Another attempt to halt Vineyard Wind through the courts fell short last week when a federal court dismissed an appeal by a fishermen’s organization and a Rhode Island seafood dealer.

A panel of judges with the U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court’s decision on Dec. 5, saying the group’s claims that the federal government mishandled the approval process for the wind farm were unfounded. 

The decision is one of several that Vineyard Wind, which aims to build 62 turbines to the south of the Island, has weathered in recent years, keeping the project’s approvals from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management intact. 

Seafreeze Shoreside, a Rhode Island-based seafood dealer, the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association, the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance and other groups filed the appeal after their claims were rejected by the U.S. District Court in Boston in 2023. 

The groups contended that the federal government violated the National Environmental Policy Act, Endangered Species Act and several other laws in approving the Vineyard Wind project in 2022. 

The appeals court found several technical flaws in the appeal. In one instance, the panel of judges found that Seafreeze was challenging older versions of government documents used in the decision-making process, but not the documents that would eventually be used in the approvals. 

The appeals court also agreed with the district court’s ruling that the groups did not have the standing to claim they would be harmed by the wind farm. 

A member of the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association said he derived aesthetic and spiritual pleasure from fishing and photographing right whales and other marine life in the project area, according to the lawsuit. 

The appeals court concluded that “a commercial fishing association’s interest in protecting the welfare of the area in which its members carry on their business does not...encompass an individual member’s observational interests in the right whale or recreational interests in fishing and photography.”

The court also wrote that Vineyard Wind was more than 65 miles from Suffolk County, N.Y., meaning it was likely outside of the association’s area of interest. 

The Responsible Offshore Development Alliance was disappointed with the court’s decision, saying it ignores the deep connection that its members have with the ocean environment.

“The decision is particularly disheartening as the appeals court upheld the lower court’s ruling, which held that fishermen are largely unable to bring claims related to environmental or aesthetic impacts to assert standing,” the alliance said in a statement. 

Concerned about the environmental effects of Vineyard Wind, the alliance pointed to the project’s broken wind turbine blade as evidence of the government’s inadequate review process. 

“With dozens more offshore wind projects slated in our oceans, and the lessons learned every day about the serious consequences of poor planning, it is now more critical than ever that concerned citizens work together to support our fishing communities,” the alliance said. 

A spokesperson for Vineyard Wind did not return a request for comment. 

The company is in the middle of constructing the farm, while dealing with the setback from the blade breaking in July. The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement is investigating the cause of the blade failure.