The Emerging American Offshore Wind Industry is Impacting the Community of New Bedford

The Port of New Bedford is home to the wealthiest commercial fishing industry in the country. As the dominant port on the east coast, New Bedford has one of the best industrial working waterfronts with services that completely support marine industrial businesses. These shoreside services include fueling, icing, seafood harvesting, offloading, processing and more.

The port generates about $11 billion in direct and induced economic output each year and supports the jobs of nearly 7,000 people, according to Mayor Jon Mitchell.

“We have all the things that support a fishing economy here to a degree that is far greater than anything else on the on the East Coast,” said Mitchell in an interview with Media Milwaukee.

Because the port of New Bedford is fully supported by shoreside services with a strong supply chain structure, it has the capability to support commercial fishing as well as the developing offshore wind industry.

The offshore wind industry is a clean energy initiative that will have its first launch in the city of New Bedford. Offshore wind power uses the force of winds out at sea to generate energy onshore.

According to the director of the New Bedford Port Authority, Gordan Carr, the federal government is initiating a large offshore wind deployment to generate clean energy and reach its decarbonization goals. The goal is to generate 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030.

“We’re very excited in New Bedford to be the host of the first commercial scale offshore wind deployment, Vineyard Wind, which will be a 62-turbine offshore wind development 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard,” said Carr.

Many of these offshore wind developments are being targeted towards some of the most lucrative fishing grounds, specifically the scallop industry, which is the most valuable fishing industry in New Bedford. Offshore wind’s interaction with the fishing industry has raised concerns and controversy for many commercial fishermen.

“We have a real vested interest in making sure that the industry is not negatively impacted by the development at sea of the offshore wind,” said Carr. “Because we’re first in wind, and we’re first in fishing, there’s no port in the country that has more at stake or is more interested in getting that right than the Port of New Bedford.”

Fisherman are concerned that these wind developments will harmfully impact the fishing economy. With commercial fishing at the core of New Bedford’s economy, there are concerns regarding management and maintenance of both industries cohabitating.

“I was adamantly opposed to having them offshore, to be honest with you. I don’t feel it’s a good environment for them,” said Captain Jim Kendall, a retired scalloper.  “I think it’s going to be real problematic for them, plus it’s parking these towers right where these boats fish.”

These offshore wind farms have to be sited in a way that does not pose navigational hazards for fishermen or impose on the fishing industry’s economic opportunity, according to the mayor.

“We want New Bedford to be a leader in both industries because I think that’s necessary for our city to thrive in the long run as a place where maritime industry can grow together,” said Mitchell.

Policy makers describe how they are working to mediate between the two industries in order to provide residents with good jobs and encourage people to invest in the community.

“People here are oriented toward the sea in ways other places aren’t,” said Mitchell. “There’s a certain common vernacular around fishing and a sort of connectedness to the sea that makes people feel like New Bedford has a very special identity.”

Over the years, New Bedford has displayed a pattern of successfully growing industrial businesses. From whaling to textiles to the current fishing industry, is there room for offshore wind farms?

“We were once known as the city that looked the world: we were whalers, and now I told people we could be the ones doing it again here being the city that helps light the country,” said Kendall. “But I don’t want to see the fishing industry harmed by it.”