Tag Archives: Director Amanda Lefton
Fishery council executive directors warned Biden admin about dangers wind energy projects pose to fishing industry
In an Aug. 22 letter to former Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Director Amanda Lefton, the three officials, who respectively lead the New England, Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic Fishery Management Councils, expressed concern about current processes for approving offshore wind development. They also made a series of recommendations to help the federal government mitigate impacts on fisheries. “As we have stated in several past comment letters to BOEM, we are very concerned about the cumulative impacts of multiple wind energy projects on the fisheries we manage,” they stated in the letter. “The multiple wind energy projects planned along the east coast will have cumulative and compounding effects on our fisheries.” >click to read< 08:32
Fishermen Protest Upcoming Bid for Wind Farms in New York Bight
With the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management preparing to open more lease areas on the Continental Shelf to wind farm developers by the end of the month, the fourth and last meeting between fishermen and BOEM officials took place Aug. 6 in New Bedford, Mass. with fishermen calling for a halt to leasing until more science on potential environmental impacts could be completed. The New York Bight is a triangle in the ocean between Montauk Point at the end of Long Island and Cape May at the southern tip of New Jersey. A total of eight leases will be for sale there. The larger portion of the lease area is located 35 miles off New Jersey and can’t be seen from shore, but it does pose hazards for fishing ships transiting the area and impacts the quahog, surf clam, squid and scallop fisheries. >click to read< 12:02
