The Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA), a group representing fishermen from Maine to North Carolina formed specifically to interact with offshore wind companies, and developer Orsted U.S. Offshore Wind (formerly Deepwater Wind) said the partnership is the first-of-its-kind.
As development of offshore wind farms is underway off of Rhode Island and Massachusetts’ coasts, commercial fishermen have been in talks with developers to figure out the best way to build wind farms that sustain the fishing industry.
However, RODA and Orsted feel the way the industries have been engaging with one another has been inefficient.
“The fishermen are being pulled in a million directions and we’re very excited to have a more structured approach where we can get that input and give it back to the developers as well as to the government,” Annie Hawkins, executive director of RODA, said.
Jeff Grybowski, Co-CEO of Orsted U.S. Offshore Wind, agreed the new partnership will make it easier for the industries to communicate.
“It can often be difficult for a developer to find the right people to talk to because obviously fishermen are, they’re small businesses and some of them are big businesses, but there are lots of different people,” Grybowski said.
Hawkins added the goal is to have fewer, more productive meetings, however any recommendations that come out of them are nonbinding.
Commercial fishermen have raised multiple concerns about offshore wind farms, such as the layout of the turbines affecting their access to fishing grounds and ability to safely return to shore, and spinning turbines interfering with their radar navigation.
They’ve been butting heads over similar issues for months with another offshore wind company, Vineyard Wind, who’s developing a wind farm south of Martha’s Vineyard.
The Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA) today announced that it has entered into a partnership agreement with Ørsted U.S. Offshore Wind to improve communications between the commercial fishing industry and offshore wind energy developers.
This first-of-its-kind partnership will create an unprecedented opportunity for commercial fishermen to provide direct input to the wind energy industry on matters of significant interest to their businesses. Under this partnership, both industries will remain autonomous but provide a platform to move towards workable solutions. While non-binding in nature, it is RODA and Ørsted’s hope that discussions will prove beneficial to all parties involved.
“Partnering with Ørsted is a significant step forward as we look to strengthen our ongoing dialogue between commercial fishermen and offshore wind developers,” said RODA Executive Director Annie Hawkins. “RODA believes that we need to develop solutions for offshore wind energy and commercial fishing to coexist, and today’s announcement will support future sustainability for both industries.”
“We are proud to be the first offshore wind developer to partner with RODA, which is an important part to the future of offshore wind,” said CEO of Ørsted U.S. Offshore Wind and President of Ørsted North America Thomas Brostrøm. “The fishing community must be considered as offshore wind development continues in the U.S. Through this partnership, we will be able to share our concerns in a productive way and develop practical solutions as we all seek to coexist and thrive for a better tomorrow.”
RODA is the only national commercial fishing organization that is purpose-built for interacting with the offshore wind industry to maintain sustainable fisheries. Based from Midcoast Maine to the Outer Banks of North Carolina, it also has the broadest geographic and gear-type range of any East Coast fishing industry membership organization active in offshore wind engagement.
The RODA Board of Directors consists of fishing industry representatives who bring over 200 years of combined operational and management experience, split across the range of federally and state-managed Atlantic fisheries. One of RODA’s primary goals is to ensure that the fishing industry’s input at-large is received, considered, and accommodated to the maximum extent possible in leasing, design, construction, and operations of new offshore developments.
“It is extremely vital that our nation’s fishermen are heard when offshore wind projects are being developed,” said RODA Chairman and Director of Sustainability at Atlantic Capes Fisheries Peter Hughes. “Ørsted has made it clear that they want to be partners with the fishing industry, and we are optimistic that our work with them will set a standard ensuring that fishermen have direct input into wind farm designs and ensuring that their concerns are fully embraced by developers.”
A core component of the partnership will be the creation of a joint industry task force to explore improved approaches to project siting, design, and operations. The two industries have already engaged in extensive communication regarding topics ranging from navigation concerns (including transit lanes and turbine layouts) and other impacts avoidance to identifying a mutual interest in developing transparent strategies for long-term mitigation. This new initiative will provide a more structured process for further collaboration between the two industries.
Ørsted and RODA strongly encourage other offshore wind energy developers and commercial fishermen to join this partnership in order to develop well-informed and enduring approaches to best practices and provide broad representation of the industries.
For more information on joining RODA as a fishing industry member, or joining the joint advisory panel as a member of the offshore wind development community, please contact info@rodafisheries.org.
The Rhode Island-based fishing vessel Virginia Marise near the Block Island Wind Farm. Deepwater Wind photo.
A coalition of East Coast commercial fishing groups announced Thursday it has a new partnership agreement with Ørsted U.S. Offshore Wind to improve communications between the seafood industry and offshore wind energy developers.
“This first-of-its-kind partnership will create an unprecedented opportunity for commercial fishermen to provide direct input to the wind energy industry on matters of significant interest to their businesses,” according to the statement issued in Boston by the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance, originally organized by scallop fishermen and others to protect their interests as the federal government leases large offshore tracts to build wind turbines.
