updated January 8, 2008Cape Wind Threatens Fishing Grounds in Nantucket Sound
Our coastal economy generates thousands of good jobs and produces tons of
healthful, local all-natural seafood every year. But our way of life is
threatened.
A wealthy, private developer wants millions of taxpayer and ratepayer
dollars to build the Cape Wind power plant on one of our most productive
fishing grounds in Nantucket Sound - between Cape Cod and the Islands of
Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard.
The members of the Massachusetts Fishermen’s Partnership support renewable
energy like everyone else does, but Horseshoe Shoal in Nantucket Sound is the
wrong place for an industrial plant. If this gets built, a lot of fishermen
will be out of business and their families out of luck. It’s that simple.
Take Action.
Horseshoe Shoal is Where we Work
The Cape Wind project proposed for Nantucket
Sound would cost the region’s fishing industry between $8 million
and $13 million, according to a recent study by the Massachusetts Fishermen's
Partnership, Inc. and the University of Rhode Island. Read
our report on the potential for negative impacts of Cape Wind on commercial
fishing.
Nantucket Sound is Home to Sustainable Fisheries
Commercial fishing in Nantucket Sound is well managed and sustainable. The
small fishing vessels that work there harvest with a very low impact to the
environment as they have for centuries and provide the highest quality
seafood to benefit the good health of all citizens. The Horseshoe Shoal
fishery is a poster child for good conservation and environmental
stewardship. It must not be displaced when alternatives are available.
It’s Essential Fish Habitat
According to a fisheries expert on the Massachusetts Marine Fisheries
Advisory Commission, “Nantucket Sound provides essential fish habitat for
many important species of finfish and invertebrates, including bluefish,
striped bass, scup, summer flounder, black sea bass, and squid. Their
commercial and recreational harvest adds tens of millions of dollars to the
local economy… Commercial fishermen, recreational anglers, and charter
captains target the area because of its abundance.” Learn more.
We Can Have Renewable Energy & Fishing
Proponents of Cape Wind are flat-out wrong when they claim this project
will not adversely effect fishing on Horseshoe Shoal, or, even more
outrageously, that it will benefit this vital resource and the fishermen who
depend upon it.
In fact, there are better alternatives: alternative locations that would
not impact fisheries as severely are available.
We can have renewable energy and we can preserve sustainable fisheries
that provide us with much-needed, healthful, wild-caught seafood.
Important Precedent that Must Be Right
Cape Wind is the very first offshore wind energy development in the United
States. With growing demands for renewable energy, offshore energy
developments will be proposed around the entire nation. It is vitally
important to all our coastal fisheries and our access to healthful all
natural seafood that we provide the right example of how to do this and
benefit the nation. Our nation depends on sustainable fisheries as well as
energy. We can do this right, but Cape Wind is wrong.
You can Stop the Madness
Help Massachusetts fishermen protect their families and their livelihood
by opposing Cape Wind in Nantucket Sound. Contact the federal Minerals
Management Service (MMS) in Washington, DC today. This agency is currently
deciding whether to allow the Cape Wind project to be built in the Sound.
E-mail MMS Director Randall Luthi at
Randall.Luthi@mms.gov or call him
at 202 208-3500. Tell MMS to find another location for Cape Wind and protect
our fishermen’s future. Thank you!
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