July 5, 2023 — Fresh off legal victories, lobstermen in the U.S. state of Maine and salmon trollers across the country in Alaska are finding kinship in a shared narrative.
In a letter sent to the Alaska Trollers Association, Maine Lobstermen’s Association President Kristan Porter said both organizations had fought similar battles against environmentalists who want to end commercial fishing over concern about the threat it poses to whales.
July 3, 2023 — The following was released by Mass.gov
The Healey-Driscoll Administration today announced $1.6 million in grants to support innovative approaches to enhance Massachusetts commercial marine fisheries and the seafood industry. Twenty Massachusetts businesses and organizations are receiving funding through the Environmental Economic Innovation and Resiliency in Marine Fisheries Grant Program, supplemented by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). The grant program will fund projects that work to mitigate economic barriers resulting from climate change and promote sustainable, local fisheries development in Massachusetts.
“Massachusetts is a leader in protecting the health of our fishing industry, and this funding shows our commitment to keep the industry thriving by utilizing cutting-edge technology and the latest scientific research,” said Governor Maura Healey. “Our administration is taking a holistic approach to combating climate change, which includes supporting our fisheries, advancing green energy, and enhancing the state’s blue economy.”
“Having served as mayor of a coastal community, I know how much the fishing industry contributes to and impacts a city’s economy, character, and food security,” said Lt. Governor Kim Driscoll. “Massachusetts’ commercial fishing and processing industries were hit hard and changed forever by the pandemic. This funding will support innovative, environmentally friendly efforts to grow the industry and support critical food production in Massachusetts.”
The Environmental Economic Innovation and Resiliency in Marine Fisheries Grant Program is administered by the Department of Fish and Game’s (DFG) Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF). The grant program aims to develop, utilize, and promote innovative approaches that enhance environmental benefits and encourage increased economic activity in Massachusetts commercial marine fisheries and the seafood industry. Project outcomes, developed technologies, and data will be shared with the relevant industries and local and state natural resource managers to help grow and support critical food production.
“The fishing industry is on the front lines of climate change, and it’s critical we make meaningful, long-term investments now to ensure the sustainability and resiliency of our marine fisheries,” said Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Rebecca Tepper. “This funding is two-fold in that we are helping fishers and their families recover from the pandemic while supporting new approaches that will safeguard our valuable marine resources from climate harm.”
“Our coastal cities benefit from a successful and vibrant fishing industry, and supporting these projects will give fishers, growers, and processors the tools to promote sustainably harvested local seafood,” said DFG Commissioner Tom O’Shea. “By investing in innovation, research, and technology, we’re building a more resilient workforce in the fishing industry.”
“Today’s funding announcement represents a significant investment in the future of our blue economy. This funding will support innovative approaches to enhance the marine environment, combat climate change, and promote sustainable, local fisheries development,” said State Senator Susan Moran (D-Falmouth). “I commend the Healey-Driscoll Administration for their commitment to supporting our fishing industry and coastal communities, which play a vital role in our economy, local culture, and food security. This grant funding will help the industry recover from the challenges posed by the pandemic and promote critical food production right here in Massachusetts.”
“Fishing is at the core of our cultural identity as well as the local economy in New Bedford,” said State Senator Mark Montigny (D-New Bedford), who has long championed state programs to support fishermen and their families. “The extraordinary researchers at SMAST have been an invaluable resource for this industry, and this latest grant funding will help our fishermen maximize their time while out at sea.”
“We are excited that the Healey-Driscoll administration has continued its support for our fishing industry here in New Bedford,” said State Representative Chris Hendricks (D-New Bedford). “This ARPA money for SMAST will provide additional support to our fisheries and give them accurate real-time information that will help New Bedford remain the most profitable fishing port in the United States.”
The Massachusetts Environmental Economic Innovation and Resiliency in Marine Fisheries Grant Program awards up to $100,000 per project. The following businesses and organizations are receiving grant awards:
The Massachusetts Fishermen’s Partnership, Gloucester: $58,000 for a project to expand awareness, increase the scope and accessibility of business development, and develop technical assistance and training programs.
July 3, 2023 — Former New Bedford Mayor John Bullard said he wrote his memoir Hometown for two reasons: to recognize all of the people who helped with his public life successes, that their stories be told. Bullard also wanted to encourage young people trying to figure out how to make an impact to consider doing what he did, which is try to fix up their hometown.
Bullard sat down with us this week Townsquare Sunday to discuss the new book and his career in public life.
There were a few memories that will never fade. As an agent for the Waterfront Historic Area League, Bullard and others worked to convince Mayor John Markey to invest in what is now the Waterfront Historic District.
“The district at that time was full of empty buildings, run-down streets. It met every definition of blight there was,” Bullard said.
Both men kept talking, however, and Markey made what Bullard called “a courageous decision,” investing $1.3 million into historic preservation.
July 1, 2023 — A proposed wind farm off the coast of Massachusetts with a potential to meet the energy demands of 850,000 homes is under an environmental review, the U.S. government said Thursday.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management announced the review process was under way for the 2.4 gigawatt facility proposed by Beacon Wind.
BOEM is advancing the Administration’s ambitious energy goals while remaining diligent in our efforts to avoid, minimize, and mitigate impacts to ocean users and the marine environment,” said BOEM Director Elizabeth Klein.
The Energy Department released a plan in March to meet President Joe Biden‘s goal of deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore energy by 2030, which would power 10 million homes.