“Under this partnership, both industries will remain autonomous but provide a platform to move towards workable solutions,” according to RODA. “While non-binding in nature, it is RODA and Ørsted’s hope that discussions will prove beneficial to all parties involved.”
Denmark-based Ørsted is a longtime leader in the European wind power sector and is now bidding to develop a major array to supply New Jersey with power. But the state’s fishing industry, which include the long-established scallop and sea clamming fleets, has strenuously argued that the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management must not approve any designs that will reduce their access to fisheries.
A core mission of the partnership is creating a joint industry task force to explore improved approaches to project siting, design, and operations. Organizers say their goal is to get a task force up and running with broad representation from fishermen from Maine to North Carolina.
“This new initiative will provide a more structured process for further collaboration between the two industries,” according to RODA.
“Partnering with Ørsted is a significant step forward as we look to strengthen our ongoing dialogue between commercial fishermen and offshore wind developers,” said RODA Executive Director Annie Hawkins. “RODA believes that we need to develop solutions for offshore wind energy and commercial fishing to coexist, and today’s announcement will support future sustainability for both industries.”
“We are proud to be the first offshore wind developer to partner with RODA, which is an important part to the future of offshore wind,” said CEO of Ørsted U.S. Offshore Wind and President of Ørsted North America Thomas Brostrøm. “The fishing community must be considered as offshore wind development continues in the U.S. Through this partnership, we will be able to share our concerns in a productive way and develop practical solutions as we all seek to coexist and thrive for a better tomorrow.”
RODA is based on membership from Midcoast Maine to the Outer Banks of North Carolina, it claims the broadest geographic and gear-type range of any East Coast fishing industry membership organization active in offshore wind engagement. One of RODA’s primary goals is to ensure that the fishing industry’s input at-large is received, considered, and accommodated to the maximum extent possible in leasing, design, construction, and operations of new offshore developments.
“It is extremely vital that our nation’s fishermen are heard when offshore wind projects are being developed,” said RODA Chairman and Director of Sustainability at Atlantic Capes Fisheries Peter Hughes. “Ørsted has made it clear that they want to be partners with the fishing industry, and we are optimistic that our work with them will set a standard ensuring that fishermen have direct input into wind farm designs and ensuring that their concerns are fully embraced by developers.”
Ørsted and RODA strongly encourage other offshore wind energy developers and commercial fishermen to join this partnership in order to develop well-informed and enduring approaches to best practices and provide broad representation of the industries.
Fishermen who want to get involved with RODA or serving on the joint advisory panel as a member of the offshore wind development community can contact the group at info@rodafisheries.org.
The Responsible Offshore Development Alliance, which consists of regional fishing industry representatives from Maine to North Carolina, convened an Offshore Wind Transit Lane Working Group meeting on December 3rd at the Hotel Viking in Newport, Rhode Island.
RODA seeks to coordinate science and policy approaches, through public and private partnerships, to manage development of wind farms in a way that minimizes conflicts with existing traditional and historical fishing.
Fishing industry representatives, offshore wind developer lease-holders, the National Marine Fisheries Service, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, and the U.S. Coast Guard, among others, joined RODA to continue an attempt to develop fishery transit lanes through the large group of Wind Energy Areas in federal waters off of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The meeting was facilitated by the Consensus Building Institute.
In addition to loss of access within the lease areas, commercial fishermen have concerns about their ability to safely travel across wind energy arrays to access other historical, traditional commercial fishing grounds. They are especially concerned with the size of the WEAs being proposed by BOEM, which are the largest in the world to date.
While fishing industry representatives and wind developers agree that minimizing transit time through wind energy arrays is a primary design goal, safety risks greatly increase due to the long distances—up to 50-70 miles—fishing boats may be required to transit either around or through wind energy arrays.
The Massachusetts Fisheries Working Group on Offshore Wind began to consider the development of transit lanes earlier this year, and RODA has since held a large workshop followed by the smaller working group meeting to continue this task. To prepare for the working group meeting, RODA asked NMFS and the Northeast Regional Ocean Council Data Portal team to evaluate historic transit patterns to identify options for safe and direct access to fishing grounds. NMFS presented an analysis based on VMS and AIS data that substantially supported input received from the fishing industry regarding prevailing transit patterns.
Fishing industry representatives have considered a wide range of transit lane options and continue to support options that generally preserve the most important routes to their historic fisheries, which must include a “diagonal” route or, less favorably, smoothing out the Northwest-Southeast edges of the lease areas to allow more direct transit along the perimeters. Offshore wind lease-holding developers, for their part, have attempted to identify routes to meet those goals that also preserve the energy-generating nameplate capacity for each site that allows them to meet pricing goals for power procurement. Developers have various viewpoints on preferred transit lane locations and, as such, layouts have differing ranges of support including for the currently unleased areas.
