Offshore wind farms

[sternline]

Ocean Winds: Bringing Us Renewable Fish with Renewable Energy - Emagazine.com

[sternline]

Ocean Winds: Bringing Us Renewable Fish with Renewable Energy - Emagazine.com

[Flygaff]

I'm all for the renewable energy that wind will bring. However, Most likely it will just bring us large areas of restricted water. I hope I'm wrong

[Ol Pedro]

Originally Posted by Flygaff

I'm all for the renewable energy that wind will bring. However, Most likely it will just bring us large areas of restricted water. I hope I'm wrong

I hope your wrong too. I don't trust our government or big business to do the right thing when it comes to fishing or hunting access. Money always wins. Even if we have access in the beginning some knuckleheads will damage or deface the windmills giving the lease owners an excuse to stop access.

[bulletbob]

access is everything... Those structures will draw fish like a magnet within a year or two,, Proven fact...
They will also take a ton of pressure off the natural rock bottom structure as well as artificial reefs and wrecks...

The windmills off Block Island are not restricted, except no tying off the structures or anchoring close to them which is understandable.

NJ MUST allow access to fishermen, even if it requires several patrol boats to keep morons from trying to paint graffitti or damage the towers in some way.

[Capt. Debbie]

If they are beyond the 3 mile limit- NJ has no say it what they do or not do. That is all Federal jrdx.

Originally Posted by bulletbob

access is everything... Those structures will draw fish like a magnet within a year or two,, Proven fact...
They will also take a ton of pressure off the natural rock bottom structure as well as artificial reefs and wrecks...

The windmills off Block Island are not restricted, except no tying off the structures or anchoring close to them which is understandable.

NJ MUST allow access to fishermen, even if it requires several patrol boats to keep morons from trying to paint graffitti or damage the towers in some way.

Interesting read

https://www.congress.gov/116/meeting...E-20190916.pdf

If you research wind farms there's a lot of pro articles and an equal amount of negative ones. As with everything, the spin they get is based on who wrote the article or whose agenda they support. The answer of their impacts won't be known until they're built. As far as access is concerned, it's energy and will fall under the Department of Homeland Security. All the upfront promises won't change a thing if there's one terrorist threat. It'll be the equivalent of what happened at Earle Ammunition Pier.

Europe leads the way in wind farm production and while it's been successful, it's had it share of set backs which is to be expected. Europe's not stopping planned installations and I'd imagine either is the US.

The world needs to come to grips with carbon emissions so ready or not wind farms are coming. Knowing the impacts of construction and operational changes won't fully be known until after they're installed.

[TomKaye]

Don't have any scientiffic data, just some first hand observation.
Several 6 pack charters I've been on.

July of '20 & '21 several years after construction. The fluke & sea bass fishing was outstanding within a couple hundred yards to a mile or two of the Block Island wind farm.

October & November '20 & '21. Outstanding blackfish results although we were within a couple miles of the farm. Don't ask me where.
I guess what I'm saying in agreement with Bob & others, --you build it the fish will come. I don't know anything about possible electrical current vibrations from underwater turbine cables, but the fishing was great.

Hopefully our incompetent bureaucrats ( State & Federal ) won't eff this up by restricting access when offshore wind turbines come to our area. I hope my grandkids get to fish near them with similar results to our RI trips.
Tight lines guys and stay safe.

[JMo1986]

I am all-in on good structure that the commercial guys cannot decimate. Block Island is a pretty special fishery. Plus I work in renewables, so I kinda have a bit of bias for professional reasons.

As I said we won't know the answers until they're installed in spite of what we think. How windy it is, how often they run and at what speed could have impacts. Different speeds emit different sounds levels. Different species have different tolerances. Maybe water temperature has an impact on how sound travels for that matter.

Read a lot of articles about impacts on summer flounder / flatfish. May not cause mortality but might very well change migratory patterns. Another question which no one knows the answer to is what is the impact on offshore spawning in areas where these structures will be built. Summer flounder eggs float to the surface and follow the currents eventually inshore to estuaries.

There's going to be construction and explorations issues creating soundwaves and disruptions in the beginning stages. That'll be followed by operational issues including electrical leakage, electromagnetic fields and sound transmission. Not sure what all that means but the point is no one does. Will any of this kill juveniles on their journey inshore? Will any of this effect east west migratory species and their migration patterns like summer flounder navigating through these areas? We don't know what we don't know but we're going to find out.

If it does impact the summer flounder fishery in anyway, especially negative impacts on recruitment, the good news is you'll be able to buy a five pack of Gulp Grubs for about 50 cents as the regulations will probably be in the area of 1 fish at 45 inches.

Don't get me wrong, I think the bigger issue is the planet and we have to go through this process. It's always best having a good idea of what to expect and that's where I think the public is never fully informed. Whatever the impacts are going to be, ready or not here they come and like everyone I hope there's more positive than negative but to think nothing will change and some of what will change won't be problematic I think is wishful thinking. Like I said, one terrorist threat when we have a higher percentage of the country's energy dependent on wind farms and in spite of the environmental and fisheries impacts, access will change overnight whether it's at Block Island or off Atlantic City.