Fort Bragg fishermen”s group considering legal action as it waits for FERC action
Of the Advocate
An eagerly anticipated day for those who want greater local input into the wave energy process turned out to be just another delay.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, has granted itself an extension to the time it will consider requests for public participation and environmental analysis in developing national licensing regulations for wave energy generation projects known as “hydrokinetics.”
The Fort Bragg-based alliance of commercial and recreational fishing associations, Fishermen Interested in Safe Hydrokinetics, or FISH, which increasingly has taken the lead on following the arcane and convoluted federal wave energy process, issued a press release on Monday.
The FISH Committee requested that FERC conduct a public notice-and-comment rulemaking, prepare a programmatic environmental impact statement, and comply with other federal laws such as the Clean Water Act and the Coastal Zone Management Act,” the press release said.
The County of Mendocino, the City of Fort Bragg, the Recreational Fishing Alliance, and Lincoln County, Ore., joined the FISH Committee”s request for a rehearing of FERC”s policies.
Because FISH believes the law is not being followed, the group is considering filing a lawsuit against FERC. FISH is working with Robert Gulley, a former senior trial attorney in the wildlife and marine resources section of the U.S. Department of Justice, in evaluating its options. Gulley previously represented the government in numerous fish and wildlife cases, including recent litigation over impacts on fish from the federal dams on the Columbia River.
“We take this issue very seriously and, if necessary, intend to vigorously pursue our legal options,” said John Innes, board member of the North Coast Fishing Association. “We are not opposed to renewable energy; we only want to make sure we know what the impacts will be to fish and other marine life before we sign off on these projects. Considering that wave energy is in its infancy, it is extremely important to have proper controls and regulations in place to prevent non-recoverable detrimental effects on our ocean environment.”
Hydrokinetic energy projects include proposals for floating buoys in the ocean that convert the motion of the waves and tides into electricity, as well as submerged devices in rivers, bays and estuaries that convert tidal action into electricity using turbines.
The FISH Committee believes that national regulations, developed through public participation, with environmental analysis, are required before FERC starts issuing licenses for hydrokinetic projects, including offshore experimental wave farms.
FERC has repeatedly rejected this idea, preferring to “get this stuff in the water and find out what it has to offer,” as FERC Commissioner Phil Moeller was quoted in the New York Times, Dec. 8, 2007.
Unlike FERC, its sister federal agency, the Minerals Management Service, is using a public process to develop regulations for ocean wave energy projects, and has completed a programmatic environmental impact statement.
Two wave energy projects are currently proposed for the coast off Mendocino County, in one of the most productive marine areas on the West Coast. One proposal covers 68 square miles, and the second covers 17 square miles. Both would require significant exclusion zones in the last remaining fishing grounds off Mendocino County.
Hydrokinetic proposals have touched every region of the United States, from the Yukon River in Alaska to the ocean off the Florida Keys.
“Naturally, fishermen are concerned whenever we hear proposals to close off big areas of the ocean to fishing, but we”re just as concerned about the potential environmental impacts to marine species our fisheries depend on,” said Jim Martin of the Recreational Fishing Alliance, a national grassroots political lobby for saltwater sportfishermen, and one of the founding members of FISH. “We hope FERC uses the extra time it has extended itself to carefully consider these issues and do the right thing.”
The FISH Committee includes the Recreational Fishing Alliance, the North Coast Fishing Association, the Salmon Trollers Marketing Association, the Sea Vegetable Harvesters Coalition, Caito Fisheries, the Fishermen”s Marketing Association, the Salmon Restoration Association, the Sonoma County Abalone Network, and the California Sea Urchin Commission.
Potential negative impacts on marine life from wave buoys include electromagnetic pollution and interference with migratory finfish, whale entanglements and altering the bottom structure of the seabeds. Turbine devices submerged in rivers, bays and estuaries could affect juvenile fish.
