The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries recently launched a program to help address the nation’s climate crisis through offshore wind energy.
The NOAA Fisheries’ Federal Survey Mitigation Program will advance the Biden-Harris administration’s goal of deploying 30 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind by 2030, as stated in a BOEM news release.
“A government-wide approach to offshore wind development is necessary to further ensure that decisions are driven by science, and evidence-based recommendations,” BOEM Director Amanda Lefton said in the release. “This partnership with NOAA strengthens our offshore energy programs and creates greater certainty for the industry, other governments and our stakeholders.”
The 12-month program seeks to explore the potential impacts from offshore wind development on NOAA Fisheries' surveys, which provide scientific support for sustainable fisheries.
"We welcome opportunities for partnerships to effectively mitigate the impacts of offshore wind-energy development on our scientific surveys," Acting Assistant Administrator for NOAA Fisheries Paul Doremus said in the release.
In the U.S., commercial and recreational fisheries help support 1.74 million jobs, $244 billion in sales, and $111 billion in value-added economic output, according to BOEM.
BOEM has leased approximately 1.7 million acres in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic U.S. Outer Continental Shelf for the purpose of developing offshore wind energy. It has 17 active leases in the Atlantic from Cape Cod to Cape Hatteras, with additional leasing planned for the U.S. Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and U.S. Pacific coasts.
Developing 30 GW of offshore wind by 2030 could create approximately 80,000 jobs.
The new partnership will build on existing efforts at coordination between the two federal agencies and others, such as the memorandum of understanding (MOU) and the Synthesis of the Science workshop between NOAA Fisheries, BOEM and the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA); and Interagency Agreements between BOEM and NOAA Fisheries.