While the group has not yet finalized recommendations, both fishermen and developers broadly agree that the most efficient timing for transit lane identification would occur before a lease is issued. RODA therefore strongly urges BOEM to include stipulations for the continuation of these transit lanes in its upcoming lease sale, and welcomes inquiries as to the status of these recommendations as potential bidders prepare proposals.
Additional materials, including a meeting summary with details regarding each of the options, will be available shortly on the RODA website.
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today issued a comprehensive solicitation seeking 800 megawatts or more of new offshore wind projects for New York. This highly anticipated first offering, issued by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority kicks-off competition for New York State’s first large-scale offshore wind development contracts, an initial step toward its goal of 2,400 megawatts of offshore wind by 2030 to combat climate change. The solicitation accelerates New York’s progress towards Governor Cuomo’s mandate for 50 percent of the state’s electricity to come from renewable sources by 2030 and significantly jump starts the emerging offshore wind industry in New York.
“This action is a watershed moment in New York’s renewable energy development efforts as we work to establish a secure, reliable and cost-effective clean energy future,” Governor Cuomo said.“New York will continue to combat climate change, investing in robust offshore wind development and clean energy that provides a path toward a greener and more sustainable future in our state and around the world.”
“This solicitation for offshore wind projects advances our commitment to reach our aggressive clean energy goals,” said Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul. “We are continuing to advance renewable energy developments across the state to ensure a cleaner and greener environment for future generations. New York is leading the way in our efforts to grow the industry and combat climate change.”
This historic offering marks an important new chapter in New York’s nation-leading offshore wind planning efforts, which have been conducted over three years and have included extensive stakeholder, agency, and public consultation along with detailed technical and financial analysis. These planning efforts provided the basis for New York’s Offshore Wind Master Plan, released in January of 2018, and the Public Service Commission’s July 2018 Order Establishing the State’s Offshore Wind Standard, which established the foundation for this important step forward.
Richard Kauffman, Chairman of Energy and Finance, said, “With this solicitation, New York takes a momentous step toward a clean, renewable energy future. Under Governor Cuomo’s leadership, New York is creating a nation-leading offshore wind industry, bringing high quality jobs and greater economic opportunities for New Yorker’s with a lower costing, cleaner, and a more efficient energy system. New York is ideally positioned to capture this growing technology and demonstrates that investments in clean energy can benefit New Yorkers both economically and environmentally.”
A rapidly growing state-of-the-art global industry, offshore wind is expected to bring an estimated $6 billion of investments to New York that will support approximately 5,000 highly-skilled new jobs in manufacturing, installation and operation of offshore wind facilities and nearly 2,000 jobs in long-term operations and maintenance. The NYSERDA solicitation includes first-of-a-kind requirements for wage and labor agreements by offshore wind developers to ensure that the projects deliver high-quality jobs for New York workers.
To facilitate the ability of New York businesses to participate in the delivery of these projects, NYSERDA will host the New York Offshore Wind Supplier Forum on November 15, 2018 in New York City to connect local suppliers and service providers to global offshore wind developers and manufacturers. More information on the Forum is available here.
Alicia Barton, President and CEO, NYSERDA said, “Offshore wind is poised to be the next major clean energy resource for the United States, and thanks to Governor Cuomo’s steadfast commitment to developing new renewable energy and fighting climate change, New York is now positioned at the forefront of this burgeoning new industry. With the issuance of today’s solicitation New York will kick off development and construction of the first generation of large-scale offshore wind projects, and NYSERDA has structured the solicitation to ensure that these projects will fully deliver on their environmental and economic development promise.”
Under the solicitation, NYSERDA has the ability to award 25-year long-term contracts for projects ranging from approximately 200 megawatts to approximately 800 megawatts, with an ability to award larger quantities if sufficiently attractive proposals are received. Each proposer is also required to submit at least one proposal of approximately 400 megawatts. Bids are due in February 2019, and awards are expected in Spring of 2019 and contracts are expected to be executed thereafter to take advantage of expiring federal tax credits.
Other notable provisions in this comprehensive solicitation include:
Ensuring that coastal communities are fully engaged and informed during the development and construction process;
Requiring Project Labor Agreements and prevailing wage for workers associated with the construction of any awarded facility;
Incentivizing associated jobs, project spending, and infrastructure investments in New York State by requiring awardees to provide an economic benefits plan for evaluation, backed by independent audit and verification of the realization of these claims; and
Actively addressing the interests of ocean users such as commercial and recreational fishing and environmental stakeholders as reflected in mitigation plans which are informed by New York’s technical working groups.
