Science Priorities for Offshore Wind and Fisheries Research in the Northeast U.S. Continental Shelf Ecosystem: Perspectives from Scientists at the National Marine Fisheries Service

Abstract

Offshore wind development (OWD) is set to expand rapidly in the United States as a component of the nation's effort to combat climate change. Offshore wind development in the United States is slated to begin in the Greater Atlantic region, where it is expected to interact with ocean ecology, human dimensions, fisheries data collections, and fisheries management. Understanding these interactions is key to ensuring the coexistence of offshore wind energy with sustainable fisheries and a healthy marine ecosystem. These anticipated interactions compelled the authors, all fisheries scientists or managers at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries who are actively engaged in offshore wind science to identify scientific research priorities for OWD in the Northeast U.S. Continental Shelf ecosystem, specifically in support of NOAA Fisheries' role as the nation's leading steward of marine life. We extracted and analyzed OWD research needs from existing scientific documents and used this information as the basis to develop a list of priorities that align with five major OWD science themes that are of high interest to NOAA Fisheries. These NOAA Fisheries themes include supporting the regulatory process; mitigating the impacts to NOAA Fisheries' surveys; advancing science to understand interactions with NOAA Fisheries trust resources, the marine ecosystem, and fishing industries/communities; advancing the science of mitigation for NOAA Fisheries trust resources and fishing industries/communities; and advancing data management methods. The areas identified as research priorities will support the coexistence of offshore wind and sustainable fisheries and inform the development of NOAA Fisheries' science plan for offshore wind in the Northeast U.S. Continental Shelf ecosystem as well as cross-sectoral science planning efforts at the regional, national, and international levels.