Saving Seafood

South Fork Wind Farm to reduce turbines but fishing group has ‘serious concerns’

June 1, 2021 — Developers of a planned offshore wind farm to power the South Fork have agreed to reduce the number of turbines for the LIPA-contracted project to 12 from 15, but Rhode Island fishermen offered a $12 million compensation package say the turbine reduction won’t help and the package is inadequate.

Orsted and Eversource, partners on the $2 billion-plus project set to be built off the coast of Rhode Island and Massachusetts by 2023, disclosed the change last week before a Rhode Island coastal commission that is considering whether to issue a permit for the project.

In a statement, the companies said they will “move forward with the reduction of the project’s total turbines from 15 to 12,” while offering a compensation package for Rhode Island fishermen. The $12 million, if accepted, would cover lost earnings, among other things, for those kept from fishing either by construction or placement of the turbines themselves.

Read the full story at Newsday

Rhode Island Fishermen Also Peeved With South Fork Wind

May 27, 2021 — In a virtual meeting of the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council on Tuesday night, members of its fisheries advisory board strongly objected to the council’s conclusion that the South Fork Wind Farm’s new “minimization alternative” — 12 wind turbine generators instead of 15, reducing its footprint — and a $12 million fisheries compensation package, are consistent with the state’s Ocean Special Area Management Plan.

The advisory board also took exception to the state council’s inclination to issue “conditional concurrence” pursuant to federal regulations. The project needs the council’s approval, along with that of a host of other state, federal, and local authorities.

The wind farm as first proposed called for a 15-turbine, 90-megawatt setup. Advances in technology have allowed instead for a 130-megawatt installation, using no more than 15 turbines. The South Fork Wind Farm will now have 12 wind turbine generators, its developers having entered into a contractual obligation with Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy for 11-megawatt turbines.

The developers, Orsted U.S. Offshore Wind and Eversource Energy, have also modified the layout, to a one-by-one nautical-mile grid.

Read the full story at The East Hampton Star

RHODE ISLAND: Decision delayed on major offshore wind farm as McKee takes closer interest

April 28, 2021 — At the request of Gov. Dan McKee, state coastal regulators are putting off a key decision on the South Fork Wind Farm to give the project developers more time to reach a compensation agreement with the fishing industry.

Pressure is growing for Orsted and Eversource to find common ground with fishermen, as McKee’s office has signaled a closer interest in the talks.

The Coastal Resources Management Council was expected to consider a federal consistency certification at its meeting this week for the wind farm of up to 15 turbines that would be built in Rhode Island Sound and supply power to Long Island. Agency staff were preparing to present a recommendation to the council at the April 29 meeting and a vote could have taken place that night.

But last Friday, with the possibility that staff could recommend a denial of the certification, Orsted, the Danish company developing the project with utility Eversource, agreed to stay the proceedings and extend the deadline for a decision from May 12 to June 1. A vote is now set for May 25, according to Orsted.

“We fully support the CRMC’s new timeline, as it allows for more dialogue and opportunity to work collectively to reach a fair mitigation agreement and advance this important offshore wind project,” said Orsted spokeswoman Meaghan Wims.

Read the full story at the Providence Journal

CFRF March 2021 Newsletter

March 31, 2021 — The following was released by the Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation:

Project Update: South Fork Wind Farm Fisheries Monitoring — Beam Trawl Survey

The South Fork Wind Farm beam trawl survey is well underway with six months of data collected on the benthic communities of the South Fork windfarm development area and two nearby reference areas. The beam trawl is designed to primarily target scallops and groundfish, however it is outfitted with a 2.4 cm knotless nylon liner to document all sizes of the benthic species present. The catch from each monthly survey has been relatively consistent with the eastern reference area dominated by crabs and skate and a handful of flatfish; the western reference area was rocky with many small invertebrates with high catches of scallop and skate with a few summer and winter flounder; and finally, the wind farm proposed area was predominantly little skate, scup, sea robins and a few scallops. In the colder months, with a few big storms moving though the area, we have seen a slight downturn in catch, particularly in finfish through the winter. Stay tuned to see what the warmer waters bring this spring as well as the beginning of our gillnet, ventless trap, and fish pot surveys each designed to target slightly different fisheries species in this area Visit the project webpage at www.cfrfoundation.org/sfwf-beam-trawl-survey to stay up to date with the catch information from this survey.