Under the New York State Public Service Commission’s July 2018 Order, which adopted New York’s 2,400-megawatt goal and set the framework for the first phase of solicitations, NYSERDA will award proposals according to both the price offered by the proposer as well as economic benefits and project viability. Through these solicitations, NYSERDA will procure Offshore Wind Renewable Energy Certificates, ORECs, from awarded facilities.
As the cost of offshore wind has declined significantly over the last decade in Europe and around the world, New York is leading the nation’s efforts to bring this renewable technology to the Atlantic coast of the U.S. In June, NYSERDA was awarded $18.5 million in funding by the U.S. Department of Energy to lead a nationwide Research and Development Consortium to advance offshore wind nationally. Industry, academia, and national laboratories will support Consortium initiatives to reduce cost and risk of offshore wind development projects throughout the U.S. while supporting U.S.-based manufacturing and the offshore wind supply chain. The Consortium strengthens New York’s leadership role in advancing the cost effective and responsible development of offshore wind.
Public Service Commission Chair John B. Rhodes said, “The development of offshore wind energy is central to achieving Governor Cuomo’s goal of 50 percent renewable energy by 2030 with good, clean well-sited projects. With this step, New York is leading the development of this great resource and industry, and set to achieve great quantities of good clean power as we drive costs down dramatically, as well as to create thousands of good-paying jobs and millions of dollars of investment in our coastal communities and in New York.”
New York State Department of Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon said, “Offshore wind is a critical piece of our state’s renewable energy future and growth in this industry means high-quality jobs for New Yorkers. This solicitation not only supports the state’s ongoing commitment to the environment it also benefits workers by requiring project labor agreements, guaranteeing prevailing wage and incentivizing jobs.”
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Basil Seggos said,“Offshore wind development is a critical part of New York’s comprehensive clean energy agenda to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change. DEC worked closely with key stakeholders and partners, including the commercial fishing industry and our state partners at NYSERDA and the Department of State, to ensure sensitive offshore habitats are avoided by potential energy developments, and this solicitation will be guided by these recommendations to ensure offshore wind is responsibly sited and protective of our natural resources.”
Empire State Development President, CEO and Commissioner Howard Zemsky said, “Clean energy is a vital component of New York’s economic future and this competition will take the state’s commitment to offshore wind to the next level, leading to new green jobs and generating billions of dollars of investment.”
Nassau County Executive Laura Curran said, “This announcement is a huge step for Long Island and New York on our mission to build a clean energy economy. Governor Cuomo continues to be a champion for the environment and offshore wind, and we thank him and his administration for remaining focused on forging a road to a cleaner, greener New York.”
Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone said, “Today’s announcement represents a significant moment for the future of Long Island, as we work to mitigate climate change and establish New York as a leader in clean energy. I commend Governor Cuomo for his unwavering commitment to a clean energy climate here in Suffolk County and around the State of New York.”
Joe Martens, Director, New York Offshore Wind Alliance, said, “The release of the state’s first ever competitive offshore wind procurement by NYSERDA is momentous and is the next step in the Governor’s unwavering commitment to secure at least 800 MW of this clean, renewable, carbon-free energy source by 2019. Thanks to Governor Cuomo, New York’s path to offshore wind energy has been thorough, thoughtful and smart. The state’s leadership in moving aggressively to harness offshore wind power will lead to thousands of jobs, greater energy diversity, new businesses and indeed, a new American clean energy industry.”
Kevin Law, President and CEO of the Long Island Association, said, “Today’s solicitation represents an important step forward in building Long Island’s clean energy economy, creating new jobs in this industry and diversifying our fuel sources which is why the LIA has supported the development of this resource.”
Lisa Dix, New York Senior Representative, Sierra Club said, “We applaud the Governor and his Administration for this historic action on offshore wind that will help ensure New York will be a regional hub for the offshore wind industry and a national renewable energy economic and jobs powerhouse. The Governor kept his commitment to rapidly advance offshore wind and has done it in a way that provides maximum benefits to New Yorkers. We commend the Governor and the state for holding to their commitments to responsible offshore wind contracting by ensuring strong environmental and labor standards, and supporting local businesses, communities and a local supply chain.”
Catherine Bowes, Program Director for Offshore Wind Energy, National Wildlife Federation said,“Today’s announcement marks historic progress in New York’s pursuit of responsibly developed offshore wind power, and we applaud Governor Cuomo and NYSERDA for their leadership in committing to a process that can maximize both the environmental and economic benefits of this critically needed climate change solution. We look forward to working with the Cuomo administration to advance this national model and ensure that all projects built to power New York are developed responsibly with the highest standards of wildlife protection in place every step of the way.”
Gordian Raacke, Executive Director of Renewable Energy Long Island, said, “Today’s request for offshore wind proposals for New York marks an important milestone in our state’s transition to local and renewable energy sources. We commend Governor Cuomo for his visionary leadership and thank NYSERDA for moving rapidly to establish New York as a leader in offshore wind power.”
