For those of you who have been reading this blog for the past 3 ½ years, you are likely aware that everything I have said, or predicted, has come true. Good, and Bad. It has all happened and will continue to do so.
I’m not a savant, I’m just a regular guy with close to 50 years of experience on the water working with my hands, and getting my boots dirty.
Some developers appreciate my Candor and Honesty, and one or two of them dislike me for it because I could care less about “Political Correctness” and simply “Tell it Like I See It.”
If you’re one of the couple thousand regular readers, you know I haven’t posted in quite a while and that is because I’ve been running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to get more fishermen involved in Offshore Wind.
I firmly believe we can change the narrative and get support rather than resistance, if ALL Offshore Wind Developers simply engaged more fishermen IN the process and placed fishermen on ALL vessels working in Offshore Wind.
THE SINGLE BIGGEST MISTAKE OFFSHORE WIND DEVELOPERS ARE MAKING IS LISTENING TO THE BEAN COUNTERS AND NEGLECTING TO PLACE FISHERMEN ON EVERY BOAT WORKING IN OFFSHORE WIND.
There are now 33 Offshore Wind projects in the works on the eastern seaboard, (keep reading, the list list of names is further down this post) and as of this writing, ONLY TWO of them INSIST on having fishermen aboard all boats working on their projects.
Vineyard Wind and Park City Wind are the only two Offshore Wind Developers who truly recognize the importance of attracting, engaging and employing fishermen in every aspect of their Offshore Wind developments, and because of this, they have the highest acceptance, highest respect, and the most support from fishermen and fishing communities.
They lead the pack for public and fishermen acceptance, they enjoy good working relationships with the fishermen and, of course, experience the least amount of pushback. With 31 other Offshore Wind projects on the books, it’s not a matter of IF, it’s a matter of WHEN there is a dust up and how bad. Success leaves clues, and the other developers can, and should follow this mind numbingly simple strategy of engaging and employing fishermen on their projects.
Take a look at the recent report that came in from a fisherman working on one of the geotechnical (drill ship) survey vessels working south of Martha’s Vineyard.
We receive reports like this from our Onboard Fisheries Liaisons often and it CLEARLY EXPLAINS the importance of having a Fisheries Liaison Officer (FLO/OFL) onboard ALL vessels working in Offshore Wind. (Vessel and captain names have been removed for confidentiality purposes.)
Morning all,
__________ has completed CPT-BB-26b through CPT-BD-31.
6 Observations & 2 Positive Interactions.
4 Vessel transits.
2 OSW vessels.
Scout Vessel ______ on on station 5_ _.
Fugro _________ making boreholes east of 5_ _.
2 Positive interactions.
Hailed fishing vessel __________ transiting to the west 5_ _ on VHF 16.
My old mate Jim__. answered, and we switched to VHF 17 Jim agreed to give her a few spokes to the north for us. We chatted for a bit he said that they had a killer Loligo squid season and also his oldest daughter graduated High School and was heading for her first year of college this year. Hard to believe i remember getting him back to the dock barely a day before her birth. His family is doing fine and said he would catch up with me after the project.
While on VHF 17 chatting with Jim, my other buddy Jimmy on the ___________ out of _____ N.J. must have heard me and hopped on after I was finished with the first Jim.
He said he was coming through to the west also and would give us plenty of room. Jimmy said he was working his way back to _______, NJ and also had a great season and said that when I return home he wanted to get together with a nice bottle of well-aged Scotch.
I thanked him for the check and for making sure he gave us plenty of room and gladly accepted his invitation.
Best Regards,
I’m going to say it one more time …
The Single Biggest Mistake Offshore Wind Is Making is Not Having Fishermen Onboard ALL Boats Working in Offshore Wind.
For those of you who think Offshore Wind in in the bag, let me bring you back to reality.
We have an election coming up on November 8, 2022. Major changes are going to happen in the USA, and there is a very high probability Nancy Pelosi and many other swamp dwellers will be put out to pasture.
At 12:00 Noon on January 3, 2023. the new Congress will be sworn in and the current administration will immediately enter a “Lame Duck” stage. My guess, is by 10:01 AM on January 4, 2023, (if not sooner), a cyclonic tidal wave of Investigations will begin and the entire White House agenda may come to a screeching halt.
That being said, and based on the simple fact that there is currently no steel actually going into the water, Offshore Wind might be facing some choppy waters ahead. It wouldn’t be too late for the entire Offshore Wind industry in the US to be jettisoned, delayed, or scaled back.
THE ABSOLUTE LAST THING OFFSHORE WIND NEEDS AT THIS POINT IS A DUST UP WITH THE COMMERCIAL FISHING INDUSTRY!
Don’t Shoot The Messenger – I Don’t Know This For A Fact, But This Can Most Certainly Become a Reality.
Offshore Wind Developers (and other bean counters) have been turning their backs on fishermen every chance they get. They will put 5 and 6 PSO’s (Protected Species Observers) on every boat working in Offshore Wind and make every excuse under the sun NOT to have a fisherman on the vessel.
Our Offshore Fisheries Liaisons (OFL’s) Collectively Have Over 250,000 KM of Survey Area Behind Us With ZERO Negative Interactions.
This is a HUGE mistake, and about the most avoidable and most frustrating thing they could do, because to date, every single negative interaction and dust up between fishermen and Offshore Wind was because no fisherman was on the Offshore Wind boat.
So Now, Offshore Wind is Facing Major Pushback & Pressure.
Heck Even Jessie Waters and Tucker Carlson
from Fox News Are Getting Into The Act!
Jesse Watters interviews Fisheries liaison, Meghan Lapp of Seafreeze – “Offshore wind is the greatest existential threat to U.S. commercial fishing.”
3.8 MILLION Average Daily Viewers.
Tucker Carlson, the most popular cable news host in US history 4.5 million Average Daily Viewers
Like it or not, the facts are the facts – they are the most watched talking heads on the TV today and they are SALIVATING FOR BAD NEWS . YOU CAN BET YOUR BOTTOM $$$ THE NEXT DUST-UP WITH A FISHERMAN WILL GET AN ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF THEIR ATTENTION!
Currently, there are 4,000 commercial fishing vessels plying the waters up and down the Eastern Seaboard, about 600 For Hire Charter and Party Boats, and probably another 8,000 sport-fishing vessels.
Think about this for a minute – 33 Offshore Wind Farms on the board and 12,000 or so fishing vessels. It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when, and how bad, the interaction is going to be and what kind of damage will be done with the likes of Tucker Carlson and Jesse Waters lurking in the shadows?
As of today, there are THIRTY THREE Offshore Wind projects on the books and there are 4,000 commercial fishing vessels spread out up and down the eastern seaboard.
LIKE I SAID – THESE GUYS ARE SALIVATING For Bad News And Rest-Assured, The Next Dustup With a Fisherman Will Get Their Undivided Attention and MILLIONS Of Eyeballs Will Be Watching.
I could go on and on about this, but I think you get he idea. If you don’t, you never will.
The Single Biggest Mistake Offshore Wind Is Making is NOT having fishermen aboard all vessels working in Offshore Wind and the EASIEST WAY to correct it is to contact us. We have fishermen up and down the coast calling and looking for work in Offshore Wind.
Tony Robins Says It Best – Success Leaves Clues.
One Simple Phone Call to 321-427-4100 or email to Admin@admin and You Can Have Experienced, Qualified Certified Fishermen Working in Your Offshore Wind Field within a couple days. If you don’t and there IS a dust up that effects the entire Offshore Wind Industry, are you willing to accept responsibility for the collapse?