As part of Maine’s commitment to responsible offshore wind, Governor Janet Mills established the Maine Offshore Wind Research Consortium in 2021 with bipartisan support to better understand the local and regional impacts of floating offshore wind power projects in the Gulf of Maine.
A 2023 update to that legislation (LD 1895) directs the Governor’s Energy Office (GEO) to serve as the Consortium’s coordinating agency alongside the Department of Marine Resources (DMR) and the Department of Inland Fish and Wildlife (DIFW). The statute establishes an Advisory Board with representation from commercial and recreational fisheries, marine wildlife and habitats expertise, commercial offshore wind development expertise, and state agencies. Maine-based environmental NGOs, community representatives, and scientists from public and private research institutions are also represented to ensure a broad stakeholder perspective.
The Advisory Board is responsible for establishing a research strategy that at a minimum includes the following themes:
- Opportunities and challenges caused by the deployment of floating offshore wind projects to the existing uses of the Gulf of Maine;
- Methods to avoid and minimize the impact of floating offshore wind projects on ecosystems and existing uses of the Gulf of Maine; and
- Ways to realize cost efficiencies in the commercialization of floating offshore wind projects.
The Consortium’s Research Strategy, a document that will be updated regularly, can be found here.
The Maine Offshore Wind Research Consortium collaborates closely with other states and regional and national science and research partners including the National Offshore Wind Research and Development Consortium, and the Regional Wildlife Science Collaborative, of which the Governor’s Energy Office is a member.
In 2022, after an open nominations call, Advisory Board and Steering Committee members were appointed by GEO. Over the course of 2023, the Advisory Board developed the Research Strategy and identified three projects for initial funding, including:
- Exploring approaches to fisheries coexistence with floating offshore wind;
- Inventorying baseline data on socioeconomics of Maine fishing communities to help assess potential positive and negative impacts of floating offshore wind in the Gulf of Maine; and
- Sonar seafloor mapping in key areas of the Gulf of Maine.
The first two projects received bids through a competitive Request for Proposals (RFP) process and were awarded in early 2024. The seafloor mapping project is being led by the Department of Marine Resources Maine Coastal Mapping Initiative (MCMI).
For more information on the Research Consortium, please contact Stephanie Watson, Offshore Wind Program Manager, at Stephanie.Watson@maine.gov.
Research Consortium Projects
- Project #1: Fisheries Coexistence
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This project will investigate the extent to which fishing and floating offshore wind can coexist in the Gulf of Maine. The project team will engage with ocean users and other stakeholders to explore understandings, considerations, and definitions for marine coexistence, which includes co-use and interoperability. The project will include researching the compatibility of floating offshore wind technologies with fishing gear used in the Gulf of Maine and the regulatory and legal frameworks that may impact potential coexistence. ERM Consulting and Engineering, in partnership with the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, have been awarded the contract to conduct this research.
For more information on this project, please contact Meghan Suslovic: meghan.suslovic@maine.gov.
View project overview slides here.
- Project #2: Socioeconomic Baseline Inventory
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The socioeconomic baseline inventory project is intended to create a foundation to better understand the potential positive and negative impacts of offshore wind development on fishing communities in Maine and will produce recommendations on what additional socioeconomic data collection might be required to help assess potential impacts. Karp Strategies, in partnership with Dr. Alison Bates’ lab at Colby College, have been awarded a contract to conduct this research.
For more information on this project, please contact Meghan Suslovic: meghan.suslovic@maine.gov.
View project overview slides here.
- Project #3: Seafloor Mapping
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The Advisory Board Steering Committee decided the most cost-effective approach to collecting high priority seafloor data is to leverage the existing resources of the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) and provide collaborative research opportunities with Maine fishermen through the Maine Coastal Mapping Initiative (MCMI). This project will map approximately 840 square nautical miles of seafloor in poorly mapped areas in the general area east of Cashes Ledge and south of Jeffreys Bank. Multibeam echosounder (MBES) sonar systems will be used to create seafloor maps that will aid in classifying marine habitats and understanding and minimizing the potential impacts of offshore wind development. The project will involve contracting two commercial fishing vessels, creating seven temporary/seasonal positions, and purchasing a new sonar system. The results of this project will be made available to the public.