Lara Skinner, Executive Director, ILR Worker Institute said, “NYSERDA’s release today of an 800 MW RFP for offshore wind marks a historic moment in New York State’s commitment to establish a robust and equitable offshore wind industry that will transform NY’s economy over the coming decades. In particular, this RFP includes labor provisions that put New York State at the forefront of tackling the climate crisis and creating high-quality jobs that support working people. From the manufacture of offshore wind component parts, to offshore wind port facilities, and thousands of jobs in the construction of offshore wind farms, New York is seizing a major jobs and economic development opportunity with today’s announcement.”
Anne Hawkins, Executive Director, Responsible Offshore Development Alliance said, “Our coalition looks to provide a unified voice for the commercial fishing industry regarding issues related to the siting and operations of offshore developments, and to ensure that any advances in offshore wind occur in a way that minimizes conflicts with existing traditional and historical fishing. RODA is encouraged by the uniquely collaborative and forward-looking approach that New York has taken in this solicitation to require commercial fishing involvement, through a joint approach with developers and states, to implement fisheries mitigation frameworks that address potential direct and indirect fisheries impacts.”
Adrienne Esposito, Executive Director, Citizens Campaign for the Environment said, “Our transition from fossil fuels to renewables has just taken a giant leap forward with this historic commitment. This is a game changer, a legacy that all New Yorkers will be proud of. By tackling climate change head on New York is proving to be a global leader. This solicitation is a tremendous win for renewable energy, the climate, and the people.”
Gary LaBarbera, President, Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York and Co-Founder, Climate Jobs New York, said, “The New York City Building Trades is excited about the State’s historic RFP on Offshore Wind. While several states have joined the effort to develop an Offshore Wind policy and industry, it is New York State that has gone the farthest to make certain that this new industry produces high quality employment opportunities. The New York City Building Trades thanks Governor Cuomo and NYSERDA for the leadership in progressive procurement policies in renewable energy procurements, such as the inclusion of prevailing wage and Project Labor Agreement requirements in this RFP. These policies ensure the jobs created by this new industry will be good middle class careers that provide excellent wages, health and retirement benefits, as well as safety and skills training for this new sector. New York State’s plan for Offshore Wind procurement is a “win/win” for New Yorkers.”
The Virginia Marise slides away from the dock into the pitch-black night. At 4 a.m., the only light comes from a flood light illuminating the deck of the boat and a handful of streetlights on land that disappear into the darkness as Captain Rodman Sykes maneuvers his boat out of the harbor, the black sky indistinguishable from the black sea.
This is a familiar scene to fishermen like Mr. Sykes. Commercial fishermen have headed out on these New England waters for some 400 years, casting their lines and nets overboard just as the sun peeks over the horizon. But at daybreak on this August morning, there’s a new sight. As the inky-black night gradually fades into the dim gray pre-dawn light, five red flashing lights appear all in a row on the horizon.
Those lights come from the five turbines making up the United States’ first offshore wind farm – the 30 megawatt Block Island Wind Farm. As the Virginia Marise draws closer, and the sky begins to blush pink, the turbines stand out on the horizon. The blades turn slowly in the slight breeze, generating electricity that flows through a cable buried in the seabed to Rhode Island’s Block Island.
The turbines and all the hardware that accompanies them spun to life in December 2016. So far, this is the only offshore wind power in the nation, and with just five turbines, it’s a small installation. But that’s soon to change. Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut have already selected larger projects which are set to be installed not far from the Block Island Wind Farm. And more are in the development pipeline in New York, New Jersey, and Maryland.
This flurry of activity has sparked agitation among the fishermen who have long been a fixture on the Eastern seaboard. Could fields of turbines disrupt their operations and the resource on which their livelihoods depend? Meetings with developers and permitting officials have been tense and, at times, explosive. A group of fishermen have even sued the federal government for leasing a tract of seafloor south of Long Island to an offshore wind developer.
But despite the hostility, some fishermen have expressed the desire to find a way to share the seas. And that will to find common ground may be the first step toward coexistence.
“We’ve got two renewable resources. One in seafood, and one in wind,” says Eric Hansen, a Massachusetts scallop fisherman. “They shouldn’t have to compete.”
Eva Botkin-Kowacki/The Christian Science Monitor
From left, scientists Steve Sabo, Brian Jenkins, and Matt Griffin count and measure fish in a survey around the Block Island Wind Farm on Aug. 16.
Winds of change
The offshore wind industry may be just getting started in the United States, but in Europe, it’s been around for a few decades. And it isn’t small. As of 2017, 4,149 turbines were connected to the grid across the continent. So some American fishermen have looked to Europe for clues about what might happen as offshore power picks up on this side of the pond.
Mr. Hansen is one of those American fishermen. He traveled to Britain with the Fisheries Survival Fund in June to see the wind farms for himself and to speak with fishermen.
