Fisheries Working Group on Offshore Wind Energy

NEW: The next meeting of the Fisheries Working Group on Offshore Wind Energy will be held on June 23 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. See the "Meetings" section below for agenda, which will be available soon.

Offshore wind energy is the largest ocean-based renewable energy resource in Massachusetts and significant progress has been made on the planning, siting, analysis, and leasing for potential offshore wind energy projects in federal waters off the Commonwealth. In federal waters, the leasing of the Outer Continental Shelf for renewable energy is the authority of the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM). Since 2009, Massachusetts has been working closely with BOEM, participating on an Intergovernmental Task Force comprised of federal, state, tribal, and local agency representatives and elected officials. For more information, see the BOEM Renewable Energy web page and the BOEM Massachusetts Activities web page.

To augment the Intergovernmental Task Force process and engage directly with key stakeholders, the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs and the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center convened two working groups for fisheries and marine habitat issues. While the working groups are voluntary and informal, they provide a critically important forum for maintaining a dialogue with key stakeholders, getting their feedback and guidance, and identifying issues and concerns. Input from the working groups has directly resulted in accommodations to avoid important marine habitat, fishing grounds, and marine commerce routes in the designation of the wind energy lease areas. The working groups will continue to provide valuable advice as leaseholders proceed through the next phases of the BOEM wind energy commercial leasing process, including site assessments, environmental and technical reviews, and development of construction and operations plans.