Fisheries groups oppose fast tracking offshore wind development in Gulf of Maine
The health of the ocean is at stake, according to fishing industry advocates who oppose offshore wind development.
A report on the threats posed to commercial fishing was released after an offshore wind conference held in Boston in May.
The report, “Offshore Wind and New England Fishermen in the Gulf of Maine” was compiled by the Massachusetts Fishermen’s Partnership, Massachusetts Seafood Collaborative, Northeast Seafood Coalition and the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance.
The Partnership’s Vice President and Executive Director Angela Sanfilippo said her organization is concerned about the health of the ocean, the health of the fish stock, and the health of the industry. She calls plans for fast-tracking wind developments a threat to all three.
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Ocean, fish, industry could be impacted
"This is industrialization of the ocean,” she said, noting plans that call for placing wind turbines in a ferocious part of the Northwest Atlantic and laying 45 miles of cable on the ocean floor.
“This is not a safe ocean,” she said. “Our concern is that these turbines will be floating in the Atlantic Ocean and who will be responsible? The administration wants to accelerate this work. They want to clean the environment. We can’t swap a resource that’s been around for 400 years for something that will last 30 years.”
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The Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank are among the most productive fishing grounds in the world. Fishermen from Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire and Rhode Island catch scallops, lobsters and groundfish there.
Sanfilippo said her organization, and others like it, have fought many battles against oil drilling, dumping, and fish farming in the Gulf. Offshore wind development worries her.
According to the report, multinational companies are fast-tracking bids, there is limited transparency in the process, and input from fisheries stakeholders has been ignored.
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"There has been no true accounting for the environmental, ecological, economic, or navigational concerns we have raised, nor have there been any robust studies or serious reports on those matters,” the report reads.
Contact Denise Coffey at dcoffey@capecodonline.com.
This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Offshore wind turbines a concern for New England fisheries groups