Jul 1, 2023 — U.S. regulatory announced today that they are commencing the review of the eleventh offshore wind farm plan as efforts continue toward the goal of deploying 30 GW offshore wind energy capacity by 2030. The process is expected to run for about a year and could lead to a two-phase project that could produce a total of 2,430 megawatts of wind energy powering over 850,000 homes.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is starting the next phase in the process for Beacon Wind, which is being developed in a joint venture between Equinor and BP. This review comes as the first two commercial-scale offshore wind farms planned for the United States also started building their offshore assets. The U.S. is expected to have its first large commercial wind farms operating by the end of 2023.
“BOEM is advancing the administration’s ambitious energy goals while remaining diligent in our efforts to avoid, minimize, and mitigate impacts to ocean users and the marine environment,” said BOEM Director Elizabeth Klein. She notes that the environmental review process seeks input from government partners, the fishing community, and other ocean users and includes public comments.
The Beacon Wind lease area is approximately 17 nautical miles south of Nantucket, Massachusetts, and approximately 52 nautical miles east of Montauk, New York. The unique position means that the wind farm has the capabilities when completed to provide power to multiple locations in the Northeast United States. The current plan calls for the installation of up to 155 turbines, up to two offshore substation platforms, and up to two offshore export cables. They would make landfall in Astoria, in Queen County New York, and Waterford, Connecticut.
July 1, 2023 — The New England Fishery Management Council has approved a “problem statement” to guide its work on revisiting the Inshore Midwater Trawl Restricted Area that was overturned by a March 2022 court decision.
The council’s Amendment 8 to the Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan included an exclusion zone that effectively pushed midwater operators farther offshore. The council voted during its June 27-29 meeting at Freeport, Maine to make it a “priority to take another look at the area and address issues raised by the court.”
June 27, 2023 — Janet Mills, the governor of the U.S. state of Maine, has signed a bill limiting salmonid aquaculture introduced in the wake of American Aquafarms’ failed bid to establish a facility in Gouldsboro, Maine.
The bill, L.D. 1951, An Act Regarding Marine Finfish Aquaculture, places limits on the stocking density of salmonid aquaculture operations. The bill was sponsored by Maine Senator Nicole Grohoski and co-sponsored by Maine House Minority Leader Representative Billy Bob Faulkingham, and passed through committee in late May before quickly passing both the House and Senate before being signed into law by Mills.
Cooke Aquaculture Vice President of Public Relations told SeafoodSource that the shift made all the difference.
“We appreciate that Maine legislators and the governor took a consultative and science-based approach to finalize the bill at a stocking density in the lease area of up to 30 kilograms per cubic meter,” Richardson said. “Previous bills (up to 22 kilograms per cubic meter) presented to the Maine Marine Resources Committee would have negatively impacted rural coastal jobs and restricted a producer’s ability to introduce new technologies and innovative equipment which otherwise enables aquaculture farms to operate even more sustainably.”
June 26, 2023 — Conservation groups and offshore wind critics are calling for an investigation into the deaths of two humpback whales that washed up on the shores of Martha’s Vineyard last week.
On Monday, June 12, a decomposing humpback whale was found in the surf on the south-east tip of Martha’s Vineyard. Early the next morning, a second humpback whale carcass was discovered about 5 miles away on the island’s eastern shoreline.
Federal scientists say that the cause of the deaths remains unclear. In an email, a spokesperson for the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office (NOAA), which is leading logistics, said that it will not be performing an autopsy on either whale and that “any type of partner supported exam is being stood down.”
The first whale was stuck in the surf, making an autopsy difficult, a NOAA spokesperson said. The agency had plans to do a “limited internal exam,” but abandoned efforts last week as the carcass drifted north along the shoreline.
The decision has frustrated conservation groups curious about the unusual occurrence of two whale deaths discovered in two days. The carcasses were found about one week after construction began on the nation’s first utility-scale wind farm — which is being built in waters 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard — and has fueled speculation that the deaths may be connected to offshore wind development.
June 26, 2023 — U.S. Rep. Jared Golden has introduced a bill that would bar commercial offshore wind energy development in a key fishing area along the coast of Maine.
The bill would prevent the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management from potentially hurting the fishing and lobstering industries in Maine, said Golden, D-2nd District. The legislation would ban wind energy development in Lobster Management Area 1, which is the zone closest to shore and stretches along the entire coast of Maine. The bill also would launch an assessment of how federal agencies like the BOEM and the National Marine Fisheries Service study the effects of offshore wind development and engage with industry groups.
Maine has a long, complex relationship with such attempts to harness the power of distant sea breezes to generate electricity.
There are currently a variety of plans across the state to create both public and private offshore wind farms. The Governor’s Energy Office wants to lease a site 45 miles from Portland in the Gulf of Maine to create the nation’s first floating offshore wind research site.
A developer also is working with University of Maine researchers to build a commercial-size floating wind turbine off the coast of Maine. And the Governor’s Energy Office is thinking about turning a portion of Sears Island, off Searsport, into a center for assembling and servicing wind turbines.
However, the attempts all require a massive build-out of the state’s infrastructure. Wind turbines would have to float in the Gulf of Maine because the waters are too deep to allow the structures to be anchored to the seabed. And an attempt to build a commercial-size floating wind turbine project might be scrapped because it’s too large, complicated and expensive.
June 27, 2023 — The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued a ruling on June 16 overturning a lower court’s ruling that would have required the lobster fishery to eliminate virtually any risk—no matter how minute—that North Atlantic right whales could become entangled in lobstering gear.
“Maine’s lobstermen and women have long demonstrated their commitment to maintaining and protecting a sustainable fishery in the Gulf of Maine,” said Gov. Janet Mills in a joint statement with the state’s federal delegation. “Today’s decision vindicates what the Maine lobster fishery, and the countless communities that rely on it, knew all along—that their practices support the conservation of the gulf ecosystem for generations to come.”