- Division of Marine Fisheries
DMF engages in offshore wind by conducting technical and environmental review of offshore wind projects, leading fisheries working groups on offshore wind, fulfilling advisory roles for regional research efforts, providing best management recommendations to state and federal agencies, and contributing to fisheries compensation discussions. We are committed to engaging fishery stakeholders in all phases of industry development.
In the last six months, DMF engaged in numerous stakeholder events, participated in scientific conferences and workshops, submitted letters to BOEM, and has been heavily engaged in the Gulf of Maine planning. DMF also assisted in the development and review of fisheries compensations plans among a variety of offshore wind projects in Southern New England including for South Coast Wind that will be used to offset economic impacts to Massachusetts commercial and for-hire fishermen for loss of access or reduction of harvest during construction and operation, including within the wind energy area and the export cable. All drafts of the fisheries compensation and economic exposure analyses were presented to the MA Fisheries Working Group in January 2024. Southcoast Wind’s compensation package totaled $5,717,000 of which $4,217,000 will go to the direct compensation program, $1,500,000 for a fishery innovation fund that will finance initiatives, research, and projects supporting the co-existence of the fishing and wind industries.
Southern New England Wind Projects
Three of the nine offshore wind projects in Southern New England south of Martha’s Vineyard are under active construction: Vineyard Wind 1, South Fork Wind, and most recently Revolution Wind with its first turbine installed in May (Fig. 1). Vineyard Wind 1 began delivering electricity to shore early this year. Up next, New England Wind is anticipated to begin construction by the end of 2024.
DMF continues to support EEA in hosting and administering the $1.75-million Fisheries Innovation Fund established through an MOA between Vineyard Wind LLC and EEA to enhance fisheries coexistence with offshore wind development. DMF is working with the fund’s advisory panel to provide recommendations for the disbursement of funds. DMF chairs the panel and has discretion on how the funds should be disbursed. The purpose of the fund is to finance grant programs that promote co-existence of fishing activities with offshore wind development. Funds may be spent on a variety of areas including fishing vessel safety upgrades, improved fishing gears, and research examining the impacts of offshore wind development on fisheries resources.
In Spring 2024, Vineyard Wind 1 and South Fork Wind opened their fisheries compensation program applications for economic losses attributed to offshore wind development. Vineyard Wind 1’s compensation was open to commercial fishing vessels that fished within the Vineyard Wind 1 lease area in the pre-construction baseline period (2016-2022). South Fork Wind’s compensation program is open to both commercial and for-hire vessels/operators but requires applicants to provide evidence of fishing loss or access attributed to construction activities or offshore wind vessel interactions during the operation phase. Orsted also opened applications for their navigation enhancement and training program (currently for South Fork Wind) in which commercial and for-hire vessels can receive a voucher toward the purchase and installation of pre-approved navigation equipment and up to two crew members can receive up to $1000 for pre-approved mariner training.
To-date, fisheries compensation for offshore wind projects has been negotiated by states and offshore wind developers following draft guidance from BOEM on fisheries compensatory mitigation associated with offshore wind development. However, recognizing the fact that vessels fish and transit across multiple regions and that there is a lack of consistency on compensation across developers and wind projects, eleven states from the Atlantic Coast (ME to NC) have formed the Eleven States Initiative on Offshore Wind. This Initiative will establish a credible regional fund administrator (RFA) for managing and distributing fisheries compensatory mitigation funds across the US eastern seaboard in a manner that ensures consistency among projects and fairness across home state and landing port and increases scale and efficiencies and avoids duplication. A Design and Oversight Committee (DOC) which is comprised of commercial fishermen, state, and developer representatives will guide and advise the RFA on the development of the claims process to maximize its effectiveness and comprehensiveness. DMF has been involved in the Eleven States Initiative discussions and is currently assisting with drafting the DOC charter. The RFA will be selected in summer 2024. It is expected that the claims process from the Eleven States Initiative will take two years to complete.
Gulf of Maine Updates
In March 2024, BOEM released the final Wind Energy Area (WEA) for the Gulf of Maine. The area encompasses about 2 million acres (an 80% reduction from the Call Area and 43% reduction from the draft WEA). The final WEA has a combined capacity of 32 Gigawatts, which exceeds the current combined offshore wind planning goals for the area by Gulf of Maine states (10 GW for Massachusetts and 3 GW for Maine). All areas currently identified in the final WEA are deeper than 60m and at least 20nm offshore. Given this depth, all potential offshore wind development will likely consist of floating technology. BOEM removed areas representing the top 10% of revenue for multispecies groundfish vessels through Vessel Trip Reports and included a 5-mile buffer around the Cashes Ledge Groundfish Closure Area. After the Final WEA was announced, BOEM sought comments on the related Environmental Assessment (EA) which will contain a comprehensive evaluation of the reasonably foreseeable environmental impacts and socioeconomic effects. DMF submitted comments which included quantifying risk of vessel displacement and co-use fisheries conflicts during surveys, evaluation of the fishing vessel transit/fishing impacts from important ports and identifying potential impacts of site assessment and characterization activities on the spatiotemporal distribution of commercially important species and habitats.
