{"id":341343,"date":"2024-09-02T13:22:36","date_gmt":"2024-09-02T11:22:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=341343"},"modified":"2024-09-02T13:22:39","modified_gmt":"2024-09-02T11:22:39","slug":"new-england-fishermen-stage-floating-protest-at-vineyard-wind-site","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=341343","title":{"rendered":"New England Fishermen Stage Floating Protest at Vineyard Wind Site"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Watts Up With That?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reposted with permission from Legal Insurrection<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

by Leslie Eastman<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am continuing to keep an eye on the Vineyard Farms offshore blade failure near Nantucket.  A few weeks ago the facility was closed because of the failure of Vineyard Wind\u2019s newly installed wind turbines, and the city was poised to sue<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After one blade failed and ended up in the water, the beaches were cluttered with sharp fiberglass shards<\/a>, which is a sub-optimum condition at the height of the summer tourist season.  Continuing investigation into the cause of this environmental contamination incident  determined that a manufacturing flaw in the blade<\/a> was responsible for the failure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now this weekend, a \u201cflotilla\u201d of about two dozen<\/a> commercial and recreational fishing vessels steamed to the wind farm on Sunday to protest offshore wind development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

The vessels, hoisting anti-offshore wind flags and blasting air horns, departed early Sunday morning from ports in New Bedford, Nantucket, Martha\u2019s Vineyard, Rhode Island and along the Cape, converging at about noon on the site of the crippled Vineyard Wind turbine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe blade collapse was an eye-opener to a lot of people who before didn\u2019t know that offshore wind is a disaster for the ocean,\u201d said Shawn Machie, 54, who is captain of the New Bedford scalloper F\/V Capt. John.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026The \u201cflotilla\u201d protest was organized by the New England Fisherman\u2019s Stewardship Association (NEFSA). Plans kicked into gear when Dan Pronk, captain of lobster boat F\/V Black Earl, was collecting turbine debris that had washed up on the shores of Nantucket. He called Machie and other New England fishermen who said they felt they had to \u201cdo something before it\u2019s too late,\u201d Machie said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe feel like our jobs are just accepted as collateral damage,\u201d Machie said. \u201cWe are regulated for sustainability. And that makes sense. We need regulation. But offshore wind is allowed to kill fish and wreck nurseries without any manageable stopping point.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The protesters indicate the impact on their industry will be more significant than many appreciate<\/a>\u2026because they can\u2019t trawl on former fishing grounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Otto Osmers, a commercial fisherman from Martha\u2019s Vineyard, made the journey from Menemsha at 7 am on Sunday, arriving at the Vineyard Wind site around 10:30 am. Osmers conceded that offshore wind projects like Vineyard Wind can block trawling and crab trap routes, but had other concerns about the project. \u201cThe ocean is one of the last undeveloped places on earth,\u201d he remarked about the sight of so many large turbines peppering the horizon. \u201cWe put cables down there but it\u2019s largely undeveloped. It\u2019s sad to see that go away.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Others were more passionate in their displeasure. Sue Zarba, who along with her husband John who fish recreationally, said seeing the scale of the turbines was emotional. \u201cThat was the first time I was up close to the turbines, and I was sobbing,\u201d she said in an interview after the protest. \u201cAfter you\u2019ve seen this offshore wind farm, you cannot unsee it. Soon over one thousand acres just off the coast will be filled with turbines. We will never be able to undo this man-made environmental disaster.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis cannot continue because that\u2019s where we fish,\u201d said Zarba. \u201cThey\u2019re developing on a tuna fishing ground. You can\u2019t fish around turbines, you can\u2019t trawl.\u201d She added that her son, who attended the protest, was initially skeptical of her protesting but changed his mind once he saw the turbines.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

However, their protests are being met with a deaf ear. The National Marine Fisheries Service issued a new biological opinion for flagship offshore wind project Vineyard that finds no adverse effects to endangered whales and other marine wildlife stemming from driving the array\u2019s last 15 monopiles<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cIt will have no effect on any designated critical habitat,\u201d National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries said in a statement. \u201cNOAA Fisheries does not anticipate serious injuries to or mortalities of any ESA-listed whale including the North Atlantic right whale.\u201d The agency said that with mitigation measures, \u201call effects to North Atlantic right whales will be limited to temporary behavioral disturbance.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\n

Scenes from the @fishstewardship<\/a> flotilla protest at the Vineyard Wind farm today. pic.twitter.com\/iVFpGHasYd<\/a>\u2014 Nantucket Current (@ACKCurrent) August 25, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In conclusion, the fishermen are doing the work that environmentalists used to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Watch: Morano on Fox talking Vineyard Wind offshore pollution disaster:

\u2018The fishermen are forced to do what the environmentalists should be doing\u2019 https:\/\/t.co\/66B8a5yDt4<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/IfVM6KIcQx<\/a>\u2014 Marc Morano (@ClimateDepot) August 28, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am continuing to keep an eye on the Vineyard Farms offshore blade failure near Nantucket. A few weeks ago the facility was closed because of the failure of Vineyard Wind\u2019s newly installed wind turbines, and the city was poised to sue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":341345,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691830442,691818301,691829763],"class_list":{"0":"post-341343","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-national-oceanic-and-atmospheric-administration-fisheries","9":"tag-offshore-wind","10":"tag-vineyard-wind","12":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/0Wind-turbines_sstock_1500.webp?fit=1500%2C898&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1qNx","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":337011,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=337011","url_meta":{"origin":341343,"position":0},"title":"Vineyard Wind: Catastrophic Failure (\u2018sharp fiberglass shards\u2019 close Nantucket beaches)","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"20\/07\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cThe Biden Administration\u2019s offshore wind ambition, not only Vineyard Wind, is going the way of the EV debacle. 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