For more information, please contact Jesse Minor at DMR: jesse.minor@maine.gov.
View project overview slides here.
Research Consortium Advisory Board and Steering Committee
- GOAL:
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The Maine Offshore Wind Research Consortium aims to create a common understanding of the local and regional impacts (positive and negative) of floating offshore wind in the Gulf of Maine. The consortium may prioritize, scope, commission, and/or find collaborative partners to implement scientific studies on the ecological, technological, economic and social impacts to achieve this goal.
OBJECTIVES (based on Title 35-A, §3406):
- Explore opportunities and challenges that floating offshore wind poses to current and future uses in the Gulf of Maine, including how to best support co-existence with the fishing industry.
- Identify methods to avoid and minimize impacts on ecosystems and existing uses of the Gulf of Maine.
- Investigate ways to realize cost efficiencies in commercialization of offshore wind to reduce potential costs to ratepayers.
STRATEGIES TO ACHIEVE OBJECTIVES:
- Identify priority data gaps and research needs to achieve the above objectives, building off other initiatives.
- Share knowledge and promote joint learning about floating offshore wind technology, the Gulf of Maine ecosystem, and the current ocean users.
- Collaborate and partner with government entities and other organizations focused on floating offshore wind research and monitoring in the Gulf of Maine.
- Coordinate, support and leverage funds to commission research and monitoring.
- Promote communication and implementation of research results and data in a timely manner.
To view the Advisory Board Terms of Reference, click here (PDF).
- Advisory Board Members
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Commercial and recreational harvesting interests
- Patrice McCarron, Maine Lobstermen’s Association
- Jack Cunningham, Maine Lobstering Union Local 207
- Ben Martens, Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association
- Terry Alexander*, F/V Jocka 22
- Mary Beth Tooley, O’Hara Corporation
- Chris Weiner, F/V Elizabeth Ames, American Bluefin Tuna Association
- Bob Humphrey, Sport-Ventures
*Advisory Board Co-Chair
Scientists from private and public research institutions
- Alison Bates*, Colby College
- Damian Brady, University of Maine
- Wing Goodale, Biodiversity Research Institute
- Nick Record, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences
- Graham Sherwood, Gulf of Maine Research Institute
- Sean Todd, College of the Atlantic
- Anthony Viselli, University of Maine
- Gayle Zydlewski, Maine Sea Grant
*Advisory Board Co-Chair
Offshore wind industry experience
- Dave Cowan, Diamond Offshore Wind
- Wojciech Wiechowski, RWE
- Laura Morse, Invenergy
Coastal community representatives
- Bill Needelman, Portland Waterfront Coordinator
- TBD
Maine-based environmental groups
- Jocelyn Runnebaum, The Nature Conservancy Maine
- Sarah Haggerty, Maine Audubon
State agencies
- Carl Wilson, Department of Marine Resources
- John Perry, Inland Fish and Wildlife
- Stephanie Watson, Governor’s Energy Office
At-large
- Daniel Salerno, Fisheries Scientist, Limington, Maine
- Steering Committee Members
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- Carl Wilson, Department of Marine Resources
- John Perry, Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife
- Stephanie Watson, Governor’s Energy Office
- Alison Bates*, Colby College
- Terry Alexander*, F/V Jocka
- Current Collaborators
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State and Federal Entities
- MA Coastal Program and Clean Energy Center
- NH Department of Environmental Services
- NY State Energy Research and Development Authority
- California Energy Commission
- US Fish & Wildlife Service
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
- New England Fisheries Management Council
Regional Organizations
- Regional Wildlife Science Collaborative
- National Offshore Wind Research and Development Consortium
- Responsible Offshore Science Alliance
- Responsible Offshore Development Alliance
- Northeastern Regional Association of Coastal Ocean Observing Systems