Fishing within offshore wind farms in the North Sea: Stakeholder perspectives for multi-use from Scotland and Germany

Schupp, Maximilian Felix; Kafas, Andronikos; Buck, Bela H.; Krause, Gesche; Onyango, Vincent; Stelzenmüller, Vanessa; Davies, Ian; Scott, Beth E.

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.111762

Cited by 47 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…For example, our analysis assumes that wind farms will displace all fishing, even though wind farms could become multi‐use areas where industry can harvest fish and wind energy (Schupp et al. 2021). However, our analysis attempts to quantify one component of the system: exposure.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating Potential Impacts of Offshore Wind Development on Fishing Operations by Comparing Fine‐ and Coarse‐Scale Fishery‐Dependent Data

et al. 2023

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Climate change will disrupt many aspects of the marine environment, with anticipated effects for half of northeastern U.S. fisheries. To mitigate effects of climate change, the United States has designated 90,650 km2 (35,000 mi2) of ocean for offshore wind energy development, but this growing industry could impact fisheries in the region. Hence, there is a need to measure the spatial distribution of fishing operations to support multiple goals, including spatial planning and compensatory mitigation. In the U.S. Northeast, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries developed fishing footprints previously by using logbooks. However, logbook footprints rely on coarse data: a single location, the center point of fishing trips reported in logbooks. Therefore, we evaluated bias in these logbook footprints by restricting the size of logbook footprints and by generating active‐fishing footprints from fine‐scale location data collected by a reference fleet operating in the same region. Active‐fishing footprints act as a benchmark approximating the “true” fishing footprint and exposure to wind farms. We focused on the longfin inshore squid Doryteuthis pealeii fishery, including 336 trips from 2016 to 2019, and 38 wind farms in southern New England and the Middle Atlantic Bight. Compared to the benchmark active‐fishing footprints, unrestricted logbook footprints detected all exposed trips. As we restricted the logbook footprints, the logbook analysis failed to detect exposed trips but better approximated the amount of exposed revenue. Finally, unrestricted logbook footprints underestimated the exposed revenue for high‐impact wind farms and overestimated the exposed revenue for low‐impact wind farms, and this bias declined with logbook footprint restriction. We show how restricting logbook footprints could improve exposure analysis that depends on coarse‐scale data when fine‐scale data are unavailable. Furthermore, our analysis highlights the limits of coarse‐scale data (i.e., logbook footprints). Therefore, we recommend additional incentives for voluntary participation in programs collecting fine‐scale data. These incentives should be prioritized because informed, time‐sensitive decisions depend on data collected prior to construction of offshore wind farms.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating Potential Impacts of Offshore Wind Development on Fishing Operations by Comparing Fine‐ and Coarse‐Scale Fishery‐Dependent Data

et al. 2023

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“…OWFs are currently closed to trawl fisheries in the North Sea . In Germany, the OWE development is assigned high priority to sea use and adheres to strict safety regulations . Bottom-disturbing activities, like anchoring or dragging of fishing gear, are forbidden within the Dutch and Belgian OWF safety zones .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Offshore Wind Energy and Marine Biodiversity in the North Sea: Life Cycle Impact Assessment for Benthic Communities

Coolen

Scherer

et al. 2023

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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Large-scale offshore wind energy developments represent a major player in the energy transition but are likely to have (negative or positive) impacts on marine biodiversity. Wind turbine foundations and sour protection often replace soft sediment with hard substrates, creating artificial reefs for sessile dwellers. Offshore wind farm (OWF) furthermore leads to a decrease in (and even a cessation of) bottom trawling, as this activity is prohibited in many OWFs. The long-term cumulative impacts of these changes on marine biodiversity remain largely unknown. This study integrates such impacts into characterization factors for life cycle assessment based on the North Sea and illustrates its application. Our results suggest that there are no net adverse impacts during OWF operation on benthic communities inhabiting the original sand bottom within OWFs. Artificial reefs could lead to a doubling of species richness and a two-order-of-magnitude increase of species abundance. Seabed occupation will also incur in minor biodiversity losses in the soft sediment. Our results were not conclusive concerning the trawling avoidance benefits. The developed characterization factors quantifying biodiversity-related impacts from OWF operation provide a stepping stone toward a better representation of biodiversity in life cycle assessment.

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“…Information available at: https://maritime-spatial-planning.ec.europa.eu/practices/improving-co-existence-offshore-energy-installations-shipping (last accessed on: 08.08.2022). In this same sense, see : Schupp et al (2021).…”

mentioning

confidence: 90%

Socio‐economic, legal, and political context of offshore renewable energies

Salvador

Ribeiro

2022

WIREs Energy & Environment

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Offshore renewable energies have been identified as important clean sources of energy in line with sustainable development goals. However, their use can generate conflicts with other maritime activities, as well as the protection of biodiversity and the marine environment. This article analyses the influence of regulatory frameworks and ocean governance in the implementation of such devices, from a legal-political point of view. In this sense, it studies how the law of the sea addresses potential international conflicts between ocean energy installations and other activities (e.g., navigation) developed by other states. It also studies the importance of preventive legal tools-marine spatial planning, strategic environmental assessment, and environmental impact assessmentto anticipate and reduce clashes with other sea users as well as environmental damages that may be caused by these structures. Likewise, this research analyses different national consent procedures and legal-economic supporting schemes, to identify those that boost the implementation of such projects more quickly. Finally, the relevance of enhancing the involvement of affected coastal communities and local stakeholders in the decision-making processes, as well as in the socio-economic benefits of offshore renewable energy projects to increase their social acceptance, is also emphasized.

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Fishing within offshore wind farms in the North Sea: Stakeholder perspectives for multi-use from Scotland and Germany

Cited by 47 publications

References 38 publications

Evaluating Potential Impacts of Offshore Wind Development on Fishing Operations by Comparing Fine‐ and Coarse‐Scale Fishery‐Dependent Data

Evaluating Potential Impacts of Offshore Wind Development on Fishing Operations by Comparing Fine‐ and Coarse‐Scale Fishery‐Dependent Data

Offshore Wind Energy and Marine Biodiversity in the North Sea: Life Cycle Impact Assessment for Benthic Communities

Socio‐economic, legal, and political context of offshore renewable energies

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