The relationship between Europe’s offshore wind farms and local fishermen varies from country to country, but in some, like Belgium, fishermen are not allowed to enter wind farms. And even in places like Britain where fishermen can still fish among the turbines, Hansen learned that many choose not to, largely for fear of the damage that could result from tangling with the mechanical giants. Other fishermen have had to navigate around large swaths of turbine-filled ocean en route to fishing grounds, adding valuable time to their trips.
But a deeper concern that arose out of Hansen’s trip abroad was that offshore wind development might proceed without input from fishermen, as that is one gripe cited by European fishermen.
In the US, rapid-fire political activity promoting offshore wind power in recent years fuels that fear. In August 2016, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker signed a bill requiring electricity distribution companies to buy long-term contracts for at least 1,600 megawatts of offshore wind power by 2027. This year, three other states – New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut – passed further legislation to promote and mandate offshore wind power. There’s also federal support for offshore wind, from an endorsement by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to funding for research and development.
SOURCE: US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
Jacob Turcotte/Staff
That political will is a boon for clean energy advocates. But to fishermen, it’s overwhelming, especially in southern New England, where projects feeding power to four states are planned for the waters between Block Island and Martha’s Vineyard.
“Everything’s on a fast track,” says Fred Mattera, a Rhode Island commercial fisherman and president of the Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation. “I don’t think anybody – even myself – can comprehend the dramatic change in the landscape.”
In April, with Massachusetts moving quickly toward offshore wind energy, a national coalition of commercial fishing groups wrote a letter to Governor Baker asking state officials to keep the first project smaller than 400 megawatts, proceed slowly, and set up a system for the offshore wind and seafood industries to communicate and exist side by side.
But since then, power utilities in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New York have all forged ahead with offshore wind contracts in southern New England waters. If all goes as planned, those projects will add 1490 megawatts of offshore wind power.
“It’s important that we get it right on these next projects,” says Aileen Kenney, senior vice president of development at Deepwater Wind, the developer behind the five-turbine Block Island Wind Farm. Deepwater Wind was awarded all but one of those new contracts. The plan is to scale up slowly, moving next to a 15-turbine project generating power for Long Island, says Ms. Kenney.
Setting precedents
It’s crucial that fishermen are part of the conversation now, before turbines go into the water, Mr. Mattera says. It’s about setting a precedent. What happens now will set the stage for the relationship between the industries going forward. If one developer ignores fisheries’ concerns in favor of profit, he says, others might, too.
“We’re not saying no, we’re not trying to stop it,” Rhode Island lobsterman Lanny Dellinger adds. “We’re trying to have a reasonable outcome in this that allows fisheries to survive.”
The Block Island Wind Farm was a good start, Mr. Dellinger says, thanks to the state’s permitting process. The Rhode Island Ocean Special Area Management Plan (Ocean SAMP) requires extensive stakeholder engagement for any development in state waters, and a Fishermen’s Advisory Board was established to ensure the fishing industry’s voice is heard. Dellinger is the chairman.
“We brought the fishermen in from the very start, and made the developers sit down and work with these guys to work out where they could coexist,” says Grover Fugate, executive director of the state’s Coastal Resources Management Council, which is in charge of the Ocean SAMP implementation.
But the projects currently on the table are all in federal waters, and therefore under federal jurisdiction. At that scale, the voices of individual fishermen and local fishery alliances can be easily missed. State agencies could still influence the permitting process, as federal actions that affect coastal use are required to be consistent with the state’s coastal management program.
But fishermen may now have a stronger voice of their own on the national stage. In June, a group of fishing industry associations and commercial operations came together to form the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA). The alliance’s outlined goals are to make offshore wind development and fisheries more compatible going forward, and to promote collaborative scientific research on the effects of offshore development on fisheries and fish populations.
Even when channels for inter-industry dialogues are established, finding common ground on specifics might not come easily. It’s tricky for the layout of a wind farm, for example, to be ideal for both industries. To capture the most wind energy, turbines should be organized somewhat randomly, explains Deepwater Wind’s Kenney, so turbines don’t block the wind for other turbines. The difference in revenue can be significant, she says. But that doesn’t work so well for fishermen, particularly fishermen who trawl for squid and other fish using nets towed behind their boats.
Getting answers
As the fiery August sun appears over the Virginia Marise, illuminating the haze on the horizon, Captain Sykes and his two crew members drop the massive trawling net into the water. The five turbines turn slowly in the breeze, standing like silent sentinels watching over the dragging operation.
This isn’t an ordinary morning for the fishermen. They trawl for just a fraction of the time they normally would, and after they hoist the net out of the water and dump its wriggly contents out, they step back.
Three scientists step in, picking up fish of all shapes, sizes, and sorts. All the northern sea robins go in one basket, the black sea bass in another; butterfish, squid, scallops, and every kind of flounder each get their own container, too. Then they get counted, weighed, and measured.
