Whales, Cod, and Wind: Historical Narratives of Conflict and Control in Massachusetts' Nantucket Sound

Since the middle of the 17th century, the resources of Nantucket Sound – a small body of ocean located off the Eastern coast of the United States between Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket Island – have supported the economic and cultural systems of Massachusetts. In light of a current controversy over regulation and environmental review of efforts to extract/capture offshore wind energy resources in Nantucket Sound, this paper investigates the development of state control over offshore resources in Massachusetts. Specifically, it looks at the history of efforts by both the state of Massachusetts as well as the U.S. government to intercede in and exert control over the environment of Nantucket Sound. Drawing on conflicts around fishing and whaling from oral histories and legal documents, this paper examines the development of state interest in control over offshore resources as well as State efforts to collectively manage those resources. Recent and recurring Native American claims of cultural heritage and the religious importance of Nantucket Sound's environmental and spatial resources are also examined. Changes over time in the balance of power between individual, local, and state interests over the resources of Nantucket Sound will serve as a lens for understanding underlying factors of the current debate on offshore wind energy and the extent to which state interests take precedence.