Maine Looking to put Windfarm on PLATTS!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Roccus7]

Got this today. Even recs can comment at the survey website. This has very productive parts of Platts included!! I expect at least @Old Mud and @spcharlton to have a few choice comments...

Today, Governor Mills issued a letter to all commercial fishing license-holders outlining a series of actions to protect coastal fisheries from the impacts of offshore wind development.

These actions include a proposal for a 10-year moratorium on new wind projects for state-controlled waters, a review of offshore wind regulations, and an extension of the permitting timeline for the Gulf of Maine Floating Offshore Wind Research Array. For the full message from the Governor please click here.

The Maine Department of Marine Resources is also seeking feedback from commercial and recreational fishermen on how and where fishing activities occur within the area of interest for a proposed offshore wind research array.

Please complete the following brief survey to provide your input which will be used in decisions around locating the proposed site: https://arcg.is/LLfWj

Upon completion of the survey, DMR staff may reach out for additional follow up and information as the process evolves.

A map of the proposed area is shown below, is attached to this notice, and is available on the DMR website. The State is seeking information to narrow down the site to 16 square miles or less. Additional information on the proposed research array can be found at: https://www.maine.gov/energy/initiatives/offshorewind/researcharray

We are interested in how your fishing activity can help better define the research array and associated research plan. We intend to work with commercial and recreational fishermen to better understand the impacts of wind development in the Gulf of Maine. Ultimately the selected site will not exceed 16 square statute miles and will be connected to the electrical grid by an undersea cable to Wiscasset (Maine Yankee) or Yarmouth (Wyman Station).

First and foremost, the State seeks to avoid displacement of fishing activity, or if that is not possible, to minimize it. We intend to work with the fishing industry to evaluate available data that shows fishing activity, but we know that most of this data is either incomplete (limited in years) or does not include critical fisheries (lobster and tuna). Furthermore, fishing is very dynamic, and we know that areas that have been important historically or may be in the future may not be reflected in the data for areas with high current use.

The survey can be found at https://arcg.is/LLfWj

If you are in need of assistance completing this survey, or know someone who would like to participate but is unable to complete the survey online, please contact Carl Wilson, Director Bureau of Marine Science, at [email protected] or (207)633-9538.

We estimate this survey will take 5-10 minutes to complete. If you choose to do so, we will follow up directly with you for additional comments.

• wind_area_map_with_site_scale.jpg
• OSW Letter 1.22.2021.pdf

 

[captmike28]

Hi Roccus,
I am not an environmental scientist or fisheries biologist by trade. However, I do have a degree in Biology and am pretty savvy about most things related to these two subjects, especially as they are related to fishing. Many of my own opinions, as I will share here, are based upon a lifetime of fishing the waters of eastern LI including running my own charter business there for the last 21 years.

Offshore Wind Farms do seem to be all the rage now in the US for close to 10 years. The number of projects being proposed seems to grow dramatically each year, although actual permitting processes and construction tend to lag far behind. In my own personal experience I can only comment on what I have observed with the Block Island, RI five turbine farm which went on line in late 2106 and the continued proposed plans for placing a fifteen turbine farm approximately 30 miles east of Montauk.

While I run my charter operation out of the North Fork, during the summer months I do make several trips in the vicinity of Block and over the years I have made many trips fishing the waters al around Block and as far east as Coxes Ledge. During the 2-3 years it took to construct the Block Island Turbines it did not seem to me to be a major disruption to the other boats working the area. I will also agree that there is no doubt that the actual structures themselves have become "artificial reefs" in this vicinity drawing fish in tightly to the platforms, much like the oil rigs in the Gulf do.

Where I see problems occurring down the road, and even currently is from a few perspectives. First, like almost every "green energy" project this one was supposed to produce more energy, and more cost effectively for the local community it serves. From everything I have read over the years it seems the folks on Block I. are actually paying higher electrical costs since the installation of this farm. Despite all of the fancy rhetoric from the developers and their government partners, these are extremely expensive projects to complete in very harsh environments. Next comes the anticipated actual lifetime of these structures which is claimed to be 25 years. While Deep Water Wind claims they are required by their permits to set aside enough money for the decommissioning process , who knows how many of the current staff will even be on board to honor those commitments 25 years down the road? And what happens to some of the waste which may be toxic?

