Collaboration is key for responding to issues at the intersection of fisheries and offshore wind
The prospect of offshore wind energy (OWE) in the Atlantic Ocean has emerged swiftly, driving the need for science and partnership to leverage opportunities, while creatively – and quickly – responding to challenges. A burgeoning tie between the University of Rhode Island (URI) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) may be one way for government and science to work with the private sector at solving problems at the intersection of OWE and other industries, such as commercial fishing. For example, how can we continue gathering critical data about commercial fish stocks and ocean habitat, as wind energy proliferates and turbine arrays and submarine cables complicate navigation?
It’s a pressing and practical problem: NOAA has for decades systematically collected fisheries, wildlife, and ecosystem data about fishing, fish stocks, protected species, habitat, and ecosystem conditions. Data for more than 13 large, long-term surveys essentially serve as a science backbone for conservation, food production, and the ocean economy – with the information underpinning the management of fish stocks and protected species such as the North Atlantic Right Whale. However, these collections could be stymied if the various interactions with offshore wind development are not considered and addressed.
As such, agile research, outreach, and mitigation actions are called for in a new NOAA and BOEM strategy to make sure the surveys remain “massive national treasures,” says Andy Lipsky, Fisheries and Offshore Wind Lead for NOAA Fisheries. He notes that the “U.S. Northeast Shelf is one of the best studied and observed ecosystems on earth due, in large part, to decades of long-term survey activities carried out by NOAA Fisheries.”
Beyond the clear connection to fisheries, the data is important for any audience or arena needing sound science to understand and make informed decisions about myriad coastal and ocean economic, environmental, and social resources. With OWE in the United States (U.S.) projected to ramp up significantly for both the east and west coasts – by 2030, more than 2.5 million offshore acres with turbine arrays could be helping power American communities – efforts are underway to adapt the data gathering for many commercial staples like finfish, clams, and scallops. Other surveys that use both vessel and aircraft operations are focused on endangered or critical species, such as Right Whales and certain sharks and sea turtles, and are important for conservation and protection efforts.
There’s plenty to think about, in terms of how offshore wind could potentially impact data collections. Turbines are physical obstacles for vessels and the various sampling gear they deploy, but they may also, to some degree, change the environment of the ocean footprint they inhabit. These habitat changes can be positive or negative or neutral but it will be critical to monitor these potential changes over time. Additional complications: altering the surveys to accommodate new survey technologies suited to sampling the changing environment, longer sampling times tied to array navigation, and irregularities stemming from array construction, operation, and eventual decommissioning.
To tackle the issue, NOAA Fisheries, working with the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Management (BOEM) have developed a working strategy to adapt data collection to the arrival of OWE, and to call attention to the need for an all-hands-on-deck approach to reimagining the Northeast survey enterprise. Over the next decade, substantial work will be needed to inform survey designs, data collection methods and tools, and scientific partnerships, as well as the interim steps for fostering success.
To these ends, URI research and outreach entities are aiming to make a difference. Preparing to assist NOAA Fisheries with the work, URI – the URI Coastal Resources Center (CRC), the URI Coastal Institute, and Rhode Island Sea Grant, in concert with the URI Division of Research and Economic Development – is bringing science and expertise to the table to assist with solutions.
While researchers are thinking about ways to innovate how data is collected within tight spaces, like turbine arrays – think fiber optics, uncrewed vessels, and optical systems as potential ideas – outreach specialists and ocean practitioners are focused on cultivating new partnerships to streamline and leverage the process.
For now, a continuing conversation is in the works for URI and NOAA, with the survey conundrum likely representing the first of many issues that the partners will grapple with together. To learn more about OWE issues, and the many projects and efforts going on to inform dialogue at the intersection of OWE and ocean resources, visit https://www.seagrantenergy.org/ or contact the URI CRC and Sea Grant team at abbey_greene@uri.edu
