Tag Archives: Delaware
2 Delaware watermen sue to delay US Wind turbine project off Ocean City coast
The Caesar Rodney Institute filed the lawsuit against the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control on the watermen’s behalf, focusing on a technicality that U.S. Wind did not complete an application that would allow the company to bring transmission lines ashore to Delaware and build a power substation next to the Indian River Powerplant. The lawsuit asks the Sussex County Superior Court to declare that the agency can’t grant a permit because the application is incomplete. The application for a beach construction permit requires a report from the Division of Watershed Stewardship, as well as zoning approvals, which have not been done. “Law and the regulations they adopted require that approval for the zoning required as part of the project be done before the permits are granted, and, in fact, it’s a mandatory component of the application itself,” attorney Jane Brady said. Video, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:33
BOEM seeks public input on possible wind energy areas
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management officials are asking for feedback on possible commercial wind energy development in areas totaling 13.47 million acres off the coasts of North Carolina, Virginia, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland, or Central Atlantic 2. The Central Atlantic 2 Call Area “is broad to allow for flexibility to minimize conflicts with other uses, such as commercial fisheries, military activities, and vessel traffic,” according to the federal agency. This announcement builds on the input and planning that led to the first Central Atlantic lease sale on Aug. 14, the fifth offshore wind lease sale held during the Biden-Harris administration, according to BOEM. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 09:07
U.S. Offshore Wind: The Struggle Continues
This post updates the financial troubles of Denmark’s Ørsted, recent BOEM auctions, and pushback against Maryland governor Wes Moore. Today, operational offshore wind capacity is less than 50 megawatts versus the Biden-Harris Administration goal of 30,000 MW by 2030. Denmark’s Ørsted, the worldwide leading offshore wind developer, recorded a $575 million loss in the second quarter. In part, the loss is the result of disappointing developments in the U.S. The company has delayed commercial operation of its 704-MW Revolution Wind project off the coast of Rhode Island and Connecticut from 2025 to 2026. Ørsted’s ambitious U.S. offshore wind program has been lagging, despite solid support (subsidies, permits) from the Biden administration. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06;50
Will offshore wind presence get even bigger off Ocean City?
The first auction of 2024 for more land leased for offshore wind off the Delmarva Peninsula was cleared for Aug. 14 after the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management released the Central Atlantic Final Sale Notice. The notice is the last step required by the agency to hold a lease auction for the Central Atlantic region, which includes offshore areas in Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. In total, the area available for lease covers more than 275,000 acres, enough to develop up to 6.3 GW of offshore wind energy capacity. Detractors for the expansion of offshore wind in Maryland, like Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md-1st, took aim at the decision, noting there were still a number of environmental issues surrounding plans for turbines. “We should never allow foreign-owned offshore wind companies to control our energy supply — much less harm our marine life while doing it,” said a spokesperson for Harris. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 11:51
Biden’s Policies Threaten Small Lobster Fishers and Right Whales
While lobstermen likely haven’t been contributing to NARW deaths, it is undisputed that vessel strikes, both in U.S. and foreign waters, have. Which brings us to the Biden administration’s decision to construct thousands of offshore wind turbines smack-dab in the middle of the whale’s migration route and habitat. Biden’s East Coast offshore wind initiative could qualify as an extinction level event for the North Atlantic right whale. Despite this, the Biden administration plans to build 30,000 megawatts of traditional offshore wind facilities (with structures attached to the ocean floor) in federal waters by 2030, and an additional 15,000 megawatts of floating industrial offshore wind power by 2035. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:31
US Wind Requests Authorization to Cover Possible Harm, Disturbance to Marine Mammals
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries has announced a request from US Wind, Inc. for a Letter of Authorization that would cover potential negative impacts to small numbers of marine mammals during construction of US Wind’s offshore wind project.US Wind also requested Incidental Take Regulations that would establish how many of a certain marine mammal species’ incidental disruption and possible injury would be permissible during construction. “This regulatory action is part of NOAA’s ongoing work to ensure the nation’s deployment of offshore wind energy is done in a manner that avoids and minimizes impacts on protected resources and their habitats,” NOAA Fisheries said in a social media post Wednesday. more, >>click to read<< 06:38
An Opportunity for Neighbors in Ocean City to Voice Opinions on Offshore Wind?
