New England fishermen are steaming over a final sale notice from the feds for nearly 1 million acres in the Gulf of Maine designated as a hub for wind energy, even with the area much smaller than initially sought.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management published its final designation and sale notice for the eight lease areas for sale, covering 850,082 acres, on the Federal Register this week – a reduction from the 3.5 million acres drafted last fall.

New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association CEO Jerry Leeman said despite the drop in acreage, the potential impacts from development in the Gulf of Maine are plentiful.

Development poses “an existential threat to all marine species, habitat, and to the livelihoods of current and future generations of sustainable fishermen upon whom their communities rely on for survival,” Leeman said in a statement.

BOEM said the final area sought for offshore wind energy generation addresses “ocean user conflicts,” a culmination of feedback it received from fishermen, the U.S. Coast Guard, and the National Marine Fisheries Service, among others.

“BOEM prioritized the avoidance of offshore fishing grounds, sensitive habitats, and existing and future vessel transit routes, while still retaining sufficient acreage to support the region’s offshore wind energy goals,” a release from the Department of the Interior states.

The final sale notice highlights how BOEM removed the northern portions of four lease areas close to the Jeffreys Bank Habitat Management Area and portions of seven lease areas to avoid conflict with fishing.

BOEM also avoided “leasing in areas of potential hardbottom and high bathymetric change potentially suitable for coral habitat,” the final sale notice states.

Leeman called the lease areas “a worst-case outcome for fishermen,” noting how few of his members will “transit through the southern lease sites once they are industrialized” and many are concerned about safe navigation during inclement weather.

“Wind farms interfere with marine radar for reasons we do not yet understand,” Leeman said. “The prospect of radar failure over a huge swath of ocean strongly discourages fishermen from approaching these sites or points east of them.

“With access to George’s Bank and the eastern Gulf of Maine effectively blocked,” he added, “we anticipate fishermen will concentrate in the Gulf’s western portions. This puts needless stress of the fish stocks closer to shore. That is especially troubling because near-shore fisheries act as nurseries for many different species.”

If fully developed, the feds say the areas have a potential capacity of approximately 13 gigawatts of clean offshore wind energy, which could power more than 4.5 million homes.

Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland is giddy about the future of offshore wind being developed in the Gulf of Maine.

“The growing enthusiasm for the clean energy future is infectious,” she said in a statement. “The Biden-Harris administration’s unwavering commitment to building a vibrant and sustainable offshore clean energy sector is strengthening our fight against the climate crisis and building a healthier, more resilient planet for generations to come.”

Seagulls wait for a handout near a fishing boat at the Boston Fish Pier. (Matt Stone/Boston Herald)