Responsible Offshore Development Alliance Archives

Offshore opponents urge Supreme Court to grant Vineyard Wind challenge

April 22, 2025 — Advocacy groups opposed to offshore wind development are calling for the Supreme Court to consider how federal approval of a project off the coast of Massachusetts could be violating recent high court decisions curbing agency authority.

The America First Policy Institute and others recently filed “friend of the court” briefs backing a pair of petitions led by the fishing company Seafreeze Shoreside and the fishing industry trade group Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA) seeking to block completion of the Vineyard Wind 1 project.

The briefs are backing the parallel claims before the court: that the Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management overstepped its authority and that lower courts failed to properly review the agency’s decision after a Supreme Court decision limited courts’ deference to agency decision-making.

Read the full story at E&E News

Fishing groups raise Vineyard Wind case to Supreme Court

March 14, 2025 — In another move aimed at offshore wind, the fishing industry is attempting to take its fight against Vineyard Wind to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Responsible Offshore Development Alliance, a national coalition of fishing industry associations and companies, and the conservative think tank Texas Public Policy Foundation filed separate petitions last week requesting the Supreme Court to review decisions by a lower court.

Both organizations unsuccessfully petitioned to shutdown Vineyard Wind — the first large-scale offshore wind project approved in the United States and located 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard — in the U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston last year.

The petitioners say the project was rushed through by the Biden Administration in an effort to establish an American offshore wind industry without considering the consequences.

Read the full article at MV Times

Fishing industry asks Supreme Court to hear case against Vineyard Wind

March 12, 2025 –A national fishing industry group and conservative think tank have petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to take up their lawsuits challenging the approval of the Vineyard Wind project, which has been under construction since 2023.

The lobbying group, Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA), sued the lead government regulator of offshore wind in early 2022, alleging the agency violated several acts, including those to protect existing ocean users and endangered species.

At the crux of RODA’s appeal to the Supreme Court is the language of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, and particularly, how the federal government interpreted it.

The Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF), which represents fishermen and a fishing company in Rhode Island in another lawsuit, is similarly arguing the federal government did not correctly interpret statutes in its approval of the Vineyard Wind project.

RODA has long argued that offshore wind farms will interfere with fishermen’s ability to catch fish, reduce vessel safety at sea, and potentially harm the viability of commercial fisheries.

But RODA lost its case twice: first, in 2023 in the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts, where a judge sided with the project and regulators; and second, in 2024 in the First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, where the judge upheld the lower court’s decision.

The Texas Public Policy Foundation also had its case dismissed by the lower courts.

RODA says the Interior Department during the first Trump administration correctly interpreted statutory language, requiring that the Interior Secretary “shall ensure” approved activities, including offshore wind projects, are consistent with a requirement to prevent interference with “reasonable uses” on the outer continental shelf, including the use of a “seabed for a fishery.”

Read the full article at the The New Bedford Light

RODA petitions US Supreme Court to review its case against Vineyard Wind

March 11, 2025 — The Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA) has appealed its case against the Vineyard Wind offshore wind project to the Supreme Court of the United States.

RODA, a lobbying group representing commercial fishermen, first filed a lawsuit against in 2022 in objection to federal approvals of the wind energy project. The 800-megawatt project, located in an area off the coast of the U.S. state of Massachusetts, is planned to take up as much as 75,000 acres.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

RODA’s Statement in Response to Executive Order on Temporary Withdrawal of Offshore Wind Leasing and Permitting

January 21, 2025 — The following was released by the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance:

Today, we extend gratitude to President Trump for his decision to temporarily withdraw all areas on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) from consideration for new or renewed wind energy leasing. This important move recognizes the vital role our communities, industries, and ecosystems play in the broader national interest. The decision is a much-needed pause that allows us to reassess the future of offshore wind development and its potential impacts on our coastal environments and local economies.

We are excited to collaborate with the new administration as they embark on the upcoming review of federal leasing and permitting practices for offshore wind projects. This is an opportunity to ensure that all voices—especially those of the fishing industry, local businesses, and environmental stakeholders—are heard as we move forward. RODA, and our members, stand willing and committed to work with government leaders as they undertake this critical review.

A particular cause for celebration today is the reprieve granted to regions that have yet to be subject to offshore wind leases. This gives these areas crucial time to engage in meaningful dialogue about the future of offshore wind and its compatibility with local priorities and concerns.

Additionally, we applaud the decision to halt the authorization of any further activities that could lead to navigational safety, transportation, national security, commercial and marine mammal protection interests until we fully understand the potential risks associated with offshore wind projects. Protecting marine life, particularly vulnerable species like whales, must remain a top priority as we explore renewable energy solutions.

RODA is committed to working collaboratively with the Trump Administration to ensure that any future offshore wind development is done in a manner that protects both the environment and the communities who call these coastal areas home.

Can fishermen fish inside offshore wind farms?

January 7, 2025 — In Europe, where offshore wind turbines have operated for a decade or more, some governments ban fishermen from entering wind farms. Others limit the activity to only “passive” fishing (crab pots, for example). But in the U.S., fishermen will be allowed to fish in the wind farms once they’re up and operating. That doesn’t mean they will.

