Fishermen say offshore wind surveys rip up gear: ‘There has to be accountability’

Fishermen say offshore wind surveys rip up gear: ‘There has to be accountability’

Source: nationalfisherman

12/7/2021

East Coast fishermen told of their gear torn up by survey vessels working for offshore wind energy developers, as the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management opened its public process toward mitigating the newcomer industry’s effect on seafood providers.

Conch fisherman James Hahn said he witnessed a survey boat running over his trap lines off Maryland, and hailed the vessel on VHF radio.

“They said they had the right to survey,” Hahn told BOEM officials in an online Zoom meeting Monday. “I finally had to get in front and turn my boat sideways to get them to stop.”

Developers US Wind have notified fishermen in the Delmarva region that more survey work is scheduled in December and gear conflicts are possible, said Hahn.

“That’s not how you work with fishermen,” he said. “They’re basically taking over the ocean and don’t give two shits about us anymore.”

The gear conflicts are making it harder for BOEM and the wind industry to work with fishermen, warned Fred Mattera of the Commercial Fisheries Center of Rhode Island.