On January 31, 2022, RODA filed suit against the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management challenging  the government’s decision to approve Vineyard Wind 1, the first large-scale offshore wind project in the country. Located 12-miles south of Nantucket Island off of Massachusetts, the project would see 84 steel turbines hydraulically hammered into the ocean floor, standing 850-feet tall when finished. Up to 200 miles of electric cables will be trenched into the ocean floor, passing through thriving marine ecosystems for many abundant and sustainably caught fish species, the North Atlantic right whale, and other important marine life.

Our lawsuit alleges violations of several U.S. laws related to the Vineyard Wind 1 project. These include:

• Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act
• Administrative Procedure Act
• National Environmental Policy Act
• Merchant Marine Act of 1920 (Jones Act)
• Clean Water Act
• Endangered Species Act
• Marine Mammal Protection Act

Scores of other big offshore wind projects have been or are in queue to be approved along every coastline in U.S. waters. This lawsuit challenges the regulations at the heart of all offshore wind projects and our goal is for a victory in this case to force reconsideration of BOEM’s leasing and permitting process. Our brief, among other arguments, discusses:

• Inadequacies in the NEPA process;
• The failure to analyze cumulative impacts of multiple offshore wind leases in the region;
• A lack of fisheries engagement;
• The failure to consider reasonable fisheries mitigation measures due to signing of power purchase agreements in advance of environmental review; and
• The failure to consider land-based renewable energy options.

Unsurprisingly, the government opposed these claims and arguments.  Perhaps more surprisingly, the government is also challenging RODA’s standing, alleging that we are solely an advocacy organization with no interest in the human or natural environment.

On October 12, 2023, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani sided with BOEM and Vineyard Wind in finding that the agency acted within the law in approving the first offshore wind project. In her decision, the judge denied RODA’s standing to bring the suit, questioned whether offshore wind would cause economic harm to fisheries, dismissed claims about protected resources, and stated that fishermen involved in the suit lack competence to make assertions as to whether the project will cause environmental harm.

On March 5, 2024, RODA filed an appeal in the First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals challenging the finding of the lower court. The details of this challenge are outlined in our opening brief.

On December 5, 2024, the appellate court decided in favor of the Vineyard Wind 1 project. The appeals court upheld the lower court’s ruling, which held that fishermen are largely unable to bring claims related to environmental or aesthetic impacts to assert standing. This ruling ignores the deep, direct connection that our members, who work on the water every day, have with the ocean environment, falsely construing them as merely profit-seeking business owners. The court’s decision suggests that a hobbyist or casual nature observer has more standing to understand or challenge potential environmental harm than professional fishermen whose livelihoods, communities, and very identity depend on the health of the sea.

The appeals court has also reaffirmed the agency’s ability to selectively include information in its decision-making. It goes to great lengths to find any evidence to support the government’s sparse record, sending a dangerous message that decisions can be fast-tracked and “figured out later” in order to push projects through more quickly. This approach jeopardizes the integrity of environmental reviews and undermines the precautionary principle that should govern decisions with potentially devastating long-term impacts.

Despite the legal setbacks outlined above, RODA is undeterred and will petition the United States Supreme Court to hear the case on behalf of fishermen and others who value marine ecosystems and coastal communities.

On March 5, 2025, RODA filed a petition for a writ of certiorari to the Supreme Court. The petition seeks review of the interpretation of Section 1337(p)(4)of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) that requires the Secretary of the Interior to “ensure,” that any approved activities – including offshore wind turbine projects – are consistent with Congress’s requirement to ensure “prevention of interference with reasonable uses,” including consideration of  “use of the sea, or a seabed for a fishery.”

Petitioning the SCOTUS is the only option left to ensure American seafood harvesters, and the US wild-caught sustainable seafood industry are not put out of business.

Check back for updates.

In early 2024, RODA joined a broad coalition of more than 35 organizations in filing suit against the approval of the South Fork and Revolution Wind offshore wind projects. Located on Cox Ledge off Southern New England, the plaintiffs (lead by Green Oceans) contend that the projects were approved despite the acknowledgement of serious irreversible harm and without adequate environmental impact studies.  As proposed, South Fork Wind is a 13,700 acre wind farm and Revolution Wind is an 83,798 acre wind farm – both off the coast of Rhode Island.

On January 16, 2024, RODA joined the other defendants in filing a complaint asserting that BOEM had failed to comply with numerous statutes and regulations, including:

• Administrative Procedure Act
• National Environmental Policy Act
• Endangered Species Act
• Marine Mammal Protection Act
• Migratory Bird Treaty Act
• Coastal Zone Management Act
• National Historic Preservation Act
• Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act
• Clean Water Act

The suit is currently going through the District Court for the District of Columbia. Check back for updates.