Fishing group accepts Vineyard Wind deal

A Rhode Island fishing board Saturday voted in favor of a revised compensation offer from offshore wind developer Vineyard Wind in a decision that boosts the New Bedford company’s chances of securing a key approval from state coastal regulators later this week. In a unanimous vote at the special meeting, the Fishermen’s Advisory Board accepted the new offer that includes $4.2 million in payments over 30 years for direct impacts to commercial fishermen from Vineyard Wind’s 84-turbine wind farm proposed south of Martha’s Vineyard — as well as the creation of a $12.5-million trust set up over five years that could be used to cover additional costs to fishermen resulting from the project.The Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council is now set to vote tonight on whether it believes the $2 billion project is consistent with state coastal activities, including fishing. With the vote by the fishermen’s board, the prospects of Vineyard Wind winning approval appear much improved from just weeks ago when the two sides were mired in negotiations.But the board’s decision does not amount to an endorsement of the 800-megawatt proposal, which is aiming to be the first large-scale offshore wind farm in the nation, following the completion two years ago of a test project off Block Island.Even though every member of the fishermen’s board voted for the agreement, each spoke out against a process regulated by the federal government that they argued is weighted in favor of offshore wind development, to the detriment of the fishing industry. And each expressed reservations about their decision.