Eva Botkin-Kowacki/The Christian Science Monitor
Rodman Sykes, captain of the fishing vessel the Virginia Marise, oversees a research trawl survey on his boat near the Block Island Wind Farm on Aug. 16.
Once a month, Sykes takes a break from his typical trawl to bring scientists out on the Virginia Marise to survey the waters around the Block Island Wind Farm and in two nearby control areas. This project started in September 2012, two years before construction began.
A big concern for fishermen is how little is known about how offshore wind farm construction and operation will affect fish populations. So in an attempt to start answering some of those questions, Deepwater Wind commissioned INSPIRE Environmental – an independent research consultant – to work with local fishermen to design and execute a fish survey. That’s why Sykes and the scientists set out to the turbines together.
The process started with “lots and lots of meetings with fishermen,” says Drew Carey, chief executive officer of INSPIRE Environmental. The goal was to make sure the study’s results would have significance for the fishing industry, and that they would trust the data.
That’s why Sykes got involved. “I felt from the start that it was important that one of the Point Judith fishermen should do it,” he says. “The fishermen have more faith in the information we gather ourselves.”
Other preliminary research found a flurry of fish activity around the base of the turbines, suggesting they may serve as artificial reefs. As a result, some recreational fishermen actually seek out the turbines.
But a line of just five turbines will only begin to answer fishermen’s questions. And with dramatic variation in the seafloor and ecosystems from site to site, fishermen have called for more long-term, baseline research before turbines go in so they can better assess changes.
“There are a lot of unknowns that we would like to get some answers to before the whole Eastern seaboard is populated by wind turbines,” Hansen says. “A lot more research needs to be done.”
Ocean City’s elected officials may have an ally in their opposition to offshore wind farms, as commercial seafood industry representatives told the City Council Monday they are concerned about the towers’ impact on fishing.
The session was arranged by commercial fisherman George Topping, who researched the effects of marine-based installations. He was joined by Sonny Gwin and Wes Townsend of the Mid-Atlantic Fish Council for Maryland, and Meghan Lapp, of the Rhode Island seafood company, Seafreeze.
Lapp told the council that 3.6 million acres of ocean between Maine and North Carolina have been slated for offshore wind development. The irony, she said, is that the federal government in 1976 established a 200-mile economic zone off the country’s coast to prevent foreign fleets from depleting fish stocks in U.S. waters.
“Now we have these same fishing grounds being sold right out from under us to the Norwegian [or] Danish government, [as well as] French, Italian, [or] Spanish investors,” she said.
Additionally, Lapp said navigation could be more difficult and, possibly, dangerous near turbines.
Rotating turbine blades could cause malfunctions with marine navigation, communications, airborne radar, sonar and subsurface acoustical monitoring systems, Lapp said.
“False radar signals make navigating through lots of turbines difficult … especially at night or in bad weather,” she said.
“It’s going to be impractical and not safe because many wind farms [are being proposed] close to major shipping lanes,” she said. “When you have [oil] tankers … they don’t stop or turn easily.”
Wind farm areas will also limit critical fishery surveys conducted by the Northeast Fisheries Science Center, Lapp said.
“That should seriously concern anybody who has any connection to commercial or recreational fisheries,” she said. “If we don’t have a quota, if we don’t have management, we can’t really go fishing. Commercial fisheries cannot relocate, so we don’t have a lot of legal options,” she said. “If they put wind farms on open areas we can’t necessarily legally move, so that means we’re done.”
Lapp also said the Coast Guard has warned that wind turbines can result in a loss of HF radars that are used for search and rescue missions at sea.
Topper said proposed wind farms could also affect horseshoe crabs, whose blue blood is highly valued for medical applications.
In 2001 the National Marine Fisheries Service established a Horseshoe Crab sanctuary in federal waters off the mouth of the Delaware Bay
“We supply the blood for every hospital in this country, Europe and Asia, and also the military,” he said. “If they put the wind farm in the sanctuary area, we don’t have any idea what it’s going to do to the horseshoe crabs.”
Lapp also questioned the introduction of artificial reefs to foster marine life, noting recent studies concluded that sandy, or smooth bottom habitats, provide more biologically productive sediment sites.
“You will reduce overall biological composition of an area and your species composition will also probably decrease,” she said. “Putting in artificial reefs, according to science, is not a good thing in our region.”
Councilman John Gehrig, while offering to support the group’s efforts, asked if they were working to educate the recreational fishing industry about the concerns discussed.
“They’re being persuaded this wind farm is going to be good for them,” he said. “The wind companies are trying to fracture everything and they’re dishing out dollar bills.”
Topper said the effort to inform both commercial and recreational fishermen continues.
“Let’s put a halt to this for the next five years,” he said. “Let’s study … what the effects are going to be on whales, turtles and fish.”
Gwin said more research is needed before embracing offshore wind farms for clean energy production.
