The Latest: Wind farm company says no fishing vessel damage

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Latest on undersea footage showing marine life around the nation’s first offshore wind farm (all times local):

3 p.m.

The head of a company that built the nation’s first wind farm says it hasn’t received any reports of damage to fishing vessels in the area, off the coast of Rhode Island.

Deepwater Wind CEO Jeff Grybowski said Thursday he believes any claims by local fishermen are a “complete fabrication.”

The Providence-based company and the American Wind Energy Association industry trade group are touting new undersea footage suggesting a vibrant marine habitat growing around the five-turbine wind farm. The video shows mussels and fish clustered around the turbine bases and positive testimonials from local recreational fishermen.

Silver Dollar Seafood co-owner Daniel Farnham, of Montauk, New York, complains the clip doesn’t acknowledge the experiences of fishermen who say they’ve had their trawling gear damaged by buried power cables.

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12:25 p.m.

Offshore wind proponents are touting new undersea footage suggesting a vibrant marine habitat is growing around the nation’s first offshore wind farm.

The American Wind Energy Association posted a short video on YouTube this week from Deepwater Wind’s five-turbine operation off Rhode Island.

The video shows mussels and fish clustered around the turbine bases, as well as positive testimonials from local recreational fishermen and charter boat owners.

Nancy Sopko, the association’s director of offshore wind, says the video shows the potential for the fishing industry as wind projects are planned all along the East Coast.

But Seth Rolbein, of the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance in Massachusetts, cautions the footage does little to assuage commercial fishermen’s concerns of encountering problems like getting trawling gear damaged on undersea power cables.