January 18, 2011

Response needed on offshore wind farm plan
The Daily News of Newburyport Tue Jan 18, 2011, 03:35 AM EST


An expansion of wind energy off the coast of Massachusetts is well worth pursuing.

But that expansion should not come at the expense of the fishing industry, and it appears that the latest wind energy initiative by the Obama administration once again puts commercial fishing — along with the jobs it creates and preserves and the food it provides for this region and beyond — at the bottom of its priority totem pole.

Those in the industry and their representatives at the Statehouse and in Congress who profess to be advocates for fishermen should intervene now to make sure an already endangered industry does not remain at the bottom of that priority list.

This initiative comes in the form of the U.S. Department of Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement already asking wind energy companies to notify it of any interest they have in leasing portions of a massive, 2,200-nautical-square-mile sector of the ocean south of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.

That area contains some of the richest fishing grounds off the coast of Massachusetts.

According to David Goethel, a commercial fisherman and member of the New England Fishery Management Council's Habitat Committee, "a half-billion dollars worth of seafood comes out of this area."

David Prebble, chairman of the Habitat Committee of the NEFMC, said that while wind farms and fishing can coexist, they probably will not be allowed to do so in this case, because of national security concerns.

According to the Bureau, the ocean sector under consideration was determined in consultation with Gov. Deval Patrick's office.

But apparently somebody forgot to tell the fishermen and their advocates until just last week. The invitation for notices of interest was published about two weeks ago, on Dec. 29, but the first time the NEFMC's Habitat Committee was briefed on it was Thursday, by a habitat resource specialist with the National Marine Fisheries Service.

"This was sprung on us," Prebble said.

That's yet another indication of the lack of respect from this administration for an industry that has sustained the economies of New England fishing ports for generations.

The deadline for the filing of notices of interest and comments is Feb. 28, less than seven weeks away.

Elected officials at all levels — local, state and federal — should all make it clear that, while fishing should not be allowed to block the development of wind power, wind development should not be allowed to further damage New England's commercial fishing industry, either.

The ocean is vast. If wind turbines cannot be disturbed by fishing, they need be developed somewhere other than the richest places to fish.