“It’s up to our representatives and the people to find the truth behind these things, so they don’t put them out there and destroy the environment for something they say is going to help the environment,” he said.
In hopes of encouraging more detailed analysis about the impact of offshore wind turbines Lapp said the commercial fishing industry has formed the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance
“We want to develop public / private partnerships [and] … start working on interagency coordination,” she said. “We have the oldest industry in the U.S. potentially going to be obliterated and everything is continuing along as planned.”
Mayor Rick Meehan said the wind farm permitting process is far from over, with numerous approvals yet to be met.
“I think each and every time we need to be present [and] maybe a few more people will open their eyes to the big picture here,” he said. “It’s a bigger issue than everybody has really imagined it to be.”
A flurry of planned and proposed offshore wind projects in the Northeastern United States is causing anxiety among fishermen, who are worried that the turbines will disrupt marine life, make fishing more difficult, and harm their livelihoods.
The United States’ nascent offshore wind industry is predicted to grow rapidly in the coming years as states create and follow through on requirements to source a greater portion of their energy from clean sources, such as offshore wind.
The first offshore wind project in the U.S. – just five turbines generating 30 megawatts of electricity – came online in December 2016 near Block Island, Rhode Island. In the years to come, many more turbines are expected to crop up on the horizon.
Some fishermen worry the turbines will be too close together, making navigating difficult and possibly dangerous. Others are concerned the turbines will affect ocean currents, and the larvae that are swept up in them. And still others fret about the possibility that undersea electricity transmission will cause behavioral changes in bottom-dwelling creatures.
Earlier this month, a new lobbying group called the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance formed to represent the East Coast fishing industry in discussions over permitting of offshore wind development.
“The current, splintered approaches to engaging fishing communities in the offshore wind leasing process are ineffective and inefficient, and the result is that critical fishing industry expertise is not being considered,” Anne Hawkins, who is the group’s legal and scientific counsel, said in a statement. “Fisheries need a unified effort to ensure they get the best possible offshore outcomes.”
In May, Massachusetts selected the offshore wind developer Vineyard Wind to deliver 800 megawatts of offshore power, or enough to power more than 375,000 homes every year. Vineyard estimates that the project will lower the state’s carbon emissions by more than 1.6 million tons per year, or roughly the equivalent of removing 325,000 cars from the road.
Construction could start on the project 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard as soon as 2019, and it could be operational by 2021. The project will be built in two 400-megawatt phases.
Since 2016, Vineyard Wind has met with more than 100 fishing groups and individual fishermen, Erich Stephens, the company’s chief development officer, told SeafoodSource. The company has incorporated input from fishermen, for example by laying out the turbines in a grid to provide transit paths out from New Bedford to the Great South Channel, Georges Bank, and other areas.
Different fisheries in the region will face different potential impacts from the project, Jim Kendall, a seafood consultant, fisheries representative to Vineyard Wind and former scalloper, told SeafoodSource.
The full-time scallop fleet doesn’t generally fish in the Vineyard Wind’s project area, while lobstermen generally stay further west, north or further east, in areas with more bottom structure. But squid fishermen have fished the area for years, and are the most concerned, he said.
“They have voiced their fears and concerns about how the wind areas will impact their ability to fish within the array of towers, and they are also concerned about the possible physical impacts that might be caused by the towers and the cables needed to carry the electricity to shore,” Kendall said.
Other companies are also eyeing offshore wind projects.
In May, Rhode Island selected Deepwater Wind, which developed the Block Island project, to provide another 400 megawatts of offshore wind. And in April, the company announced a proposal for a 200-megawatt project between Montauk, New York, and Martha’s Vineyard.
Bay State Wind, a partnership between Ørsted, the Danish developer of 27 percent of the world’s offshore wind capacity, and Eversource, the largest electric transmission company in New England, has ambitious plans for the region. Bay State is aiming to develop 7,000 megawatts of offshore wind in New England and New York in the next 10 years.
Currently, the company is preparing to seek state and federal approval for projects, including by gathering information on the ocean floor, marine environment, and wind speeds. The company is also reaching out to fishermen, and has formed a Bay State Wind Fishermen’s Advisory Panel.
“Offshore wind is a brand new industry for the U.S. and fishermen are understandably wary — and for good reasons,” John Williamson, the fishery liaison officer for Bay State Wind, told SeafoodSource. “However, we are committed to partnering with fishing communities in pursuing strategies which minimize impacts and allow the two industries to coexist and thrive.”
To make offshore wind projects work for everyone, “communication is key,” added Williamson, who has had more than 1,000 individual conversations with fishermen and fishery leaders in the last two years.
“Where Ørsted has been most successful in building offshore wind facilities which are fully accessible to fishermen, and where problems are minimal, have been in communities where fishermen are organized,” he said. “We want to address issues before they become problems.”
