million through the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, which will go towards repairing and renovating infrastructure affected by storms that hit the coast in December 2023 and January of this year. The legislation also includes $5 million to create a new program at the Economic Development Administration (EDA) for working waterfronts.

“Maine’s working waterfronts are the economic engine of our coastal communities, but recent damaging weather events have posed significant challenges to their resilience and underscored the urgent need for federal assistance,” said Senator Collins. “This investment aims to revitalize working waterfronts across the country, allowing communities like Harpswell to recover from severe storm damage whose financial toll exceeds the capacity of local government to meet.”

Read the full article at Seafoodnews.com

More ocean space for offshore wind

March 20, 2024 — Opening a new frontier in the region’s offshore wind power push, the federal government on Friday finalized its designation of a two million-acre wind energy area off the coasts of Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said the designated Gulf of Maine area would support President Joe Biden’s goals of deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy capacity by 2030 and 15 gigawatts of floating offshore wind energy capacity by 2035.

The area, which ranges from 23 to 92 miles off the coasts of the three states, has the potential to support generation of 32 gigawatts of clean energy, the bureau said. That amount of energy surpasses “current state goals for offshore wind energy in the Gulf of Maine: 10 GW for Massachusetts and 3 GW for Maine,” BOEM said.

Read the full article at the New Bedford Light

Next BOEM studies will examine Gulf of Maine, NJ wind conflicts

March 19, 2024 — The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management on March 18 opened two new environmental assessments of offshore wind power: one for the agency’s proposed Gulf of Maine wind energy areas, the other for the Atlantic Shores project off New Jersey.

Both proposals are hotly contested by ocean user groups, but supported by Northeast state political leaders along with the Biden administration. The processes opened March 18 with a “notice of intent” in the Federal Register, and come as the budding U.S. offshore wind industry remains under financial and supply-chain setbacks.

The Gulf of Maine wind energy area includes around 2 million acres off Maine, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, from 23 mile to 92 miles offshore, according to BOEM. The agency says that is an 80 percent reduction from a much broader area initially examined by BOEM, and a further 43 percent down from an early draft plan.

BOEM officials say their process sought to avoid lobster and other fishing areas and habitats. In its own August 2023 summary report, the New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association said BOEM should have conducted an environmental review before outlining wind energy areas, and warned of threats to lobster, haddock and endangered right whales.

In a joint statement Tuesday with 16 other New England fishing groups, NEFSA called BOEM’s planning “the culmination of a rushed development process that is poorly informed on economic, scientific, environmental and cultural issues of paramount importance. Without adequate consideration of these issues, leasing in BOEM’s WEA designation should not be pursued.”

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Feds announce areas where offshore wind can go in Gulf of Maine

March 18, 2024 — Federal regulators have made a final designation of roughly 2 million acres in the Gulf of Maine where offshore wind turbines can be deployed to help provide power to New England.

The boundary set by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management does not include any part of the federal lobster management area 1, where the vast majority of lobster fishing occurs in the gulf. That fishing area extends from the edge of state waters, about three miles offshore, to about 40 miles from shore.

Some of the closest points in Maine to the wind energy area are the islands of Matinicus, Criehaven and Monhegan: its uppermost section is roughly 40 miles south of them. The closest mainland community is Port Clyde, about 50 miles away.

The oddly-shaped wind zone then extends to the southwest, ending about 23 miles due east of Cape Cod. Its most remote sections are about 90 miles from the mainlands of Maine and Massachusetts.

The selection was applauded by the Maine Lobstermen’s Association, even though the group remains more broadly opposed to any wind power development in the Gulf of Maine. In a statement, the group said that it appreciates that the zone won’t interfere with the lobster fishing grounds, but that it remains “steadfast” in its larger opposition.

“There are still too many unanswered questions about the impacts of offshore wind on the marine environment, commercial fishermen and our fishing heritage,” the association said.

Read the full article at Bangor Daily News

BOEM Advancing Offshore Wind Energy for New Jersey and Gulf of Maine

March 18, 2024 — The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management mapped out its next two steps in the ongoing efforts to implement the United States’ offshore wind energy program. A day after the U.S. marked the completion of its first large offshore wind farm, the agency overseeing the development process reports it is beginning the environmental review for the 1.5 GW Atlantic Shores North wind farm off New Jersey while the same time has completed the designation of a massive two-million-acre Wind Energy Area in the Gulf of Maine.

“BOEM is continuing to implement the Biden-Harris administration’s clean energy agenda, while maintaining a careful approach to prevent, reduce, and address any adverse effects on ocean users and the marine ecosystem,” said BOEM Director Elizabeth Klein. “As an integral part of our environmental assessments, we will continue to actively solicit feedback from Tribes; federal, state, and local government partners; the fishing community; and the public to help guide our actions.”

The launching of the effort to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Construction and Operation Plan for the Atlantic Shores project marks the twelfth wind energy COP environmental review they have initiated. It is another step toward the goal of 30 GW of offshore wind energy capacity in the U.S. by 2030.

Read the full article at The Maritime Executive

Interior cuts Gulf of Maine offshore wind area

March 18, 2024 — The Interior Department will not sell offshore wind rights in the Gulf of Maine’s prime lobster area in an upcoming auction, according to a final plan released Friday on where to advance wind energy in the north Atlantic Ocean.

Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said it has designated roughly 2 million acres in the Gulf of Maine for potential wind energy, enough to support 32 gigawatts of renewable electricity. The area is 40 percent smaller than a draft plan BOEM released last year and avoids habitat for the endangered North American right whale.

The move is a significant step toward holding the first auction in those waters later this year and could boost floating wind technology, an emerging field needed for deep waters. The final wind energy area lies off the coasts of Maine, Massachusetts and New Hampshire, ranging from 23 to 92 miles from the coastline.

Read the full article at E&E News

MAINE: Maine leaders praise decision protecting vital lobstering territory from wind development

March 18, 2024 — Gov. Janet Mills and state congressional leaders on Friday praised a decision by a federal agency to exclude an important lobster fishing ground from the area in the Gulf of Maine that will be leased for offshore wind development.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) on Friday released its final designated Wind Energy Area for the Gulf of Maine, which the agency said could ultimately support the generation of 32 gigawatts of clean energy.

The area excludes the entirety of Lobster Management Area 1, which is a crucial fishing ground for Maine’s lobster industry. That decision comes after Mills, Sens. Angus King and Susan Collins, and Reps. Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden repeatedly asked last year for that fishing ground to be excluded from the project.

“We appreciate that the Bureau has heeded our concerns and the majority of the concerns of Maine’s fishing communities in its final designation of Wind Energy Areas for the Gulf of Maine,” Mills, King, Collins and Pingree said in a statement. “This decision preserves vital fishing grounds and seeks to minimize potential environmental and ecological impacts to the Gulf of Maine.”

Read the full article at Rhode Island Current

Feds pick New England’s offshore wind development area, drawing cheers and questions alike

March 15, 2024 — The federal government on Friday designated a large area off the New England coast for offshore wind production development, setting the stage for a possible lease sale within the Gulf of Maine.

The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said in a statement that the New England zone, which renewable energy advocates have identified as crucial for the growth of wind power, “avoids important areas for lobster fishing, North Atlantic right whale habitat, and other important fishing areas and habitats.”

Democratic Maine Gov. Janet Mills, and three Maine lawmakers — Republican Sen. Susan Collins, independent Sen. Angus King and Democratic Rep. Chellie Pingree — also issued a joint statement saying the designated area “preserves vital fishing grounds and seeks to minimize potential environmental and ecological impacts to the Gulf of Maine.”

Read the full article at the Associated Press