Near the docks of New London, Connecticut, a fishermen’s co-op is making history.

Established by fishermen for fishermen, Sea Services North America serves as the bridge between offshore wind developers and commercial fishermen. Their mission is to improve safety on the open water and create opportunities for local watermen to earn extra income by providing guard, scouting, and environmental compliance services to the growing clean energy industry.

It’s challenging work — led by a group of longtime fishermen in New England — that requires the trust of local communities, a deep knowledge of the services and certifications offshore wind developers need, and an ability to build partnerships between two groups that have often found themselves at odds.

Over the past three years, Sea Services has successfully trained over 80 independent and active fishermen who are now supporting offshore wind projects. To date, fishermen in the seven states where Sea Services operates have received over $10 million in income for their work.

“This is about building real opportunity for real fishermen who wouldn’t have that opportunity without offshore wind,” Sea Services Co-Founder and CEO Gordon Videll said.

Through working with the first-of-its-kind co-op, local fishing captains receive safety and offshore wind project training for themselves and their crew, plus new safety equipment and other upgrades for their vessels. This ensures all Sea Services crews and vessels are brought to the highest levels of international marine safety standards, per the requirements of Ørsted, Sea Services’ first customer.

Videll said the extra work serves as supplemental income for fishing vessels that have reached their catch quota and otherwise would be docked and not earning revenue. The money also helps offset the costs of keeping their vessels maintained and other business expenses. For veteran fishermen, it’s been a pathway to a few more years of work in a less physically demanding role. And for some younger folks, Videll said the safety training has served as the first rung of a career ladder that can lead to higher paying jobs on larger vessels.

Meanwhile, offshore wind developers working with the co-op can access safe and knowledgeable crews with an unparalleled understanding of the ocean — in particular, the waters around a developer’s project. In an industry focused on risk mitigation, companies want cost-competitive scouting and safety vessels that can identify potential conflicts, reduce delays, and protect both their project assets and marine life.

“We talk fish, and we talk offshore wind,” said Gary Yerman, a fisherman of over 50 years and co-founder of Sea Services. “We can make linkages that no one else has been able to make and do that at scale.”

Despite the benefits Sea Services’ work has yielded for fishing communities, they still face pushback — and at times animosity — from fishermen who oppose the offshore wind industry. Yerman, who owns a large seafood company in New London, said he too was initially unsure about the impact of offshore wind on his precious fishing grounds and livelihood. But he kept asking tough questions of Ørsted, which each time returned to him with real answers until he was confident in the partnership.

The collaboration with Ørsted was non-traditional, with skepticism from both sides about their ability to work together, and uncertainty as to whether the fishermen could meet the high international safety standards being introduced to them. Now, several years into a fruitful and growing co-op, they’ve proven the model a success. Sea Services supported America’s first commercial-scale offshore wind project, South Fork — from the early days of site investigation, through cable lay and turbine installation — and is now aiding in development of Revolution Wind.

The co-op has also submitted a bid to provide scout and safety vessel services for Dominion Energy’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Project in partnership with Virginia-based B&C Seafood, and its subsidiary Ocean Watt Safety. The two groups have already completed fleet and crew prep, getting Virginia fishermen trained and their vessels upgraded. Next, Sea Services will expand into new service areas; managing fishing gear claims, providing offshore fishing liaison officers, distributing project information, and strategic project de-risking.

Sea Services and B&C Seafood have co-bid to provide services to Dominion Energy’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Project. (Credit: Sea Services North America)

While Sea Services represents a uniquely beneficial partnership yet to be replicated elsewhere in the U.S., other types of companies are also getting involved in surveying and environmental compliance.

On the West Coast, developer RWE is beginning site investigation for its Canopy Offshore Wind Farm, which will require underwater surveying as well as Protected Species Observers (PSOs) above the water. Connecticut’s Geo SubSea and California’s Coastal 35 Consulting will provide PSOs on survey vessels 24/7 to detect and collect observation data on marine wildlife. Additionally, RWE has selected Seattle’s Smultea Sciences to provide PSO training to Tribal citizens and residents of nearby Humboldt County, California, with the goal of increasing local workforce opportunities.