On Tuesday night, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management held a public meeting at Ocean City Elementary. However, many thought it was a public hearing, which caused some confusion and frustration. By 5:00 p.m., hundreds of people had funneled into Ocean City Elementary, eager to voice any complaints or compliments. Ocean City’s Mayor, Rick Meehan, said the lack of opportunity to speak out loud did not allow the meeting to start off on the right foot. “They were mad and a lot of people left,” said Meehan. “They were very discouraged by the opportunity that was presented to them to speak on something that is very important to this area.” Commercial fishermen like Jimmy Hahn are worried about the future. “I’m scared to death that the windmills are going to kill our fishing industry,” said Hahn. Hahn said the lease area is the primary fishing spot out of Ocean City and is also used by fisherman from Delaware and New Jersey. >>click to read<< 15:54
U.S. offshore wind plans are utterly collapsing
Offshore wind developer Ørsted has delayed its New Jersey Ocean Wind 1 project to 2026. Previously, the company had announced construction of the project would begin in October 2023. The delay was attributed to supply chain issues, higher interest rates, and a failure so far to garner enough tax credits from the federal government. For now, they are not walking away from all their U.S. projects but will reconsider long-term plans by the end of this year. Ørsted’s stock price has fallen 30% in 5 days. This is just the latest bad news for offshore win. >>click to read<<10:57
Opinion: Offshore wind, marine-life deaths by Carol Frazier
Do you remember the line from “The Wizard of Oz” when Dorothy and her companions are on their way to Oz and are afraid of being attacked? The line was “Lions and tigers and bears – oh my! Lions and tigers and bears – oh my!” Well, I have revised that to “Murphy and Carney and Moore – oh my!” referring to the three Democrat governors of New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland who are absolutely determined to go full steam ahead on offshore wind, no matter what evidence of harm to wildlife and commercial fishing and the economy is presented. I read Doug Miller’s letter to the editor of Aug. 11 with interest, also. Regarding Mr. Miller’s statement that concern about whale deaths is nonsense, I beg to differ. >click to read< 08:54
Letter: Something fishy about those offshore wind feds
Does anyone else find it interesting that the Federal Agencies charged with leasing our ocean to foreign companies seeking to construct offshore wind power plants is ladened with former employees of one of, if not the largest, lobbying firm for offshore wind developers, Latham & Watkins? Tommy Beaudreau, the principal deputy assistant secretary for land and minerals management, Ms. Laura Daniel-Davis, who signs the Bureau of Ocean & Energy Management’s record of decisions, and most importantly, Liz Klein, the director of BOEM. I find this particularly disturbing as I read the latest press release from BOEM announcing plans to lease another 356,550 acres of the Atlantic Ocean off of Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. These lease areas flank our fishing canyons. >click to read< by Dianna Harris, Ocean City, Md. 15:09
NC joins pact to cover offshore wind farm related fisheries losses
North Carolina has joined nearly a dozen other East Coast states to create a financial compensation program that would cover economic losses within the fisheries industry caused by Atlantic offshore wind development. The Fisheries Mitigation Project aims to establish a regional administrator to oversee the process of reviewing claims and making payouts collected through a fund paid for by wind developers to commercial and for-hire recreational fisheries industries to mitigate financial loss associated with offshore wind farms. The goal first and foremost of the states is to ensure wind energy areas and the cable systems that will run from wind farms to land are developed in way that would result in minimal impacts to the fisheries industry. >click to read< 10:22
North Carolina Joins Effort to Establish Regional Fisheries Mitigation for Offshore Wind Development
Governor Roy Cooper announced that North Carolina has joined other Atlantic Coast states involved with the Special Initiative on Offshore Wind on a coordinated project to support fisheries mitigation in the development of offshore wind along the East Coast. “It is important that we work to meet our state’s offshore wind energy goals while still protecting our marine fishery industry,” said Governor Cooper. “We are committed to collaborating with other states in this effort to make sure we achieve both goals.” Currently, the Initiative is focused on establishing a framework to compensate commercial and for-hire fishermen in the event of economic impact related to offshore wind development. The goal is to develop a regional approach for administration of any financial compensation paid by developers. Economic impacts from coastal fishing in North Carolina top $4.5 billion annually. >click to read< 08:26