Then there are some scientific and environmental issues that apply to both Block I. and the new proposed site east of both Montauk and Block. The same sense of concern you mentioned about Platt's Ledge came over me when I received the first letter from Deep Water Wind inviting me to attend one of their "input meetings" in East Hampton Township 3 years ago. That letter included a chart indicating that of all the area in the Atlantic between Block and Martha's Vineyard they had leased, the spot where they had planned to place the fifteen turbines was right smack in the middle of Coxes Ledge. Much like Platt's this area provides a very significant fishery for boats coming out of at least 4 surrounding states (CT, NY, RI, MA).

Upon seeing this I immediately called the person in charge and asked if I could sit with them just before the start of the first meeting where they had planned to present "scientific and economic data" to the local community. I went armed with my nautical charts marking some of the most productive areas I personally fish and knowing that many other boats also work the same areas. To my surprise they all seemed unaware of the rich fishery that exists on these grounds.

As the meeting progressed the "economic guys were talking about how this placement would not impact fishing boats trying to work the area. Once again they had no knowledge of how wide a berth a trawler must give a certain piece of structure to avoid tangling their gear. This first farm is supposed to be "only" 15 turbines but there was discussion about adding another 45 turbines in the waters to the north and east getting pretty close to Martha's Vineyard. Depending upon the density of placement I envision this to be another navigational nightmare and very restrictive to many commercial operations. They also spoke glowingly about how little the project would disrupt local fishing operations during the construction process, claiming they could bury the transmission lines at the rate of 1 mile per day. Seems very ambitious to me with no thought as to delays from weather related and other issues. Not to mention the fact that these lines, depending upon where they will make landfall, could be traversing nearly all of the most heavily fished areas between Coxes Ledge, Block I. and Montauk Point.

Then we moved on to some "scientific data" concerning the potential effects on the local fish caused by the Electro Magnetic Field" emitted by these devices. Now we were treated to the results of a single survey conducted back in 2009 on the west coast with different species of fish, which were kept in pens and not actually swimming around in the wild. When challenged they said they had conducted some surveys of the Coxes Ledge area that consisted of 4 Head Boats with 8 Anglers aboard each running 1 trip per month for a couple of years. A similar weak effort was made with a pair of trawlers. To myself and several of the other commercial and charter fishing captains present this all seemed like an extremely small sample. Not very much was presented about the potential effects strong EMF's can have on fish reproduction or even feeding patterns over the long haul.

One other thought, going back to the artificial reef effect of these towers. Currently, for the last 5 years there has been very little restriction as to how close boats can fish to the Block I. wind mills, unless maintenance is being done to them. However, in this day and age all it could take is one accident or "terrorist threat" to have the government place a large safety restriction around these wind mills totally negating the reef effect.

In conclusion, I want to state that I am definitely not anti environment as I too generate a part of my income plus tremendous personal pleasure from fishing. I am also not opposed to finding different and cleaner forms of energy. I just feel that maybe we have discarded fracking and nuclear options way too quickly in favor of the idealist dream of using the sun and wind to power most of our lives. It seems that on the battery storage side of the equation we are still very far away from the desired goals.

As far as your local battle in Maine goes, I would encourage everyone with a stake in this to be as involved as possible. I know it seems impossible, at times, to go up against forces with huge amounts of money and deep political ties. In our case in NY we still don't know the exact location of the "Cox Ledge" proposal and we would like to think that at the very least they will try to relocate those Turbines when construction actually begins. We may not be able to win every battle, but staying home and not making our voices hears will surely result in an outcome that you will later regret.

Sorry for the long reply but as you can tell this is one issue that is near and dear to my heart!
Good luck with your efforts.
Capt. Mike

 

[Old Mud]

Geez i don't know what happened to my post from yesterday ?? Anyway Mike said it all as far as down there goes. Not much of a difference up here. That tract the propose are where 75% of my fish have come from over the years. Yeah it would suck to put them right there but anywhere you go up the coast about that far off you will run into interference. Those areas are where most of the day boats fish.


While the proposed units up here will be floating that will make eatch one have a much bigger footprint than a tower. They are much to big to deploy with just one mooring. And as anyone who is familiar with moorings know the 5 times rule. That is to say if you set some in that area just North of Platts it's 100 fathoms. So 500 fathoms on each mooring would encompass a wide area. Notwithstanding the drift !. As Mike assumes about our government changing the rules, that has merit to be concerned. After 9/11 the government laid out and enforced a extended barrier around Bath Iron Works. (Where i live). It is guarded 24/365.

