Fishermen’s Organization.
California’s San Luis Obispo Superior Court on May 15 denied a request from commercial fishing entities for injunction relief in approving permits for ocean site surveys for offshore wind development.
The litigation to stop approval of permits for site surveys was filed Feb. 29 by the Morro Bay Commercial Fishermen’s Organization (MBCFO) and Port San Luis Commercial Fishermen’s Association (PSLCFA).
Defendants included the California Coastal Commission, the State Lands Commission, three offshore wind development firms and the environmental consulting company CSA Ocean Sciences.
The three companies that hold leases to potentially develop floating wind turbines in the Morro Bay wind energy area offshore of Cambria and San Simeon are Atlas Wind, Golden State Wind and Even Keel Wind.
None were available for comment following the court’s decision.
However, Morro Bay Commercial Fishermen’s Organization President Tom Hafer said his group would appeal the San Luis Obispo court decision.
Meanwhile, he said, as site surveys in the ocean continue, bottom fishing has dropped off 70% for black cod and other groundfish, and fishermen are concerned because there’s no protocol in place for monitoring or a mitigating the potential adverse impacts of the surveys or the wind sites planned by the three firms.
Protections for the commercial fishing industry are mandated by the California Coastal Act and the state’s constitution.
In its initial filing, the Morro Bay organization said it had no choice but to initiate litigation to protect the public trust values of the California coast and the survival of the commercial fishing industry.
Plaintiffs are seeking to block permits to the development until the actual impact of the site survey is determined.
The conservation organization Oceana has not taken a stand in this litigation, but did ask the California Coastal Commission as far back as March 31, 2022, to carefully consider the effects of offshore wind lease exploration activities, as well as the effects of construction operations.
Oceana noted that climate change already was altering ocean ecosystems.
Site assessment activities associated with lease sales, as well as any offshore wind energy construction and operations that may follow, have the potential to adversely affect marine resources, commercial and recreational fishing, environmental justice communities and tribal and cultural resources, Oceana said.