Offshore energy structures in the North Sea: Past, present and future

Martins, Maria Clara Iruzun; Carter, Matt ID; Rouse, Sally; Russell, Debbie J. F.

doi:10.1016/j.marpol.2023.105629

Cited by 7 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Fish are also known to associate with man-made marine structures (MMS), such as oil and gas platforms [ 9 – 11 ]. There are currently thousands of these platforms currently installed globally, following the expansion of offshore fossil fuel exploration in the mid-20 th century [ 12 , 13 ]; the expansion of offshore renewable energy [ 14 ] will add many more MMS in the coming years. In some regions (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Elevated fish densities extend kilometres from oil and gas platforms

Lawrence,

Speirs,

Heath

et al. 2024

PLoS ONE

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Thousands of offshore oil and gas platforms have been installed throughout the world’s oceans and more structures are being installed as part of the transition to renewable energy. These structures increase the availability of ecological niches by providing hard substrate in midwater and complex 3D habitat on the seafloor. This can lead to ‘hotspots’ of biodiversity, or increased densities of flora and fauna, which potentially spill over into the local area. However, the distances over which these higher densities extend (the ‘range of influence’) can be highly variable. Fish aggregate at such structures, but the range of influence and any implications for wider fish populations, are unclear. We investigated the relationship between fish and platform areal densities using high resolution fisheries acoustic data. Data were collected in the waters surrounding the vessel exclusions zones around 16 oil and gas platforms in the North Sea, and throughout the wider area. We estimated densities of schooling fish using echo-integration, and densities of non-schooling fish using echo-counting. At 10 platforms, non-schooling fish densities were elevated near the platform relative to background levels in the equivalent wider area. The range of influence, defined here as the range to which fish densities were elevated above background, varied from 0.8 to 23 km. In areas of high platform density, fish schools were encountered more often, and non-schooling fish densities were higher, when controlling for other sources of environmental variation. This is the first time such long-range effects have been identified; previously, ranges of influence have been reported in the order of just 10s-100s of metres. These findings suggest that the environmental impact of these structures may extend further than previously thought, which may be relevant in the context of upcoming management decisions around the decommissioning of these structures.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Elevated fish densities extend kilometres from oil and gas platforms

Lawrence,

Speirs,

Heath

et al. 2024

PLoS ONE

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“…In addition to its high biodiversity, the North Sea is one of the world’s most important fishing grounds, with herring and mackerel being among the most commercially relevant species [ 3 ]. The North Sea also holds a total of 590 oil and gas platforms [ 4 ], of which >470 platforms are expected to be decommissioned over the coming decades in the UK sector alone. This includes around 5000 extraction wells and ~45 000 km subsea pipelines [ 5 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An approach to assessing subsea pipeline-associated mercury release into the North Sea and its potential environmental and human health impact

von Hellfeld,

Hastings

2024

R. Soc. Open Sci.

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Mercury is a naturally occurring heavy metal that has also been associated with anthropogenic sources such as cement production or hydrocarbon extraction. Mercury is a contaminant of concern as it can have a significant negative impact on organismal health when ingested. In aquatic environments, it bioaccumulates up the foodweb, where it then has the potential to impact human health. With the offshore hydrocarbon platforms in the North Sea nearing decommissioning, they must be assessed as a potential source for the environmental release of mercury. International treaties govern the handling of materials placed in the ocean. Studies have assessed the ecologic and economic benefits of (partial) in situ abandonment of the infrastructure as artificial reefs. This can be applied to pipelines after substantial cleaning to remove mercury accumulation from the inner surface. This work outlines the application of an approach to modelling marine mercury bioaccumulation for decommissioning scenarios in the North Sea. Here, in situ decommissioning of cleaned pipelines was unlikely to have a negative impact on the North Sea food web or human health. However, significant knowledge gaps have been determined, which must be addressed before all negative impacts on ecosystems and organismal health can be excluded.

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“…Reduced reliance on fossil fuels and increased use of renewable energies is a highlighted goal in UN FWW and SDG reports, and one frequently used by governments in their energy transition and pathway to meeting emission targets (Camarasa et al, 2022). For coastal nations, this can translate to the extensive addition of artificial structures into our seas, such as offshore wind farms (OWFs) and other offshore renewable energy (OREs) installations (Gourvenec et al, 2022;Martins et al, 2023) to generate the capacity needed to replace fossil fuels. These marine artificial structures (herein referred to as MAS) join older, established or well-known structures such as shipwrecks, purpose-built artificial reefs (ARs), and oil and gas (O&G) infrastructure, as widespread features of marine ecosystems (Bugnot et al, 2020;Gourvenec et al, 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

To What Extent Can Decommissioning Options for Marine Artificial Structures Move Us Toward Environmental Targets?

Knights,

Lemasson,

Firth

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Offshore energy structures in the North Sea: Past, present and future

Cited by 7 publications

References 37 publications

Elevated fish densities extend kilometres from oil and gas platforms

Elevated fish densities extend kilometres from oil and gas platforms

An approach to assessing subsea pipeline-associated mercury release into the North Sea and its potential environmental and human health impact

To What Extent Can Decommissioning Options for Marine Artificial Structures Move Us Toward Environmental Targets?

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