Can Wind Turbines and Lobstering Mix?

by Steve Cartwright

A small protest at a recent Rockland forum on offshore wind power featured a lobster coffin, warning of the potential threat to the fishery posed by turbines.

Environmental activist Ron Huber claims that if turbines are sited in currents that affect lobster habitat, it could harm both lobsters and the industry that depends on them in the Gulf of Maine. He cites a recent Norwegian scientific report that suggests upwelling at turbine sites could adversely affect lobster larvae.

While Huber and several others protested outside, several speakers touted the advantages of offshore wind turbines to generate electricity inside the Strand Theatre, where a film, Islands in the Wind, was shown. A panel discussion led by Phil Conkling followed. Panelists included Phil Conkling, Island Institute; Bob Steneck, University of Maine marine scientist; Dave Cousens, Maine Lobstermen's Association (MLA) ; Habib Dagher, University of Maine, and Ted Koffman Maine Audubon.

Cousens, a South Thomaston lobsterman, restaurant owner and president of the MLA, said he is “not in favor of anything that would harm the industry.”

“I am very concerned about ocean acidification,” he said, pointing out the pollution of the sea from fossil fuels threatens his livelihood. “I don’t think the answer to our energy problems is drill, baby, drill.”

“We have an opportunity here to be the first major player with wind on the ocean,” Cousens said. “I fish every day, and I look at the Vinalhaven windmills and they don’t bother me. I think they look kind of cool.”

“I do believe that siting the windmills is going to be key,” he added. “We’re not sure whether we can fish around the turbines, or whether the area will be closed off. No one has really said that yet.”

At the forum, Huber questioned why the state is considering wind turbines 10 miles offshore, when University of Maine experts suggested 20 to 50 miles offshore is preferable, and less likely to interfere with coastal marine fisheries.

Philip Conkling, executive director and co-founder of the Island Institute, cited the recent installation of three wind turbines on Vinalhaven, a project in which his organization was heavily involved. He held up a container of spring water and a gallon of gas and asked which costs more? Bottled water, was the answer.

He asked his audience, rhetorically, how many of them thought this ratio would continue.

He suggested Vinalhaven residents are making a wise choice: “What the islanders asked themselves is, what’s our best for the next 20 years? Do we bet on the price of fossil fuel, or do we bet on wind?”