FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date Published: March 29, 2023
Washington, D.C. March 29, 2023 — In 2020, the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA), NOAA Fisheries’ Northeast Fisheries Science Center, and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) convened a first-of-its-kind workshop to evaluate the current state of science relevant to fisheries and offshore wind energy interactions. The final peer-reviewed report of the workshop is now available.
The “Synthesis of the Science” project was a key first step toward jointly building a regional fisheries and offshore science agenda. RODA brought together fishermen, fishing industry representatives, federal and state agency experts, wind energy developers, academics, and other prominent scientists from the U.S. and Europe to attend the workshop and contribute to the report.
This report enhances understanding of existing science and data gaps related to offshore wind energy development interactions with fish and fisheries on regional and broader levels. Ecological knowledge of the fishing industry participants was incorporated into all of the report topics covering:
- Ecosystem effects – including interactions with benthic habitat, physical habitat, oceanographic processes, and ecosystem synthesis by species groupings;
- Fisheries socioeconomics – covering fisheries operations, economics, and sociocultural effects throughout the fishing industry and dependent communities;
- Fisheries management and data collection – incorporating effects to resource surveys and governance processes;
- Methods and approaches – including addressing cumulative impacts, use of Integrated Ecosystem Assessments and innovative approaches and technologies; and
- Regional science planning – highlighting fishing industry-identified research priorities.
Funded by NOAA Fisheries’ Northeast Fisheries Science Center, the symposium and report advance a memorandum of understanding between RODA, NOAA Fisheries, and BOEM. Signed in March 2019, this ten-year MOU promotes collaboration on the science, research, monitoring, and process of offshore wind energy development on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf.
In 2021, RODA received additional funds through this grant for a second synthesis of the science project. It is currently underway, and focuses on fisheries and floating offshore wind platforms. The project consists of a summary of current knowledge, research, and monitoring associated with floating technology, a workshop focused on floating turbine technology, and a review by the fishing industry of existing mapping efforts of fishermen’s data
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About Responsible Offshore Development Alliance
Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA) is a broad membership-based coalition of fishing industry associations and fishing companies — across the United States — committed to improving the compatibility of new offshore development with their businesses. The Alliance works to directly collaborate with relevant regulatory agencies, scientists, and others to coordinate science and policy approaches to managing development of the Outer Continental Shelf in a way that minimizes conflicts with existing traditional and historical fishing.
Connect with RODA on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Contact:
Fiona Hogan, Director of Research