Saving Seafood

News for the Mid Atlantic Region

US Wind Wins Final Approval for Offshore Wind Project

December 4, 2024 — The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has issued its final approval of US Wind’s construction of a wind project off the coast of Delmarva.

According to US Wind, BOEM issued the permit for the Construction and Operations Plan, the final step in the company’s ongoing federal permitting application Tuesday, December 3.

The approved project includes the construction and operation of up to 114 wind turbine generators, up to four offshore substation platforms, a meteorological tower, and offshore export cable corridors. The project could also see wind power cables coming ashore under 3Rs Beach in Delaware.

The Town of Ocean City, along with multiple co-plaintiffs, filed a lawsuit in October challenging BOEM’s approval process of US Wind’s proposed project.

Read the full story at WBOC

VIMS scientists critique research linking osprey declines to menhaden industry

November 29, 2024 — There is a long-running battle in Virginia over how to manage the menhaden fishery – and the lack of data about the species continues to be front and center.

Research that touches on menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay has long been contentious, because it helps inform how officials choose to regulate the controversial fishery.

The latest disagreement is playing out in scientific literature. Three scientists at William & Mary’s Virginia Institute of Marine Science, which conducts research for state regulators, recently published a formal critique of a study linking declines in the local osprey population to the menhaden industry.

The study they critiqued came from another arm of William & Mary: the Center for Conservation Biology, which studies birds.

The center has monitored ospreys for years. Director Bryan Watts said they’ve now seen the birds struggling to reproduce for more than a decade.

His team published a study earlier this year recording the lowest number of osprey chicks since the 1970s. They said the baby birds are dying of starvation, and posit that’s because there aren’t enough menhaden for them to eat.

Read the full article at WHRO

NEW JERSEY: Watchdog group calls for greater transparency in turbines used for New Jersey wind farm

November 27, 2024 — A New Jersey shore community is calling on state regulators and an offshore wind company to conduct a transparent and detailed safety analysis on the turbines selected for the Atlantic Shores South Project.

Save Long Beach Island, a group dedicated to preserving the New Jersey shoreline, sent two invitations to the developers of the Atlantic Shores South Project to participate in a panel discussion on the proposed 200 wind turbines plotted for 8.7 miles offshore. Both requests were ignored.

Read the full article at Washington Examiner

MARYLAND: Maryland gives go-ahead to permit allowing offshore wind farm to move forward

November 21, 2024 — The Board of Public Works approved a permit Wednesday needed to begin an offshore windmill project in the Delmarva Peninsula, despite objections from Ocean City residents worried about the environmental impact on local wetlands.

The permit, requested by Baltimore wind company US Wind, did not deal with the company’s proposal to build a 114-turbine wind farm 8 miles offshore in the Atlantic Ocean. Wednesday’s permit was to expand a 353-foot-long pier in West Ocean City that will perform a supporting role in the company’s plan to build offshore wind turbines and bring renewable energy to Maryland.

That plan for the Sinepuxent Bay pier, which is currently used by local fishers, sparked nearly two hours of testimony Wednesday from supporters and opponents of the proposal, some of them delivering passionate pleas. Ultimately, the three-member board voted unanimously to approve.

Maryland Environment Secretary Serena McIlwain argued in favor of the proposal, saying it had passed department review and should be approved.

Read the full article at the Capital News Service 

NEW JERSEY: Sweden Blocks Offshore Wind Over Radar Interference; Is NJ Next?

November 21, 2024 — While President-elect Donald Trump has promised to do away with offshore wind, it’s unknown whether his incoming administration will follow Sweden’s lead of rejecting certain projects due to concerns over radar interference and its impact on national security.

“That was really interesting, because Sweden has been a strong proponent of these turbines,” Bob Stern, president and co-founder of Save LBI, said of reports that Sweden had blocked more than a dozen offshore wind projects in the Baltic Sea. “They apparently realized the number of turbines were going to interfere with their military radars onshore. They’re a little concerned now about Russia, and they did not want to tolerate an impairment of their defense capability.”

His comments came during the Nov. 12 Beach Haven Borough Council meeting, where he discussed litigation related to Atlantic Shores as well as a number of initiatives related to offshore wind that might be undertaken by the second Trump administration.

“That’s one of the issues connected to this (Atlantic Shores) project because we have military radars in Gibbsboro, N.J.,” Stern said, explaining radar is used to protect against unwanted things in the ocean and would be impacted by offshore wind turbines. “There have been rumblings from our Department of Defense about this project and other projects. We’ve not been able to really get a lot of information about that, maybe because some of it is classified. But I’m pretty sure our defense department has had some issues with this (radar interference), as well.”

