The developers of the 800MW Vineyard Wind offshore wind farm are to implement recommendations from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth’s School for Marine Science and Technology (SMAST) to guide the project’s fisheries monitoring studies during construction.
Longer-term studies starting in the spring will also be initiated as part of a regional approach to studying fisheries, they added.
The SMAST recommendations were based on the centre’s expertise and input from fishermen, government agencies and academia.
They include research procedures covering an array of species, ranging from fish caught with fixed gear to those caught with trawls to samplings of juvenile life stages and integrated methodologies that will support additional and/or on-going fisheries research.
Other recommendations aim to use a ‘nested and modular’ study design that can be utilised for both the relatively small area studied during construction monitoring but also for longer-term studies across the wider region.
Local fisherman will provide vessels to support the studies and a working group is to be set up to review the findings and make further recommendations, if needed.
The SMAST studies are part of a collaborative agreement between the school and Vineyard Wind.
They seek to provide further public understanding about the effects of offshore wind development and inform future permitting and public policy decisions.
“The comprehensive research effort by SMAST will help establish a robust body of knowledge to benefit the American offshore wind industry and the fishing community long after the first Vineyard Wind project is completed,” Vineyard Wind said.
Vineyard Wind is a 50:50 joint venture between Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and Avangrid Renewables.