Saving Seafood

News for the Mid Atlantic Region

NEW JERSEY: Attentive Energy offshore wind project seeks 1-year delay in $37.3M payments mandated by state

March 28, 2025 — Another proposed offshore wind farm in New Jersey is hitting some turbulence.

Attentive Energy is asking the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities to grant it a one-year delay in making $37.3 million worth of payments the state mandated as part of its preliminary approval for the project.

It has preliminary approval for a wind farm 42 miles off Seaside Heights that would power more than 650,000 homes.

The board was scheduled to consider the request during a meeting last week but removed it from the agenda shortly before the meeting began without listing a reason for the move.

A board spokeswoman said Thursday it is unclear when the request will be considered. Its next meeting is April 23.

Read the full article at The Press of Atlantic City

New Dam Removal Project Reinvigorates Effort to Open the Raritan River for Migratory Fish

March 24, 2025 — If NOAA Marine Habitat Restoration Specialist Carl Alderson had his way, the story of dam removals on New Jersey’s Raritan River would be an epic film—Shad: The Movie.

Opening shot: Silvery fish throw themselves against a dam, unable to reach the other side. Battered and bloody, they try again, only to be swept downstream.

Voiceover: “In a world of uncertainty, scientists race against time to free the 1,110-square-mile Raritan River watershed from the bondage of obsolete dams to save a species. Will science and restoration be the heroes fish need to reach their ancient spawning grounds?”

Alderson’s film may be just an idea for now, but the story of the restoration of the Raritan River and its native migratory fish species is worth telling. The Raritan River Fish Passage Initiative, the brainchild of Alderson and other NOAA partners, has led to the removal of six dams. There are plans to remove dams or improve fish passage at nine other sites throughout the watershed.

This past fall, NOAA’s Office of Habitat Conservation awarded the Raritan Headwaters Association $2.3 million through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to remove the Rockafellows Mill Dam on the South Branch of the Raritan. This represents NOAA’s most significant investment in the watershed so far. Matching funds from the Cornell Dubilier Superfund settlement will also support this important project.

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries 

Trump’s EPA Withdraws Permit from Proposed NJ Offshore Wind Farm

March 18, 2025 — Federal officials were successful in withdrawing for what is believed to be the first time an environmental permit granted by the Biden administration for an offshore wind farm. New Jersey’s proposed Atlantic Shores offshore wind farm project had been singled out by Donald Trump in his opposition to the industry and this latest development adds another hurdle to an already troubled project and potentially the industry.

Atlantic Shores which was proposed as a joint venture between Shell and EDF Renewables received its federal permitting including approval of its Construction and Operations Plan by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management in October 2024. The plan calls for a two-phase project with a total capacity of 2.8 GW. The first phase, which would be in the southern part of the state near Atlantic City has consistently been reported to be in position to become New Jersey’s first offshore wind farm.

Donald Trump singled out the project during the 2024 presidential campaign and in February 2025 said he hoped the New Jersey project would be “dead and gone.” Among the presidential executive orders were steps to review the industry and its impact on the environment.

Read the full article at The Maritime Executive

EPA Halts Atlantic Shores Wind Farm Construction as Trump Administration Reviews Projects

March 18, 2025 — The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has suspended permits for the Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind Project off New Jersey’s coast following a January 2025 Presidential directive that ordered an immediate halt to offshore wind development.

The Environmental Appeals Board (EAB) granted EPA Region 2’s request to remand permits for the project, which had previously received approval to construct up to 200 wind turbines capable of generating 2,800 megawatts of power – enough electricity to power one million homes.

The suspension comes amid broader industry challenges, including Shell’s recent withdrawal from the project with a $996 million impairment and the cancellation of New Jersey’s fourth offshore wind solicitation.

Read the full article at gCaptian 

NEW JERSEY: Feds pull environmental permit from New Jersey offshore wind project

March 17, 2025 — Federal officials pulled a permit from Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind on Friday in a move that could spell more delays and setbacks for New Jersey’s first offshore wind energy facility.

Environmental Appeals Court Judge Mary Kay Lynch ruled Friday to remand a Clean Air Act permit issued last September to Atlantic Shores back to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

EPA officials filed a motion in February to have the court remand the permit to the agency, in order to review the wind energy project’s environmental impacts. The action came in response to President Donald Trump’s January memorandum to withdraw all of the outer continental shelf from offshore wind leases for further review.

Read the full article at Asbury Park Press

VIRGINIA: $223M offshore wind staging area now complete at Portsmouth Marine Terminal

March 14, 2025 — The Virginia Port Authority announced this week that workers have wrapped up a hub for offshore wind equipment at the Portsmouth Marine Terminal.

