NOAA Fisheries has released its strategic plan for researching how offshore wind development on the U.S. West Coast could impact fisheries and protected marine life.
“Offshore wind is an important tool and technology to help reduce greenhouse emissions,” NOAA Fisheries West Coast Regional Administrator Jennifer Quan said. “We need to be prepared with sound science to help inform decisions affecting the marine species and the commercial and recreational fisheries that we manage, as well as other important uses of the marine ecosystem.”
U.S. President Joe Biden has set ambitious goals for offshore wind energy development. The administration wants 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy deployed by 2030, with 15 gigawatts being produced by offshore wind projects by 2035. Due to the steep continental shelf along the West Coast, wind power projects will need to use floating turbines.
To date, the U.S. government has awarded five lease sales off the coast of California and planned to conduct an auction for wind energy leases off the coast of Oregon on 15 October, but the auction was indefinitely delayed after only one company expressed interest.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is the lead agency for offshore wind development, but NOAA Fisheries consults with the bureau on how offshore wind projects could impact fish habitats under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the Magnuson–Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. Developers also must obtain incidental take authorizations from NOAA Fisheries for their operations.
NOAA Fisheries’ West Coast Offshore Wind Energy Strategic Science Plan provides a roadmap to conducting the research needed to meet its consultation and authorization mandates, specifically laying out six priority areas for research, including:
- Habitat impacts;
- Physiological and physical effects;
- Species abundance and distribution;
- Fisheries socioeconomic impacts;
- Ecosystem and climate interactions;
- and impacts to NOAA Fisheries’ scientific surveys.
“We want to study this new ocean use at the ecosystem scale because so many elements of offshore wind energy will interact with so many parts of the California Current Ecosystem,” Southwest Fisheries Science Center Director Kristen Koch said. “The more information we have earlier in the process, the better prepared we are to make choices that maximize both the benefits from wind energy and protections for the ecosystem.”
NOAA Fisheries said its work on U.S. East Coast wind development and its survey mitigation strategy there served as a model for its approach to West Coast wind development.
The plan notes that the agency “will continue to engage and consult with Tribes” in developing its research.
“This is a chance to build on our existing partnerships and create new relationships to bring in information from different sources,” Northwest Fisheries Science Center Director Kevin Werner said. “We all want to understand the implications of wind energy development, and by working together, we can make the most of our collective expertise and experience to provide a clearer view of how wind development may affect the ecosystem.”
In establishing Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary earlier in October, the Biden administration carved out space from the sanctuary to leave areas where subsea electrical transmission cables can be laid to support offshore wind energy production. The sanctuary may be expanded after the cables are installed.
