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Two New York Bight lease areas shelved over scallop concerns

By: James Bernthal-Hooker 17/01/2022 4C Offshore

General Windfarms

The US Bureau of Ocean Energy’s (BOEM’s) recent announcement about offshore wind in the New York Bight contains some notable omissions.

When BOEM announced on 12^th January that it had scheduled lease auctions for up to 7 GW of offshore wind capacity in the New York Bight, it named six new lease areas: OCS-A 0537 (Central Bight), OCS-A 0538 (Hudson South B), OCS-A 0539 (Hudson South C), OCS-A 0541 (Hudson South E), OCS-A 0542 (Hudson South F), and OCS-A 0544 (Hudson North).

These are now listed in the bureau’s final sale notice (FSN), published in the Federal Register, which announces and outlines the auctions to take place on 23^rd February. The FSN makes no mention, however, of two more proposed lease areas which previously appeared in the proposed sale notice (PSN) back in June 2021: OCS-A 0540 and OCS-A 0543, both in the Hudson South Wind Energy Area.

At the time, the east coast-based Fisheries Survival fund stated that BOEM should ‘shift the boundaries of the Hudson South area just five miles, so BOEM can better ensure that critical scallop populations will be unaffected, while not diminishing the potential for wind power in the area.’

In public consultations, fisheries raised concerns on the early proposals. There have so far been four meetings between BOEM and fisheries regarding the lease sales, and the fifth will occur on 19^th January.

In August 2020, a fisheries representative, Bonnie Brady, told BOEM to ‘stop everything’, arguing against, among other things, interference with the Hudson Canyon scallop zone. ‘It’s going to be responsible for the destruction of a centuries-old industry that’s only been feeding people,’ said Brady at the time.

BOEM addressed the reduced scope briefly in a press release, stating: ‘BOEM initially asked for information and nominations of commercial interest for 1,735,154 acres in the Bight. Based on the bureau’s review of scientific data, and extensive input from the commercial fishing industry, Tribes, partnering agencies, key stakeholders, and the public, BOEM reduced the acreage by 72% to avoid conflicts with ocean users and minimize environmental impacts. BOEM will continue to engage with stakeholders as the process unfolds.’

As older BOEM documents show, the scallop issue was among the concerns that led to plans to develop areas in the New York Bight for offshore wind being shelved back in 2018.

The forthcoming lease auction will be the first under the current Biden Harris administration in the US. It serves the administration’s goal of 30 GW of offshore wind operational by 2030, and the state-level aims of New York and New Jersey to secure, respectively, 9 GW and 7.5 GW of operational offshore wind by 2035.

This story was first reported exclusively for 4C Offshore subscribers. For more information, click here. For more information on offshore wind farms worldwide, click here.

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Two New York Bight lease areas shelved over scallop concerns

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