Maine's congressional delegation and Gov. Janet Mills are urging federal officials to remove an area of prime lobster fishing ground from consideration as a site for potential offshore wind development.
The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is soliciting feedback on some 9.8 million acres to site potential commercial projects in the Gulf of Maine.
In a letter to federal officials, Mills and the delegation said the fishing territory in question — known as Lobster Management Area 1 that encompasses much of the Maine and Massachusetts coastlines — should be taken off the table.
"Our fishing community feels that their voices are not being heard," the letter reads. "A straightforward way for BOEM to show it is committed to minimizing impact to fisheries would be to adopt the fishing community's primary request: remove LMA 1 from consideration."
Mills and the congressional delegation go on to say that while offshore wind has the potential to bring good-paying jobs to Maine, they warn that it should not come at the expense of the state's fishing industry.
The delegation is especially concerned about a strip of nearly 1,000 square miles off the Midcoast, as well as two other restricted areas, that are closed seasonally in a bid to protect critically endangered North Atlantic right whales.
"If an area is closed to fishing, how could this area still be considered for offshore wind development?" the letter reads. "This is inconsistent with the fact that our fishermen are required to comply with closures in these areas."
BOEM has solicited feedback on a potential leasing site. Any potential offshore wind development is likely years away.
