BOEM Engagement with Fishermen regarding the Proposed Sale Notice

BOEM published a Proposed Sales Notice (PSN) for the New York Bight June 14 for a 60-day public comment period ending on August 13, 2021. There are several aspects of the PSN that BOEM is seeking specific feedback on, including many related to the fishing industry. BOEM is hosting a series of meetings to inform ocean users on what is being proposed and to solicit feedback for BOEM consideration in the development of a Final Sale Notice. Specifically, BOEM will be hosting facilitated virtual meetings with the commercial fishing industry, including surf clam, scallop and trawl fisheries in July and August 2021, and a separate meeting with recreational fishermen in July. The meetings are scheduled with a focus on the primary fisheries that operate in the NY Bight, however, if fishermen are unable to attend the meeting focused their fishery they may attend the meeting that better fits their schedule and/or the joint meeting on August 6th.

The July meetings are intended for the commercial fishing industry and are listed below by date, time, and registration link.
• Scallop Fishery, July 20th, 9 to 11 AM, registration https://cbuilding.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUlcOqupz4iGdYWdq76I-S9nneM1sx1LUiC

• Mixed Trawl Fishery, including Squid, July 20th, 3 to 5 PM, registration link: https://cbuilding.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUrde6rrDMiGNTVCKQk4YPbd8jGTzbOpYpF

• Clam Fishery, July 22nd, 9 to 11 AM, registration link: https://cbuilding.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJckduurpzktGtIQ3qE3bhXJjJdyoTmvbZgc

• Recreational Fishery, July 22nd, 3 to 5 PM, meeting link:
TBD

• All Fisheries, August 6, 9 to 11AM, registration link:
https://cbuilding.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJIscOyhqTMtG93NnQLguiGkEE5m_Tlrb4vC

A final working meeting will be held with all interested commercial fishing industry participants on August 6, 2021 from 9 to 11 AM for BOEM to respond given initial fishermen comments. These meetings will be facilitated by an independent facilitator who will also prepare a draft meeting summary, without attribution, for participant review. These meeting summaries, once finalized, will become part of the public comment. In addition, individual participants can submit any comments they wish to separately during the public comment period.

The New York Bight PSN is novel in several ways, as it proposes the sale of up to 8 leases, includes 2.44 nautical mile transit corridors between the Hudson South lease areas, and incorporates several new lease stipulations related to stakeholder engagement and protected species measures. The PSN also poses a number of specific questions for stakeholder feedback (e.g., number, size, orientation, and location of the proposed lease areas, consideration of prescribed turbine layouts).

BOEM’s goal is to develop a Final Sale Notice (FSN) that reflects the feedback obtained in response to the PSN and hopes this process can be an important step in building long term relationships with fishermen and fishery associations. These meetings continue BOEM’s engagement in the NY Bight that began in 2018 and that will continue throughout the life of any leases that are approved.

Participants
• Fisheries: Representatives of Scallop, Clam and Mix Trawl fisheries
• BOEM: Staff assigned to the NY Bight Leasing process and the environmental review process.

Topics:
• Engagement Requirements
o What specific requirements could be placed in the Lease and/or Sale Notice to ensure meaningful engagement, problem solving, and collaboration with fishermen?
o How can we hold developers as well as regulators accountable for input provided so engagement is substantive and meaningful?
o What can the FSN cover in terms of expected engagement around transmission to shore as well as the lease area itself?
• Number, size, orientation and location of proposed lease areas
o Considerations of recent DoD request for northern portion of Hudson South removal
o Alternative subdivisions
o Which should be prioritized for inclusion or exclusion
o How are interests like marine transport or viewsheds balanced with fishing needs for lease delineation?
• Transit corridors
o Are the proposed transit corridors placed and oriented in an effective manner to optimize coexistence between the fisheries and offshore wind industries?
o What are considerations for the existing Equinor Empire Wind Lease Area site and proposed Hudson North
o Hudson South/Mid-Atlantic Scallop Access Area boundary
o How do other actors’ decisions affect disposition of the final lease areas such as New Jersey’s procurements or the US Coast Guard’s rules regarding anchoring and fishing in transit areas?
• Prescribed layouts
o How do issues like foundation types, scouring and currents & mixing relate to turbine layouts?
o Should uniform and aligned turbine layouts be prescribed by BOEM or left to lessees to determine later, especially in the Hudson South area with potential multiple lease areas?
• Science, Monitoring, and Mitigation
o What science, monitoring or mitigation requirements are possible as part of a FSN?

Background Materials:
BOEM recommends participants review the following background information prior to the meeting:
– BOEM presentation to the Fisheries Management Councils
o New England Fisheries Management Council
 Slides: https://www.nefmc.org/library/june-2021-habitat-committee
 Audio 1: https://s3.amazonaws.com/nefmc.org/5-Habitat_1.mp3 The Science Center’s presentation begins at 31:30.
 Audio 2: https://s3.amazonaws.com/nefmc.org/5-Habitat_2.mp3
o Mid-Atlantic Fisheries Management Council
 https://www.mafmc.org/briefing/june-2021
– New York Bight Transit Lanes Surveys, Workshop, and Outreach Summary
– New York Bight Proposed Sale Notice
o How to comment: https://www.regulations.gov/commenton/BOEM-2021-0033-0001
– BOEM presentation on how the NY Bight WEAs were formed (starting at 4:18): https://www.boem.gov/renewable-energy/day-1-presentation-wind-energy-area-and-proposed-sale-notice
– Department of Defense Update (forthcoming to BOEMs website)

Invitees
BOEM is reaching out through several channels to notice the workshops and invite participation. BOEM will reach out through the following entities to broadcast the specific workshops, intended participants for which, and workshop details.
• Fishermen’s Survival Fund
• Garden State Seafood Association
• Massachusetts Fisheries Working Group
• Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council
• New England Fishery Management Council
• NY Fisheries Technical Working Group (FTWG)
• Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA)
• Rhode Island Fisheries Advisory Board (FAB)

Other invitees may be included, if the fishermen participants request to have them present in advance of a meeting. These could include state fisheries agencies and academics who may be doing cooperative research with or research on behalf of fishermen.