US Navy Sounds Alarm Over Biden’s Offshore Wind Plans
The US Navy and Pentagon are sounding alarms over Biden administration plans to advance offshore wind projects along the central Atlantic US coast, warning that almost all of the new terrain eyed for development conflicts with military operations. Maps shared with industry stakeholders and seen by Bloomberg News show vast red areas that the Navy and Air Force have deemed “highly problematic,” covering prime real estate the Interior Department last year earmarked for leasing off the coasts of North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and Delaware. The Defense Department’s concerns, which come on top of other conflicts identified by the US Coast Guard, have spooked renewable power developers and US East Coast states counting on mid-Atlantic wind farms to meet clean energy and climate goals. >click to read< 11:18
Public comment period opens on draft offshore wind areas
The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management on Wednesday announced that a 30-day public comment period has begun on eight draft offshore wind energy areas, including off the North Carolina coast. BOEM said it will hold virtual public meetings to engage the fishing community and environmental organizations to gather more information on the proposed areas and discuss next steps. The proposed areas cover about 1.7 million acres off North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and Delaware. The distances to their closest points range from about 19 to 77 nautical miles offshore. >click to read< 08:10
Menhaden fleet provides flashback in Lewes history
Although the industry has roots as far back as the late 19th century in Lewes, it was Otis Smith, who was also elected mayor, who revolutionized the industry during the first half of the 20th century up until the mid-1960s when the fishery was depleted. It’s hard to believe today, but in 1953, Lewes was the largest seafood port in the United States, processing more than 390 million pounds of fish, of which 360 million pounds was menhaden. Lewes was a factory town. There was no discrimination in the industry as good-paying jobs were provided for whites and Blacks. Many seasonal workers, mostly from Virginia and North Carolina, also came to Lewes to work during the fishing season from April through October. At its zenith, the Lewes operation landed more pounds of fish than any other fishery in the United States. Photos, >click to read< 15:26
Lawsuit filed over bridge repairs
On December 28, 2021, a dump truck pulling an excavator on a flatbed truck struck the overhead portion of the Mispillion drawbridge, as a result, the bridge cannot be lifted to allow larger boats to travel under the bridge. This has led to a lawsuit filed by Joan and Sudler Lofland, Russell Brown, Kevin Beam and Jason Watson requesting that the bridge be opened. The Lofland’s own the Vinyard Shipyard, Brown, Beam and Watson are commercial fishermen who docked their boat at the shipyard during the winter for repairs and maintenance. >click to read< 19:50
Delaware lobsterman ‘Captain Bill’ Melvin Ernest Rice has passed away
Ernest “Bill” Melvin Rice, 81, of Lewes passed away at home Sunday, Aug. 22, 2021. He was born June 17, 1940, in Lewes, son of the late Ernest M. and Charlotte (Smith) Rice. Bill was a proud veteran, having honorably served in the U.S. Marine Corps. After his military service, he started his own business along with his wife, Jean, called Indian River Lobster Co., where they provided seafood to the area. Bill started first clamming commercially, then fishing, and then went on to become one of Delaware’s first lobsterman. >click to read< 15:34
Community mourns passing of ‘a great American’, Capt. Warren Butler
Lifelong waterman, Captain Warren Butler, 92, died unexpectedly, Friday, July 2, of apparent heart failure. Upon learning of his death, Jerry Harris, founding family member of Harris Seafood, and Harris Crab House at Kent Narrows, said, “My whole family knew Captain Warren. He was a great man, a great American. He sold oysters to my father. I looked up to Captain Warren all my life. Black or white, he was a role model, someone to model your own life by. I wish there were many more people in the world like Captain Warren!” Butler had a lifetime passion working as a waterman, first, working alongside his father and brothers to help support their family. From 1954 to 1983, Butler worked in the oyster and crab industry in Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey. Throughout his life, he owned and operated 17 commercial boats, carrying may fishing parties out of the Chesapeake Bay, also oystering and sightseeing. photos, >click to read< 08:10
Delaware: Hungry for holiday crabs? Better get out the wallet – “best price that we’ve gotten for crabs in 26 years,,,”
