Interior says offshore wind farms may have an ‘adverse’ impact on commercial fishing

Source: By Dino Grandoni with Paulina Firozi, Washington Post • Posted: Thursday, June 11, 2020

The Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has released an analysis on what’s expected to be the first large-scale wind project in the nation, planned for off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts, as E&E News reports.

A bird flies among wind turbines near King City, Mo. (Charlie Riedel/AP)

“The supplemental study, which is to be published in the Federal Register at an unspecified time, looks beyond Vineyard Wind — which is planned off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, Mass. — and outlines a host of effects that the burgeoning offshore wind sector in the Northeast could have on other industries, the environment and marine life,” per the report. “It notes, for example, major cumulative impacts to commercial and recreational fishing, scientific research, and in some cases environmental justice across a suite of development scenarios. Additionally, moderate cumulative impacts are expected to marine mammals and minor cumulative impacts to air quality.”