On May 1, BOEM announced the Proposed Sale Notice (PSN) of eight potential lease areas in within the Final WEA (Fig. 2). These lease areas encompass 969,999 acres total with 944,422 acres being developable, and have the potential to generate 15 GW of clean, renewable energy to power over 5 million homes. The potential electricity generational capacity from these leases is sufficient for current regional and state goals (13-18 GW based on Maine, Massachusetts, and ISO-New England). The individual lease areas range in size from 106,039 acres to 134,149 acres, with a distance to shore ranging from 24–73 miles. The current minimum for transit corridors is 2.5 nautical miles. BOEM conducted a series of in-person open houses from Maine to Massachusetts in May to allow the public to talk with BOEM’s scientists and other personnel on the PSN. DMF attended these meetings to understand stakeholder concerns. For the PSN, BOEM will be using a bidding auction system that will combine monetary and non-monetary factors, with bidders receiving credits for such non-monetary factors as workforce training, supply chain development, and fisheries compensatory mitigation funding. At the minimum, compensation must address gear loss/damage and lost fishing income that results directly from preconstruction, construction, operations, and decommissioning of an offshore wind project.
In addition to comments on bidding credits, BOEM requested feedback on the size and delineation of the lease areas, user conflicts, transit corridors, baseline monitoring for protected and threatened marine mammals and their habitats, and limits on the number of lease areas per bidder. BOEM also sought comment on areas to include and exclude within the PSN lease areas and the Final WEA in case future lease areas are delineated within the Gulf of Maine. There is anticipated to be another round of proposed lease sales by BOEM within the Gulf of Maine in 2028.
Once the PSN comment period closes, BOEM will publish a Final Sale Notice aimed at developers which provides the final terms and conditions for a lease sale, including the date, time, and location for the sale itself. The Final Sale Notice will also include the list of the companies that have legally, technically, and financially qualified to participate in the lease sale. After at least 45 days from the Final Sale Notice, BOEM will hold a lease sale and will subsequently identify the winner through an auction (final lease sales expected between November and December 2024).
In 2020, the State of Maine announced an intent to apply for a research lease for a floating offshore wind array and had many discussions with stakeholders and user groups to identify a Narrowed Area of Interest and Research Framework. In 2024, BOEM offered the research lease to Maine (Fig. 3). BOEM has restricted the proposed area for development to 9,700 acres and will be located 28 nautical miles from the mainland coast of Maine and could potentially have up to 12 floating offshore wind turbines. The Research Lease is expected to be built before commercial floating wind farms and therefore, will inform the commercial process and provide lessons learned on impacts to fisheries and the environment. In addition to lessons learned, research leases must support the future production, transportation, or transmission of renewable energy.
General Commonwealth Offshore Wind Updates
On October 4, 2023, Governor Healey announced a multi-state memorandum of understanding (MOU) between CT, RI, and MA to procure up to 6,000 MW of electricity to New England states. Through this MOU, the three states will review multi-state offshore wind proposals with project selection depending on each state’s evaluation criteria in their respective request for proposals (RFPs). Any two or three states may agree to select a multi-state proposal(s) up to each state’s procurement authority and split anticipated MW from a single project.
DMF and other MA EEA agencies assisted with the review of pre-proposals from the Mass Clean Energy Center’s RFP for Advancing Offshore Wind Research and Science in April 2024. Grant prizes could range from $50,000 to $1,500,000. This RFP sought applied research projects that are relevant to the planning, deployment, and operations of offshore wind in southern New England and the Gulf of Maine, as well as growing capacity in Massachusetts and the region for offshore wind science and applied research. Topics included in the solicitation encompassed wildlife and fisheries, oceanography, offshore wind engineering, remote sensing, policy and planning, transmission, and floating technology. Final awards will be provided by Fall 2024.
On April 20, 2023, Secretary Tepper announced the establishment of the EEA Interagency Offshore Wind Council (IOWC) to advance the responsible development of offshore wind to meet the Commonwealth’s climate goals. The IOWC will be responsible for developing and maintaining an Offshore Wind Strategic Plan (Plan) with stakeholder and community input. The Plan will: 1) lay out status of the offshore wind industry to the Commonwealth, existing legal and policy frameworks, and progress made to date; 2) identify key drivers, gaps, needs and findings; and 3) recommend specific actions and strategies necessary to advance the Plan’s goals and objectives before 2040. The Plan’s objectives will be relevant to its three primary components for balancing economic development, socioenvironmental, and energy advancement needs. VHB, the contractor for developing the strategic plan, carried out listening sessions with fishermen and other stakeholders in MA in April and May 2024 to hear their concerns and recommendations. The Commonwealth’s strategic plan will be drafted in summer 2024 with an opportunity for public comment and will be finalized in September 2024.
By Dr. Justin Bopp, Offshore Wind Specialist
