Staff ReportsThe New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association (NEFSA) rolled a fleet of mobile billboards through Washington, D.C., during Capitol Hill Ocean Week to tell a simple story: fishermen feel betrayed by the rush to build massive offshore wind farms in their waters. The ads weren’t subtle. Slogans like “They call it green energy…we call it INDUSTRIALIZING THE OCEAN” and “Thank you President Trump for defending commercial fishermen against offshore wind!” were meant to make policymakers squirm — and to remind them who actually earns a living off the sea.
NEFSA’s billboard blitz — loud, clear, and well-timed
NEFSA President Aaron Williams said the campaign was designed so lawmakers, ocean-policy folks, and the press would hear from the people whose livelihoods depend on access to healthy oceans. Timing was no accident. Capitol Hill Ocean Week is the one place all the big players show up: agency officials, industry reps, environmental groups and, crucially, the politicians who write the rules. NEFSA put its message where it would be impossible to ignore.
Why fishermen call offshore wind an “industrialization” of the ocean
The fishermen’s gripe is practical and plain: turbine fields can push boats out of productive grounds, add costs and safety risks, and change fish habitats in ways that hurt catch and income. NEFSA warns that turning prime fishing areas into industrial energy zones will ripple through coastal towns — higher seafood prices, more imports, and pressure on the little businesses that service the fleet. That’s not anti-clean-energy sentiment so much as pro-working-family reality: you can’t eat a power line.
Federal pauses, court fights, and who’s actually listening
The billboards even thanked President Donald J. Trump because his administration put a hard pause and review on certain offshore-wind leasing and permitting actions, with the Department of the Interior and BOEM reining in some projects. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum’s agency has been at the center of those moves. Developers and some states pushed back in court, and judges have sometimes allowed work to resume while lawsuits play out. NEFSA’s timing shows it knows where power is made — not just in turbines, but in the halls of Washington.
What should happen next
Lawmakers and regulators should stop treating fishermen like an afterthought in a glossy brochure. If offshore wind is to expand, it must come with honest fishing-area consultations, enforceable mitigation, and real protections for small coastal economies. That’s not anti-progress — it’s common sense. If the goal is a stronger America, then energy policy must protect both our power supply and our seafood supply. Otherwise the “green” agenda will look less like conservation and more like an industrial takeover with political cover. Policymakers would do well to listen to the crews who know the ocean best.
