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John Williamson has a career in commercial fishing spanning almost 50 years. He has represented Maine fisheries on the New England Fishery Management Council and has served as a fishery liaison in ocean planning and offshore wind development since 2010.
Thousands of square nautical miles of the outer continental shelf of the United States are now under lease or soon to be under lease by the federal government for development of offshore wind energy generation. This massive investment is moving forward, with construction of the first large turbine arrays having begun in southern New England waters this past summer.
At the same time, the process for designating areas suitable for offshore wind generation in the Gulf of Maine is advancing with the goal of awarding the first lease contracts in late 2024. Some see this as a golden opportunity for Maine. Others see it as a tragic loss. Whatever your point of view, in the near future massive industrial activity will be introduced into what has always been a wild, unfettered ecology. Reducing the environmental impact of these activities is a planning challenge for state and federal agencies with jurisdiction in the coastal and ocean environment.
American lobster catch tops the charts as one of the most valuable fisheries nationwide. Not only an iconic symbol of our state, in 2022, 82 percent of American Lobster were caught off the coast of Maine in an area codified in regulations as Lobster Management Area 1.
With lobster, herring, tuna, scallop and groundfish fisheries, these waters are arguably the most prolific and valuable fishing ground in the United States, perhaps the world. In 2022, a state working group, including leaders of Maine fishing organizations, recommended to the Mills administration that offshore wind development proceed — as long as it is excluded from the management area.
This was a painful compromise for fishermen to have offered. There are fishing grounds throughout the Gulf of Maine important to New England fishermen of all kinds.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management was listening. As the federal agency responsible for leasing and permitting offshore wind development, the bureau has been collecting data from state and federal agencies, scientists, wind companies and the fishing industry. Through an incremental public process, the bureau has sought to differentiate areas of the Gulf of Maine suitable for wind energy development, while also eliminating areas from consideration due to their ecological and economic importance.
In October, the bureau released its latest draft of a potential “Wind Energy Area” where leasing would occur. Most of Lobster Management Area 1 is now excluded from the lease process, not just for its value to fisheries, but because of its unique ecological character and diversity.
This was a significant finding by the bureau. As offshore wind development unfolds, it will be massive in scale, occupying thousands of square nautical miles of ocean. In the future, the fishing industry and the wind industry will be sharing space on the water and on the waterfront. Both of these industries could benefit from working together, cooperating where they can. This decision by the bureau greatly reduces the potential for conflict and may, over time, allow leaders from both industries to explore common ground.
This latest decision is only one step in a continuing process and fishery leaders must stay closely involved to shape the results. Two secondary areas within Lobster Management Area 1 are receiving a second look and may be reconsidered for wind leases in the future. That would undermine the large investment in coexistence between the wind and fishing industries that the ocean management bureau has just announced. Hopefully, further input and analysis will convince policymakers to take these two areas off the table.
Offshore wind is “the new guy on the block.” Up until now, fishermen have treated it as a threat. But at the same time, it also could be welcomed as a neighbor, requiring communication, collaboration and trust. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has opened that door. I urge them to keep that door open.
