OFFSHORE WIND OPPONENTS NEED A MASS PROTEST IN WASHINGTON DC – BY JIM LOVGREN
In 2010 and 2012 fishermen held two different successful protests in Washington DC with thousands of fishermen travelling from around the country to attend. Both commercial and recreational fishermen voiced their concerns regarding catch shares and Magnuson Act reauthorization, among the multitude of issues that threatened their livelihoods. During the Obama administration, Jane Lubchenco, a PEW fellow, oversaw a major shift in the way we manage our fishery resources by introducing “Catch Shares” a controversial form of individual transferable quota, that has destroyed the very fabric of the New England ground fisheries. Many fishermen were almost immediately put out of business by the passage of Groundfish Amendment 13, the rest have slowly gone out of business, with large, pocketed vultures scooping up their quota, ultimately resulting in a Dutch company, Blue Harvest, owning a large portion of not only Groundfish, but also Scallops. This outcome was predicted by many experienced fishermen, but their concerns were ignored, as the Obama administration plowed over any objectors. Lawsuits were filed, including one with me as lead plaintiff, but they all failed to stop this disaster to our industry.
Today, the fishing industry is facing a far worse enemy then fishery management, as thousands of square miles of their historic fishing grounds have been auctioned off to the highest bidder in order to make way for the wildlife killing machines called wind turbines. These auctions have been held by BOEM, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, a part of the Department of the Interior. They are charged with the selling or leasing of US natural resources in our offshore waters, and apparently, they
have absolutely no regard for any wildlife that may exist within them, or any people who might derive a living from catching said wildlife. Before the Biden Administration, BOEM generally dealt with offshore leasing to oil companies for oil and gas reserves. Those companies employed research vessels using seismic air guns to locate oil reserves deep within the earth’s crust, making deadly sound waves of over 240 DBs, coincidentally in many places marine mammals would mysteriously strand themselves on beaches and die. Now, thanks to the green new deal, those research vessels have been blasting the east coast since last November, [about the time that Whales started washing up dead on the beaches], to map the sub seafloor for offshore wind turbines.
The fishing industry has been keenly aware of the disastrous fate that offshore wind poses not only to their existence, but also to the marine creatures who inhabit it. BOEM has run roughshod over not only the fishing industry, but the federal agency in charge of managing those fishery resources. Flexing their bureaucratic muscle, they have highjacked fishery management from the National Marine Fishery Service who has been relegated to an observer of the unfolding environmental disaster being created in order to save the world. The death of hundreds of marine mammals along the east coast, washing up on public beaches, finally awakened the public to the environmental dangers that offshore wind causes. Activist groups sprung up in opposition to offshore wind, and protests have been held regularly in many states. A petition circulated in New Jersey garnered over 500,000 signatures calling for a halt to sonar and seismic activities until an investigation into the strandings takes place. Multiple lawsuits have been filed and are working their way through various court districts. While these suits may eventually prevail, in the meantime construction and cataclysmic noise making continue. Every day that goes by more historic fishing grounds are lost as thousands of tons of large boulders are dumped onto the seafloor around turbine bases. These grounds will be unfishable to mobile gear for hundreds of years.
Now is the time for the American public to stand up and fight the corruption in our state and federal governments, a mass demonstration needs to be held in Washington DC as soon as possible, before the green new deal bankrupts our country, and destroys our ocean and its creatures. Northern European countries have the highest electric rates of any developed country in the world, excluding islands. Some of them are having serious doubts about their decision of closing down coal and nuclear plants for renewable energy sources that are not only more expensive, but totally unreliable. We can stop this, but it will require a lot of work, getting groups to work together to plan out details, getting permits, publicizing the protest, etc. Step one is to circulate this article among fishing and public groups opposed to offshore wind and generate a discussion among these groups and their leaders about organizing the protest. Wouldn’t it be amazing if those 500,000 people who signed that anti-wind petition showed up in Washington DC.? I think this amount of people is possible if properly publicized, and it would have an immediate effect. Although the east coast has been affected before the Gulf of Mexico, and the West coast, BOEM has plans for them too, so if fishermen value their livelihoods, no matter what coast they live on, they need to make plans and get involved.
Thank you… Finally someone willing to tell the truth. I agree 100 percent. This is the first salient piece of information offering a glimmer of hope in a catastrophic situation. Everyday in NJ we are fighting this horror. Please let me know if there is something more that can be done that can directly help. Sincerely, MaryBeth.
Yes I support the fisherman