In New Bedford, Massachusetts, Captain Jack Morris, a lifelong scalloper, had recently found steady work supporting offshore wind construction. Crews like his patrolled offshore sites, keeping the waters safe as the turbines went in. 

"This has been a great thing for them, and it's been a great thing for me and the boat," Morris said. 

But with the Revolution Wind project now frozen by the Trump administration, those jobs are on hold, and boats like Morris's are tied to the dock. 

"My first thought was this is insane. Everything's going good with the projects. There's been no safety issues," Morris said. 

Federal limits mean scallop boats only get a handful of days at sea each year. Offshore wind became a lifeline, in some cases worth hundreds of thousands of dollars over the course of construction. 

The Revolution Wind project off the Rhode Island coast was about 80% built before it was recently stopped mid-construction. Vineyard Wind, south of Martha's Vineyard, is still moving forward and already sending power to the grid. 

"It's become very important," Morris said of the offshore wind projects. "It adds to their livelihood." 

"Everybody voted for Trump"

This pause also stings politically, especially among fishermen who have long supported Trump. "Everybody voted for Trump," Morris said. "You never saw a Biden bumper sticker anywhere." 

Now, some of those same fishermen are hoping the president reverses course. 

For Morris, the pause means a lost paycheck. For the city of New Bedford, it threatens a much larger promise. "This is of course America's most famous whaling port, and today the number one fishing port in the United States," said New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell. 

Offshore wind and fishing in New Bedford

Mitchell points to more than a billion dollars in new terminals and wharf projects. "We have always been committed to the proposition that both offshore wind and fishing can succeed side by side," Mitchell said. 

But Mayor Mitchell says those investments aren't just about one project, they're about securing New Bedford's place in the maritime economy for decades. 

"Here in New Bedford, we play the long game," Mitchell said. 

And part of that game now depends on what happens in Washington.