Worried about potential ecosystem changes for commercial, recreational
By JACK FICHTER/Sentinel staff
CAPE MAY — The commercial and recreational fishing industries are viewing a potential project that would erect as many as 99 wind turbines 15 miles offshore with a wary eye, expressing concerns about changes to the “cold pool” and inability to harvest scallops and transit the wind farm area.
At lot is at stake. In 2018, the port of Cape May-Wildwood, which is the largest commercial fishing port in New Jersey, landed 101 million pounds of seafood worth $66 million. This port ranked 14th in pounds landed and 10th in value for all ports in the United States.
On Jan. 28, the Science Center for Marine Fisheries (SCMEFIS) published a study entitled: “Little Known on How Wind Farms Affect Critical MidAtlantic Ocean Feature.” It notes “while not often in the spotlight, an oceanographic feature known as the ‘cold pool,’ which stretches from Massachusetts to North Carolina, is critical for the health of many marine species.”
The study reviewed existing literature on how wind farm construction affects ocean environments in Europe, where most offshore wind farms have been built, and lays out what can be learned from the European experience and what aspects about potential interactions remain unknown.
“Spanning much of the Mid-Atlantic Bight, the cold pool is a layer of cold water just beneath warm surface water, extending to the ocean bottom that forms every spring and lasts until the fall. Its annual appearance is a vital part of the lifecycle of many marine species.”
The area is vitally important to some species.
“It supports some of the most lucrative fisheries in the world, some of the most sustainably managed fisheries in the world,” stated Daphne Munroe, of Rutgers University. “We’ve got species that live off the coast of New Jersey that you wouldn’t expect to live here because they need cold water. And it’s that cold pool that provides that habitat that allows them to live here.”
According to the study, Europe’s experience with wind farms has shown that there is some impact from the placement of wind turbines. Specifically, the study states, “turbines induce downstream impacts on ocean velocities, turbulence and stratification.”
However, the extent of this interference is highly dependent on the site, the size of the wind farm and turbines, and underlying ocean conditions and wind speed, states the report.
It is not clear how much the European experience will translate to the Mid-Atlantic.
With the cold pool, the waters of the Mid-Atlantic are much more clearly stratified between layers of warm and cold water, and tidal currents are generally weaker than those in northern Europe. Those two factors may affect whether wind turbines disrupt the cold pool and the ocean stratification that is an essential feature for the region’s marine life.
The study’s authors specifically identify three areas that will require future study: the level of overlap between the cold pool and the areas currently being considered for offshore wind development; the threshold of stratification that will be affected by offshore wind turbines; and how development will impact the seasonal development of the cold pool.
In March 2019, the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA) executed a 10-year memorandum of understanding with the National Marine Fisheries Service and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to collaborate on the science and process of offshore wind energy development on the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf. RODA will work with both agencies and more broadly to ensure that local and regional fishing interests are involved early and often throughout offshore wind development processes, according to its website.
An issue RODA is addressing is safe transit for mariners through wind energy areas. Currently, the regulatory process does not require any specific project design conditions to allow fishing fleets to safely transit through wind energy areas on the way from ports to traditional fishing grounds.
Greg Didomenico is chairman of SCEMFIS, executive director of the Garden State Seafood Association and serves on the board of directors for RODA. He represents the Garden State Seafood Association to state and federal delegations and works for Lund’s Fisheries in Cape May.
Didomenico said fishermen from Cape May were heavily invested and interested in the industry when they formed Fisherman’s Energy to look at potential wind turbine development. Their project was a 25 MW demo wind farm proposed about three miles off the coast of Atlantic City. The project stalled due to long-running feasibility disputes and the U.S. Department of Energy withdrawing funding.
He said his biggest concerns were economics, the ecosystem, efficiency of wind turbines and jobs in the industry that may go to workers from Europe.
“The potential for ecosystem changes in the Mid-Atlantic are real,” Didomenico said. “They would have a dramatic impact on a very successful and time-honored recreational and commercial fisheries, and that’s where the economics comes in.”
He said he learned recently some of the electrical transmission cables for the wind turbines would be built in Europe.
The Mid-Atlantic ecosystem is very dynamic and commercial and recreational fishing has serious economic benefits to coastal communities, Didomenico said.
“Those are at risk at this point,” he said.
Didomenico said a question remains how efficient wind turbines are in generating power and what they will replace in the energy profile.
Fishermen will not be permitted to use a dredge or drag nets near wind turbines, which could present a problem for Cape May’s scalloping industry.
“We are still very hopeful that that they are going to site them so it does not keep us out of traditional fishing grounds,” he said. “At this point it doesn’t appear that our fishing practices are going to be compatible — I certainly hope that’s not the case.”
“But if you can’t fish for scallops with a dredge, I’m not so sure how we’re going to fish for them,” Didomenico continued.
He said he believed the public was shocked at the size and scale of the wind turbines. The project is driven by climate change and the desire by some to do away with petroleum entirely as an energy source, Didomenico said.
While wind turbines generate energy, the delivery system from the units is costly, inefficient and may pass through coastal communities from the beach, he said.
Can the fishing industry battle such a large project?
“We’ve been consistent, we’ve been science-based, we’ve been grassroots,” he said.
Ernie Utsch, an owner of Utsch’s Marina in Lower Township, founded by his family more than 70 years ago, said he has an open mind on the wind turbine issue but is listening to the comments of those in the fishing industry.
“The guys that are fishing don’t want any part of it,” he said. “A lot of the arguments that they make probably have an awful lot of validity.”
Utsch said he believes if the government decides to allow the project, it will happen.
He said the wind turbines may provide an opportunity for his marina particularly in winter, noting he has served major dredging companies for many decades. Utsch said he provides fuel and dockage to tugboats from the dredging operations for beach replenishment.
Some studies have suggested marine mammals such as dolphins and whales would leave the area while construction of the wind turbines was taking place due to noise but return when it ended.
“There’s a lot of marine life in this area — humpback whales, bottlenose dolphins — and we are definitely concerned with the effects of offshore wind and how it may change their habits temporarily or possibly in the long term,” said Jeff Stewart Jr., captain of the Cape May Whale Watcher.
He noted a dolphin is capable of swimming 100 miles per day.
“While they are not building this right off Cape May, which is primarily where we’ll be operating, it could alter where the dolphins go,” Stewart said.
The Cape May Whale Watcher does not have an alternate location for its dolphin and whale cruises, he said.
He described the ecosystem off Cape May as delicate. The Miss Chris Marina, also owned by the Stewart family, operates fishing party boats.
Stewart said the proposed area for the wind turbine is just east of where some of his party boats fish and near a tugboat lane area. He said fishing is more likely to be affected off Avalon, Stone Harbor, Sea Isle City and Ocean City.
A view from the beach of wind turbines may change the tourism industry, Stewart said. He addressed the possibility of more business for marinas.
“I know individuals in the area that are all ready to go basically for Ørsted and have been gearing up for it for the last decade,” he said.
The project would have international regulations, something for which no local person is qualified, Stewart said.