SLO County judge rules against local fishermen

May 21, 2024

By KAREN VELIE

A San Luis Obispo County judge last week rejected a request from Morro Bay and Port San Luis fishermen for a preliminary injunction to stop wind energy companies from surveying the ocean floor.

Signed into law in Oct. 2023, Senate Bill 286 requires the statewide strategy for wind energy to include best practices for addressing impacts to commercial and recreational fisheries. Local fishermen argue wind companies have failed to follow best practices because they have not put protocols in place to protect the fishing industry.

San Luis Obispo Superior Court Judge Craig van Rooyen found the requirements in Senate Bill 286 vague. Specifically, when the protocols and protections need to be in place: before or after work is completed.

On Feb. 29, two groups of commercial fishermen filed a legal challenge against the state’s wind energy plans, arguing the process violates their constitutional right to fish. The lawsuit asks the court to revoke survey permits and not to allow any new permits until proper mitigation and protections are in place.

Then on April 19, the fishermen filed an ex parte application seeking to stop Atlas Wind, also known as  Equinor, from conducting any site surveys in state waters.

Also on April 19, Atlas Wind’s survey vessel, Island Pride, began survey work on the ocean floor. Since then, commercial fisherman report 67% to 70% declines in catch numbers.

However, the judge said he would not consider evidence submitted after the initial April 19 filing for an injunction, so he did not consider the reduction in catch rates.

The federal government auctioned off three offshore wind energy sites located between 20 and 30 miles off the coast near Morro Bay in 2022. Then in Dec. 2023, the state issued a permit allowing survey work to begin.

Signed into law in Oct. 2023, Senate Bill 286 requires the statewide strategy to include best practices for addressing impacts to commercial and recreational fisheries regarding wind energy. Local fishermen argue the wind companies have failed to follow best practices.

Filed in February, the  lawsuit seeks to protect the fishermens’ constitutional right to fish through mitigation of impacts from the off-shore wind farms, including during the site surveys, construction, operation and decommissioning. The suit is ongoing.