Project Results: River Herring Bycatch Avoidance Program

After over a decade of collaboration the River Herring Bycatch Avoidance Program has come to an end. The program, representing the work of CFRF, the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth School for Marine Science and Technology, the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, the commercial fishing industry, and contributions from several other organizations, fundamentally improved the understanding of river herring bycatch and how to reduce it in the Atlantic herring and Atlantic mackerel fisheries. It increased portside sampling of relevant vessels in Massachusetts and Rhode Island by over 100% at times. The data collected though portside sampling supported scientific publications, management decisions, and was the primary information source for near-real time communications of river herring bycatch. These communications positively influenced fishing habits and played a role in the approximate 60% decrease in total bycatch and 20% decrease in the bycatch rate prior to the establishment of river herring catch limits. Once river herring catch limits were established, the program helped the industry stay under these limits more often than what was expected by managers. Through the course of the project 26 vessels contributed data. This included 8 fishing companies and their 13 mid-water trawl vessels, representing the majority of Atlantic herring and mackerel catch in U.S., that were cornerstones of the program. The program was started with funding from the National Fisheries Wildlife Foundation, strengthened with funding from The Nature Conservancy, and then sustained by the Atlantic Herring Research-Set Aside Program. Cuts to the Atlantic herring quota made funding through the Research-Set Aside Program untenable and, along with the closure of near shore areas, reduced the need for the program. Thank you to all who supported and contributed to this program. More information can be found at www.umassd.edu/smast/bycatch/.

Read the full release here

NEW YORK: Today is Deadline for Comments on South Fork Wind Farm Environmental Report

February 22, 2021 — The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), which recently finished its draft environmental review of the South Fork Wind Farm, gave the public a chance to weigh in on the document at three virtual public hearings in mid-February, and is accepting further written public comment through midnight tonight.

While much of the focus on the wind farm locally over the past several years has been the local and New York State Public Service Commission review of the wind farm’s export cable, currently slated to come ashore at Beach Lane in Wainscott en route to a substation in East Hampton, the BOEM review focuses on the wind farm itself, 15 turbines slated to be placed in federal waters about 30 miles off the coast of Montauk.

At the series of virtual hearings on BOEM’s Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the wind farm, many labor union leaders spoke in favor of the wind farms, while many representatives of fishing communities in both Rhode Island and Montauk expressed concern not only about this wind farm, but about what the future development of the wind farm area surrounding the South Fork Wind Farm, which could be developed on a scale orders of magnitude greater than this wind farm.

Local environmentalists also weighed in on the project, expressing support both for the project and for robust environmental protections and review during the construction and operation of the wind farm.

Some commenters also weighed in with concerns about the reliability of wind turbines, especially in the wake of the disastrous blow that cold weather dealt to the Texas energy industry in mid-February, which some lawmakers blamed on frozen wind turbines, which played a small role in the energy grid shutdown there.

Read the full story at The East End Beacon

Traffic lane, habitat alternatives for South Fork offshore wind project

February 18, 2021 — A draft environmental impact statement for the South Fork Wind Farm project off southern New England includes alternatives for a fishing vessel traffic lane and protecting ocean bottom habitat for fisheries.

Both could potentially displace preferred locations for up to 15 wind turbines of 6 to 12 megawatt capacity planned by project partners Ørsted and Eversource. The federal Bureau of Offshore Energy Management is considering the companies’ construction and operations plan for the project 19 miles southeast of Block Island, R.I., and 35 miles east of Montauk, N.Y.

The developers propose to lay out the array with one nautical mile spacing between turbine towers, consistent with plans for adjacent wind power developments south of Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

A series of three virtual public hearings online followed BOEM’s January release of the draft environmental statement. The last proceeding Feb. 16 attracted project supporters from New York State labor, industry and environmental groups, and skeptics of its potential effects on the region’s fisheries, which the impact statement broadly summarizes as “negligible to moderate.”

A public comment period on the document is open until Feb. 22. Agency officials say they anticipate publishing a final version in August 2021, followed by a record of decision in October that could clear the way toward construction.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

NEW YORK: Cable Landing Simmers While Federal Wind Farm Review Is Just Heating Up

February 11, 2021 — While the public debate over the South Fork Wind Farm cable landing in Wainscott has shifted to court filings and the village incorporation effort, the public stage of the federal application for the wind farm itself is just getting started — and advocates for local fishermen say that the most important aspects of the project have yet to be settled.