The same thing will most likely happen with anything that is now proposed. Expansion is Enevitable. Big money is involved thus not wanting to move the proposed sites further offshore. That part of New Ledge is 40 + NM off bald Head. After seeing some of the projects in the North sea that's just a drop in the bucket. Some of what they have going on right now is feeder lines for 70 and many more NM offshore.

After all that I feel that a simple corospondence is what i will do. No showing up for meetings, Hearings or Public imput. Most if not all are government mandated and the folks you're talking to already have their minds made up. Lip service. After so many years of Meetings, Hearings and public input ( more than 30) I have come to realize something my father told me was true. "Someday when you beat your head against the wall enough and see the blood running down you will realize that's your blood. Everyone else is clean." It's time for the new guard to step up.

Don

 

[Roccus7]

@captmike28 and @Old Mud: Please share your comments by taking that poll. Great posts, and yes, anything on Platts will negate fishing there big time. There's also that DOD lane to contend with. What were they thinking? Oh I know, they weren't...

 

[captmike28]

Quick question, Roccus. I will be happy to take the poll if you think it will help. My concern here is I am not fishing your waters in ME and fear they may discount any of my opinions. Please advise.

 

[Roccus7]

Quick question, Roccus. I will be happy to take the poll if you think it will help. My concern here is I am not fishing your waters in ME and fear they may discount any of my opinions. Please advise.

Don't worry, anyone, especially charter captains can chime in!!

 

[jpd]

I've read the whole thread, won't do the usual "NIMBY" response.
Defeat this one by the Grace of God and you won't be done.
Great info BTW

 

[captmike28]

By the way, just to reinforce my earlier comment and Old Mud's observation about the "big money" involved it is truly staggering. Back in 2017 when the East Hampton Town supervisors strenuously objected to the project Deepwater offered the town $1 million for local water infratstucture projects, a slush fund for the town trustees, a fisheries fund, and more money for other sustainable energy projects.

Then last year when things really stalled late summer due to Covid concerns delaying many meetings, they upped the amount to $20 million! Supposedly Orsted Corp. (new Danish owners) have a deadline of completing the project by the end of 2022 and so they increased their "bribe" to an eye popping $29 million!!! From what I just read today the town supervisors are starting to bend and anticipate making a decision by the end of March. Really sick stuff.

 

[captmike28]

OK, Roccus, I will send my input first thing in the morning. Good luck.

 

[captmike28]

So now that "King Biden" is firmly seated on his throne, he is signing away our futures at a frightening pace. An article appeared in our local LI newspaper today announced it is now full speed ahead towards the construction of the 15 Turbine wind farm on Coxes ledge.

And just to rub it in our faces, the developer Orsted Corp. has just terminated the contract of the sole Montauk Fishing Captain who was on their advisory board. Before she was discharged, at least there was some discussion about increasing the spacing of the platforms to reduce the obvious navigation hazards. Now they admit that plan would mean they would have to eliminate 5 of the turbines so they have scraped that plan. Orsted claims they will fill the "fisheries advisor" position soon but declined to comment on the prior contract. Can't wait to see the "puppet" they install to support the fishing industry's concerns!

The article also clearly mentioned that the $29M "bribe" was key to moving the project forward.

Roccus, I did fill out the survey for your area last week and I hope that it helps to some degree. All I can say is be prepared for a very difficult battle.

 

[OVERBORED]

Is it truly "sustainable" if the government is subsidising it?

FYI - One of the biggest stakeholders in this industry is none other than Warren Buffet. Not the type of guy who's used to losing!

 

[Old Mud]

Thanks cap. Mike.

 

[Old Mud]

Dom, i went to take that poll and a got a pop up that i already took it. I don't even remember when. After seeing a different map of that proposed area i see it runs west another 20 or so miles and takes in all the Northern end of Jefferies all the way to the fingers. UGH. I guess you know what my thoughts are about that. Seems they would prefer the high ground.

It's kind of scary to me to think about mooring something that big and thinking " we got this" is foolishness. We have only to look at the NOAA national buoy center past history in the Gulf of Maine and see the buoys that have broken away in the past. They have well designed moorings. Weights, chains, scope etc. They do break away in spite of all our technology. These are small buoys.

Ok time for me to stop.