Policy Director Aubrey Church and Meghna Marjadi, a researcher at UMass Dartmouth, who is using data from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Northeast Fishery Science Center.
By Doreen Leggett
Meghna Marjadi looked at a map of proposed wind farms south of Cape Cod, areas she is studying to see how turbine arrays would impact fishermen.
“These are now changed. The maps are changing every couple of weeks,” said Marjadi, a researcher at UMass Dartmouth, who is using data from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Northeast Fishery Science Center Study Fleet Program.
Marjadi, speaking at a Small Boats. Big Science. event at the Fishermen’s Alliance, said efforts to install wind energy off the coast of New England have accelerated, outpacing scientific research designed to gauge its effects.
The project Marjadi is working on is taking data from fishermen to narrow down where the greatest overlap is between nearly one million acres in wind lease areas, and fishing grounds. The idea is to plan for, not prevent, development.
“We know offshore wind is coming; it’s happening,” she said.
Data the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, BOEM, uses now is considered best-available science, but Marjadi explained how the vessel trip data is coarse rather than precise.
Since information about where fishing trips occur is extrapolated from a single data point, it greatly overestimates overlaps between wind areas and fishing grounds. Marjadi’s work, which looks at two economically-important species – summer flounder and longfin squid – uses far more data points and hones in on areas fishermen rely on.
For example, her research showed that out of 336 squid trips, 25 trips intersected with wind areas.
This information can support compensation mitigation decisions and be used in other fisheries to inform best practices.
Getting scientific research that impacts the Cape’s coastal communities into the public domain is one reason why Small Boats. Big Science., a sister event to the popular Meet the Fleets, started in 2022. The twice-yearly events bring together community members, researchers, and commercial fishermen to discuss scientific advancements and how they relate to fishing fleets, the environment, and coastal communities.
Caroline Williams, policy intern at the Fishermen’s Alliance, organized the July presentation.
“Throughout my internship, I’ve spent many hours with Aubrey Church, policy director, attending offshore wind meetings and creating outreach materials to encourage fishermen as well as the public to get involved in the process,” Williams said. “When I came across Meghna’s work, I immediately knew I wanted her to speak at Small Boats, Big Science. Her work highlights the importance of fishermen being involved in the process of offshore wind development.”
Church often talks about the value of scientists collaborating with fishermen. Marjadi’s work is an example. Marjadi used data from a group of about 50 commercial fishermen who provide a GPS location every 90 seconds while fishing, as well as information about what they caught. BOEM relies on Vessel Trip Reports and logbooks that only require one GPS location per trip.
Marjadi,who has her doctorate, found that BOEM underestimated the economic value of individual fishing trips, likely because they were averaging over a larger area.
Underestimating value gives a false sense about potential economic loss – and the impacts on fishing businesses – and could lower compensation opportunities. Fishermen have to submit their potential loss to wind companies to receive mitigation funds.
The Fishermen’s Alliance supports paying fishermen for their losses during construction and operation of offshore wind, but also believes that “buying out fishermen” will not contribute holistically to the industry’s long-term health.
Jo Anne Sprague, an audience member, was surprised at the level of impact wind farms could have on the local industry.
“I am particularly glad you are thinking about that. I hadn’t thought about mitigation and loss of fishing revenue,” said Sprague, a member of the Chatham finance committee.
Another audience member said negative impacts of climate change on commercial fishing will far outweigh the drawbacks of wind farms. He pointed out the Gulf of Maine, where many Cape fishermen fish, is one of the fastest warming water bodies on earth.
Church said commercial fishermen have experienced changes in the ocean more than anyone; their livelihoods are directly impacted. Because success is so closely linked to the health of the ocean, they don’t want wind energy to proceed at a pell-mell pace.
“They want to make sure it is done in a responsible, equitable manner,” Church said.
Williams agreed.
“It’s important to understand that including fishermen in the development of offshore wind does not undermine the goals and purpose of offshore wind,” Williams said. “Including fishermen in the conversation is key to developing wind farms that minimize impacts to our communities and fisheries.”
There are so many designated wind leases, so closely packed, it is almost impossible to have a control area to see how wind farms will affect the ecosystem, Church said.
Church laid out concerns fishermen have in a detailed letter to BOEM:
In addition to potential loss of fishing grounds, difficulty transiting wind arrays, and the effect of cables on the sea bottom, there is concern that where fish are from year to year is a moving target.
For one proposed lease area, in 2020, total revenue landed of all species by all gear types was $566,000. In 2022, that number jumped to $1,271,000. That area shows Provincetown and Chatham in the top five of most impacted ports by revenue.
Church told the group she is working with commercial fishermen to ensure a community benefit agreement, a legally-binding contract between community groups and the wind company, is as encompassing and forward-thinking as possible.
“We need to be thinking about what will be happening to our community over the next 20 or 30 years,” she said.
Small Boats. Big Science. is supported by a grant from the Cape Cod 5 Foundation.