Skanska began construction in 2022, working to redevelop 72 acres and 1,500 feet of an existing wharf.

“The project presented some challenges,” Stephen Edwards, CEO of the Port Authority, said in a statement Thursday. “But there was a lot of collaboration between the port and Skanska teams that yielded a project, an outcome, that was delivered on-time and on-budget.”

The $223 million project provides capacity for Dominion Energy to gather, store and transfer massive turbines and foundations for its 176-turbine wind farm about 27 miles off the Virginia Beach coast. The turbines are expected to generate 2.6 gigawatts of renewable electricity.

The Port Authority received a $20 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation for the area under the Biden administration.

In a joint statement at the time, Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine said the funding “will go a long way toward establishing Virginia as a hub for offshore wind development along the East Coast.”

Read the full article at WHRO

Striped bass restrictions head to Supreme Court

March 11, 2025 — A coalition of Maryland fishing associations and charter boat operators have escalated their legal battle against new striped bass fishing restrictions, filing an emergency petition with the U.S. Supreme Court seeking to block the regulations.

Capt. Robert Newberry, chairman of Delmarva Fisheries Association stated, “We will take this case to the highest court until this matter is resolved — it is far from over.”

The Delmarva Fisheries Association and the Maryland Charter Boat Association, along with two individual commercial fishermen, argue that the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s recent measures impose “drastic, unwarranted, and illegal limitations” on striped bass fishing in the Chesapeake Bay and along the Atlantic coast. The petition, filed March 4, claims the restrictions violate the U.S. Constitution and could jeopardize the livelihoods of many small businesses.

Read the full article at Southern Maryland News

DELAWARE: Ørsted follows through with $5.2M land deal in Sussex

February 26, 2025 — Despite withdrawing plans for its Skipjack projects off of the coast of Delaware last year, Ørsted recently purchased a 64-acre property near Harbeson for $5.2 million.

The purchase, made under the business name Skipjack Offshore Energy, LLC., is the result of an agreement struck by the Danish wind turbine developer several years ago as conversations were swirling about the development of a wind farm in the area.

Ørsted Spokesperson Maddy Cronin confirmed the purchase and told the Delaware Business Times in an email, “This transaction is tied to an agreement struck in October 2023, prior to Ørsted’s decision to reposition the project. Pursuant to that October 2023 agreement, the transaction was finalized this month. Any future plans for the property would be subject to federal and local permits.”

Read the full article at Delaware Business Times 

EDF books $940 million loss on Atlantic Shores wind project

February 25, 2025 — French energy giant EDF announced it has written down $940 million in the value of its stake in the Atlantic Shores wind energy project off New Jersey, after its erstwhile partner Shell pulled out of its $1 billion investment in January.

With the new Trump administration’s hostility to offshore wind projects, Shell’s continuing pivot away from renewable projects to its legacy oil business, was a major blow to the planned 1,510-megawatt turbine array off Long Beach Island and Brigantine, N.J.

Soon after Shell’s decision, the New Jersey state Board of Public Utilities decided not to proceed with a new wind power solicitation that would have allowed Atlantic Shores to submit an updated bid.

“There have been significant evolutions in US offshore policy and that led us to reexamine our activities… and take a position that preserves the company and its future development,” EDF chief executive Luc Remont said in a Friday conference call with journalists, Agence France-Presse reported.

Read the full article at WorkBoat

DELAWARE: Ørsted buys 64 acres of land near Harbeson for $5.2 million

February 24, 2025 — Under the name Skipjack Offshore Energy LLC, Danish-based power company Ørsted has purchased a 64-acre piece of property near Harbeson for $5.2 million.

Located at the intersection of Walker and Diamond Farm roads, the piece of property encompasses the open field from Diamond Farm Road to the Anthem development. According to Sussex County sales records the sale was finalized Jan. 31.

Ørsted’s offshore wind competitor US Wind has been in the news recently as that company makes its way through the federal, state and county approval process, but this is the first time there’s been an Ørsted development locally in more than a year.

Ørsted has the development rights for an offshore wind farm on two federal lease sites in federal ocean waters off the coast of Delaware. Combined, the contiguous sites stretch from Rehoboth Beach south to Bethany Beach, and if fully built out, could produce 966 megawatts.

In January 2024, Ørsted announced it was still moving forward with development plans for the project, but withdrawing from a deal with the Maryland Public Service Commission to find better terms.

Read the full article at the Cape Gazette