Whether turbine foundations will be hammered into the heart of one of the most fabled fishing regions off Montauk and whether commercial fishermen will be compensated for lost fishing time or damaged fishing gear are both still up in the air as the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and a dozen other federal agencies continue their examination of the project as proposed by Danish wind farm developer Ørsted and it’s American domestic partner, Eversource.

The federal regulators on Tuesday held the first of three public comment sessions on the project’s Draft Environmental Impact Statement, the 800-plus-page main outline of the project and the various considerations for its design. The will be additional comment sessions on February 11 and 16. The meetings are being held via Zoom and registration and the full details of the project are available at www.boem.gov/renewable-energy/south-fork-wind-farm-virtual-meetings.

Read the full story at the Sag Harbor Express

NEW YORK: Town and Trustees Sign Off on Wind Farm Pact

January 29, 2021 — After several years of discussion, debate, and public comment, the proposed South Fork Wind farm has come closer to reality. Both the East Hampton Town Board and the town trustees have voted to execute agreements with the developers allowing the wind farm’s export cable to make landfall in the town and travel below ground, along town roads, to a Long Island Power Authority substation in East Hampton.

Over the objections of one member and after a contentious discussion, the town board voted on the agreement last Thursday. Separately, the trustees, who have jurisdiction over the Wainscott beach where the cable would come ashore, voted 9-to-0 on Monday to execute the “host community” agreement, a lease agreement, an agreement concerning dredging of Georgica Pond, and a revenue-sharing agreement with the town.

The wind farm developers propose to install up to 15 turbines in a federal lease area some 35 miles east of Montauk Point. The wind farm remains the subject of furious opposition, particularly in an effort to create an incorporated village of Wainscott. The export cable would make landfall there, at the end of Beach Lane.

Read the full story at The East Hampton Star

NEW YORK: East Hampton Town Okays Offshore Wind Farm Agreement

January 22, 2021 — Over the objections of one member and after a contentious discussion, the East Hampton Town Board voted on Thursday to execute an easement and host-community agreement with the developers of the proposed South Fork Wind farm.

Thursday’s vote followed several years of discussion, debate, and public comment on the proposal that would see an installation of up to 15 turbines in a federal lease area approximately 35 miles off Montauk Point. The offshore installation remains the subject of furious opposition, most visibly manifest in an effort to create an incorporated village of Wainscott, where the wind farm’s export cable would make landfall at the ocean beach at the end of Beach Lane.

Four of the board’s five members voted in favor of a resolution authorizing Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc to execute the easement agreement with South Fork Wind, L.L.C., for the construction, installation, maintenance, repair, replacement, removal, and decommissioning of the wind farm’s export cable and related facilities for the wind farm, within town road rights-of-way, to connect the wind farm to a Long Island Power Authority substation off Cove Hollow Road in East Hampton. The resolution is subject to permissive referendum, meaning if enough signatures were collected opponents could force a public vote on the project.

The board also voted 4 to 0 to execute the host-community agreement that would see the developers, Orsted U.S. Offshore Wind and Eversource Energy, making direct payments to the town totaling almost $29 million over the installation’s 25-year lifetime.

Councilman Jeff Bragman abstained from voting on both resolutions, repeating his assertions that the town would maintain leverage and therefore its ability to influence the project by waiting until state and federal reviews are complete, and that many pertinent questions as to environmental review and the installation’s potential impact on the commercial fishing industry remain unanswered.

Read the full story at The East Hampton Star

South Fork Wind Farm delayed until 2023

October 29, 2020 — Developers of the South Fork Wind Farm say the project isn’t expected to be operational until the end of 2023, a “significant” delay that is a year from LIPA’s contractual start date.

In a conference call Wednesday, the company cited the expectation that federal permitting delays that have stalled projects across the northeast will continue into 2021. Developer Orsted said federal regulators overseeing the project also have yet to confirm the company’s plan to farther space out turbines for the project at one nautical mile apart, in part to accommodate fishing and shipping interests.

The $2 billion-plus project, rated at 130 megawatts, is proposed for federal waters off Massachusetts/Rhode Island.

Federal regulators are expected to provide needed permitting approvals by October 2021, according to Orsted.

“Given the updated permitting schedule, we now expect South Fork Wind to be in operations by the end of 2023 rather than 2022 as initially expected,” spokeswoman Meaghan Wims said in a statement.

Read the full story at Newsday