This year’s crabbing season didn’t start out quite so hot for Smyrna’s Brian Hoffecker, Thankfully for Mr. Hoffecker, along with many other commercial crabbers in Delaware, things didn’t stay that cold for too long. With Independence Day coming up Saturday “This weekend is a holiday,” said Mr. Hoffecker. “I’ll tell you what, this will be my 26th year or something on my own (crabbing) and this is the best price that we’ve gotten for crabs in 26 years. I don’t know if it had anything to do with the coronavirus or with the restaurants being shut down,,, >click to read< 17:25
Huge crowd! 1,800+ People voice concerns at Ocean City offshore wind turbine meeting
On Saturday, hundreds of homeowners, residents, and Ocean City visitors packed into the Ocean City Convention Center to make their voices heard about 800-foot offshore wind turbines potentially being built along the resort town’s shoreline.,, The turbines , which would be installed by two companies, U.S. Wind and Orsted, would bring renewable energy to the resort town. But that’s a cost that some aren’t willing to pay. >click to read< Ocean City offshore wind: what you need to know from public hearing – >click to read< Huge crowd has their say over wind farms off Maryland and Delaware – >click to read< 12:41
Nine US States Seek to Stop Atlantic Seismic Testing
Attorneys general from nine U.S. states sued the Trump administration on Thursday to stop future seismic tests for oil and gas deposits off the East Coast, joining a lawsuit from environmentalists concerned the tests harm whales and dolphins. Seismic testing uses air gun blasts to map out what resources lie beneath the ocean. Conservationists say the testing, a precursor to oil drilling, can disorient marine animals that rely on fine-tuned hearing to navigate and find food. The tests lead to beachings of an endangered species, the North Atlantic right whale, they say. >click to read<11:09
BLACK SEA BASS – THE NEW “WAR BETWEEN THE STATES”
On April 9, 1865, General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant at the Appomattox Court House in Virginia, signifying the end of the U.S. Civil War. One hundred and fifty-three years to the day, north and south are set to do battle yet again, this time over sea bass. From April 30 through May 3, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASFMC) will hold its 2018 spring meeting in Arlington, VA, a city that was once the dividing line between Confederates to the South and the Union Army to the north during the bloodiest war in U.S. history. >click to read<12:41
Sussex waterman nabbed for mutiple crabbing violations – cops a plea
Delaware Division of Fish & Wildlife Natural Resources Police arrested a Sussex County man May 19 for multiple commercial crabbing violations on the Inland Bays, officials announced in a release. John L. Fabryka, 53, of Ocean View, was charged with one count of unlawful commercial crabbing in a non-commercial area, 10 counts of tending more than two recreational crab pots, 10 counts of improperly marked recreational crab pots and six counts of failure to tend recreational crab pots at least once within required 72-hour timeframe, according to the release. Read the rest here 11:07
Federal regulators are eyeing a possible moratorium on eel fishing in Delaware waters
The National Marine Fisheries Service is reviewing a referral from the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission that found Delaware out of compliance with the interstate management plan for American eel, whose numbers are depleted.If the national agency determines that Delaware failed to carry out its responsibilities, and that the measures the state failed to implement are necessary for conservation, then it must declare a moratorium on eel fishing in Delaware waters. A determination must be made by Sept. 18. link 10:24
Commercial Horseshoe Crab Fishery in Del. to Close July 9
Officials say Delaware’s commercial horseshoe crab harvest is approaching this year’s quota of 154,527 horseshoe crabs, prompting DNREC’s Division of Fish & Wildlife to announce that, in accordance with Delaware law and regulations, the horseshoe crab fishery will close at 12:01 a.m., Thursday. Afterward, officials say, it is unlawful in Delaware to harvest horseshoe crabs this year. Read the rest here 11:05
Two watermen plead guilty in striped bass poaching case
Two Tilghman Island watermen pleaded guilty Friday in U.S. District Court to illegally taking 185,925 pounds of striped bass from the Chesapeake Bay. Michael D. Hayden, 41, and William J. Lednum, 42, admitted to selling the striped bass for $498,293 through a ring they operated between 2007 and 2011, according to court documents. Read more here 07:24
Virginia abided by menhaden catch limit for 2013
In late 2012, Virginia and other Atlantic states adopted the first coast-wide catch limit for menhaden in a historic effort to save the “most important fish in the sea” from years of overfishing. Read more here
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