Read the full article at The Sand Paper

For 2nd year, Chesapeake Bay’s striped bass population is down: Regulators will decide if more rules are needed

November 18, 2024 — Striped bass populations in the lower Chesapeake Bay are not doing well, marking the second year in a row for below-average numbers in Virginia waters.

According to a 2024 survey from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, which monitors the success of young bass in the lower Chesapeake Bay, this year was “significantly lower” than the historical average. In Maryland, the Department of Natural Resources reported it saw the sixth consecutive year that young striped bass fell far below the long-term average.

During the Virginia survey, researchers usually get about 7.77 fish per haul, but the latest count had only about 3.43.

Read the full article at phys.org

NEW YORK: There May Be Hope Yet for Peconic Scallops

November 15, 2024 — Over the past five-plus years, Peconic Bay scallops have suffered mass die-offs blamed on an infectious parasite, but researchers at the Cornell Cooperate Extension have found a source of scientifically informed hope: genetic diversity.

Harrison Tobi, an aquaculture educator with the extension’s Bay Scallop Restoration Program, put it plainly for nonscientists: “Basically, they’re inbred in the Peconic.”

To understand the findings, Mr. Tobi discussed when the parasite was first identified in Argopecten irradians, or Peconic Bay scallops, in 2019: The “fishery collapsed by almost 99 percent,” resulting in losses of over $1 million annually since then.

“First off, it’s what we call a novel parasite, which means it was literally never discovered before,” Mr. Tobi said at the Southold laboratory. “Its genetics are brand-new to the scientific world.”

After the collapse, the Cornell Cooperative laboratory sent samples to Stony Brook University’s marine animal disease laboratory, led by Bassem Allam. “That is when we first discovered the parasite,” Mr. Tobi said.

There is no way to know how long it might have been present. “It’s like Schrodinger’s cat: We can’t really say it was or it wasn’t there because we didn’t test for it,” he said. Most likely, it had been present for some time, as it was also found in Maine, Massachusetts, and New Jersey.

Read the full article at The East Hampton Star

NEW JERSEY: Save LBI Stays Course Despite Trump’s Promise to Kill Offshore Wind

November 14, 2024 — While President-elect Donald Trump is expected to make sweeping changes to national energy policy, including doing away with offshore wind on Day 1 of his new term, a local grassroots organization isn’t letting that news get in its way of fighting the construction of what is poised to be the country’s largest wind farm some 9 miles off the coast of Long Beach Island.

“We will be filing major lawsuits by the end of the month to invalidate at least some of those prior federal approvals,” Bob Stern, president and cofounder of Save LBI, said just days after voters returned Trump to office for a second term. “In addition, we will be seeking to have the lease area itself canceled so that new projects will not be resurrected in the future.”

Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind calls for 200 turbines in a lease zone that covers about 102,124 acres and is approximately 8.7 miles off LBI at its closest point. Projects 1 and 2 include roughly 10 offshore wind substations with subsea transmission cables that could make landfall in Atlantic City to the south and Sea Girt in the north.

“You’ll see these things all over the place. They destroy everything. They’re horrible and the most expensive energy there is. They ruin the environment,” Trump told supporters at his May rally in Wildwood, about an hour south of the Island. “They kill the birds. They kill the whales.”

Read the full article at The Sand Paper

MARYLAND: Low spawning success documented again for striped bass

November 13, 2024 — The Maryland Department of Natural Resources announced results of this year’s juvenile striped bass survey, which tracks the reproductive success of Maryland’s state fish in the Chesapeake Bay. The 2024 young-of-year index is 2.0, well below the long-term average of 11.0, and marks the sixth consecutive year of poor reproduction.

“These results underscore the complexity of managing a coastal migratory species whose life-cycle is influenced by environmental conditions during a brief spawning period,” Maryland DNR Fishing and Boating Services Director Lynn Fegley said in a release. “We will continue to explore ways to conserve and enhance the spawning population during this time when we are adding fewer young fish to the population.”

During this annual survey, fishery managers examine 22 sites located in four major striped bass spawning areas: the Choptank, Nanticoke, and Potomac rivers, and the upper Chesapeake Bay. Biologists visit each site three times per summer, collecting fish with two sweeps of a 100-foot beach seine net

Read the full article at Southern Maryland News