Fishermen’s decisions will depend on several factors: their type of gear (are they towing a net or deploying fixed gear, like lobster traps?); weather conditions; and where the fish are. In addition to safety risks, some fishermen are concerned that wind farms will impact the distribution and behavior of fish stocks at the turbine or regional scale.

“From the fishing industry perspective, the vast majority of the gear types we work with are not feeling that they would be able to safely operate within a wind farm,” said Lane Johnston, manager at the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA). The organization advocates on behalf of fishermen, and is engaged in a lawsuit against an offshore wind project.

Turbines are spaced about one nautical mile apart. Though that seems far away on a small vessel, Johnston said fishing nets can extend far from the boats and shift in currents. Additionally, the vessel will want to follow where the fish are: “You’re not always fishing in a straight line between turbine A and B.”

The safety concern of navigating within the wind arrays is also compounded by potential turbine impacts on vessel radar.

Read the full article at The New Bedford Light

Vineyard Wind Withstands Another Legal Challenge

December 10, 2024 — Another attempt to halt Vineyard Wind through the courts fell short last week when a federal court dismissed an appeal by a fishermen’s organization and a Rhode Island seafood dealer.

A panel of judges with the U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court’s decision on Dec. 5, saying the group’s claims that the federal government mishandled the approval process for the wind farm were unfounded.

The decision is one of several that Vineyard Wind, which aims to build 62 turbines to the south of the Island, has weathered in recent years, keeping the project’s approvals from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management intact.

Seafreeze Shoreside, a Rhode Island-based seafood dealer, the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association, the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance and other groups filed the appeal after their claims were rejected by the U.S. District Court in Boston in 2023.

Read the full story at the Vineyard Gazette

New leadership at Responsible Offshore Development Alliance

November 20, 2024 — The Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA) announced Tuesday that its longtime executive director Annie Hawkins will be succeeded by Lane Johnston, now policy director for the national commercial fisheries coalition.

Launched in 2017, RODA was created to advocate for commercial fishermen and their communities as the federal government and wind energy industry stepped up efforts to develop offshore renewable energy. Originally focused on the potential impacts on East Coast fishermen, RODA broadened its national advocacy and cooperative research programs to the West Coast and Gulf of Mexico.

New acting executive director Lane Johnston has been part of RODA almost from its start, “driving our advocacy as programs manager, and has a powerful record of steadfast commitment to our membership and the fishing industry,” the group said in its announcement. “With a background in marine biology and years of fisheries policy work under her belt, Lane’s institutional knowledge and expertise will guide us forward.”

Read the full article at WorkBoat

Frustrated Fishermen Demand Answers, Transparency After Vineyard Wind Failure

August 2, 2024 — Members of the New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association (NEFSA) and the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA) are demanding a thorough investigation into the recent incident involving a detached blade from a Vineyard Wind turbine.

The mishap, which occurred on July 13, resulted in widespread debris across significant fishing areas from Nantucket to Cape Cod, causing concern among local fishermen.

Jerry Leeman, CEO of NEFSA, expressed the community’s frustration, stating, “Trust between fishermen and offshore wind developers is at an absolute nadir.”

Read the full story at Shore News Network

CAPE WIND; Fishermen blast feds over turbines

July 29, 2024 — Fishermen are blasting the feds for suggesting they don ’t care about the ocean ecosystem and have no interest in the protection of the endangered North Atlantic right whales.

The claim came during a hearing yesterday in Boston federal appeals court as two fishing groups look to toss Vineyard Wind’s underlying permit, arguing regulators failed to analyze how the project would impact the environment and fishermen.

The alliance, as a trade association representing the fishing industry, does not have any interest in protecting right whales,” said attorney Thekla Hansen-Young, representing the Department of the Interior, the National Marine Fisheries Service, among other federal agencies, in the dispute.

Hansen-Young was referring to the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance, one of the groups fighting the feds and Vineyard Wind. Seafreeze Shoreside Inc. is the other.

Annie Hawkins, the coalition’s executive director, shot back at Hansen-Young’s “repugnant” assertions after the hearing in which judges took no action.

“We take extreme offense to the government’s claim that our fishermen members have even less environmental interest in our oceans than recreational hobbyists because fishermen just want to ‘kill’ fish,” Hawkins said. “This statement erases generations of history, tradition, and knowledge.”

“Fishermen are faithful stewards of the ocean because their relationship with the sea forms the very fabric of coastal culture, supports their businesses, jobs, and communities,” she added. “The government’s repugnant position reveals a hostility to our iconic industry that is sadly common in its dealings with us.”

Hawkins’ alliance challenged the $4 billion Vineyard Wind project in January 2022 before the case waded through the courts, and U.S. District Judge Inditra Talwani dismissed the suit last October.

Responsible Offshore Development Alliance and Seafreeze Shoreside claimed the 62-turbine, 806-megawatt wind farm would harm fishermen and the North Atlantic right whale.

The National Marine Fisheries Service determined that Vineyard Wind was“not likely to jeopardize the continued existence” of right whales and other endangered species an opinion they maintained in 2020 and 2021.

Read the full article at the Boston Herald