Abstract
Fishing is a cornerstone of social life and an economic anchor for many coastal Maine communities. While the rise of offshore wind presents a unique and pressing opportunity for economic development and improved sustainability for the State, there is a need to further understand the potential positive and negative impacts of the emerging offshore wind industry on existing industries like fishing. These impacts coincide with the other challenges fishing communities are already facing, such as cost of living and housing affordability, climate change, and uncertainty around future growth of the fishing industry. Key stakeholders across government, academia, and private businesses must take intentional steps to research and foster a mutually beneficial coexistence between offshore wind and Maine’s fishing industry and communities.
The Maine Offshore Wind Research Consortium (Consortium), created in 2021 through state legislation (LD 1619), and the Maine Offshore Wind Roadmap, released by Maine Governor’s Energy Office (GEO)’s in 2023, contribute greatly to momentum for responsible offshore wind development in Maine. Together, the Consortium, which brings together leaders across a range of industries and sectors, and Maine GEO secured funding to advance pressing research to further evaluate the benefits of offshore wind while protecting Maine’s vibrant maritime heritage and fishing industry. As a critical first step in this research, the Consortium prioritized inventorying and examining existing socioeconomic data and developing actionable recommendations to guide future socioeconomic analysis. This report, created by Karp Strategies and Colby College (the Study Team), summarizes a seven-month long project that intends to set a baseline inventory and understanding of existing socioeconomic data of Maine fishing communities. The Study Team used a mixed-method approach that included desktop research, a research literature review, and targeted stakeholder interviews in order to meet the following goals:
• Develop a robust inventory of existing socioeconomic data metrics
• Define existing data gaps and barriers to the completion of a robust socioeconomic research
• Identify current best practices of socioeconomic research as they relate to offshore wind and fishing communities
The Study Team has synthesized this research into a robust report that includes key learnings and actionable recommendations. While this phase of work does not conduct the analysis itself or draw conclusions around the positive or negative metrics compiled, this research can provide direction for where Maine GEO, the Consortium, and other partners should focus additional time and resources in order to achieve a comprehensive socioeconomic analysis.