OCEAN CITY – One of the two offshore wind companies developing projects off the Ocean City coast announced last Thursday it was partnering with the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science on research projects aimed at understanding the potential effects of wind farms on commercial and recreational fishing and marine life.
US Wind, one of two companies developing first- and second-generation offshore wind farms off the Ocean City coast announced last Thursday it was partnering with the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) on the research projects. From the outset of the award of the 80,000-acre federal lease area off the coast of Ocean City for US Wind, concerns have been raised about the potential impact on marine life and commercial and recreational fishing.
US Wind’s partnership with UMCES is aimed at understanding the potential impact of offshore wind farms on the marine mammals, fish and birds.
The three research projects will take place in the federal lease area off the coast of Ocean City.
“As US Wind works to develop offshore wind off Maryland’s coast, it’s imperative that we do so responsibly,” said US Wind CEO Jeff Grybowski in a statement released last Thursday. “We’re thrilled to be partnering with UMCES on industry-leading environmental research that will enhance protections for marine life as we develop this clean energy resource for the region.”
US Wind has committed $11 million over a 10-year period for the three research projects off the Ocean City coast.
“Partnering with a leading environmental research institution like UMCES is an exciting building block in our efforts to collect much-needed biological information in our lease,” said US Wind Senior Director of Environmental Affairs Laurie Jodziewicz. “The planned work will go a long way in filling knowledge gaps that still exist about offshore wind’s effects on the marine environment. We’re excited to get started.”
US Wind’s funding will support three projects, all planned to kick off this year, to understand the effects of offshore wind in the mid-Atlantic region.
“We’re really pleased with this continued partnership with US Wind on important questions related to the environmental impacts of offshore wind development,” said UMCES President Peter Goodwin. “We look forward to working with them along with state and federal agencies to help make the best decisions to minimize impacts to the environment.”
Among the collaborative US Wind and UMCES research projects is commercial and recreational fisheries monitoring.
The goal of that eight-year project is to evaluate the extent to which black sea bass change their aggregation habits before, during and after offshore wind farm construction projects. Black sea bass are structure-oriented with large aggregations occurring on artificial reefs and wrecks. Wind turbine foundations will create three-dimensional construction on the lease area where very little currently exists, according to the study plan.
That portion of the research will attempt to assess the benefits of potential fish aggregation effects. It will also test black sea bass fishing with rope-less gear, which is believed to be an important technology to reduce whale entanglements.
Another aspect of the research will include near real-time whale detection.
The research will include the deployment of a near real-time whale detection system that will provide timely alerts on the presence of north Atlantic right whales, humpbacks, fin and sei whales in the lease area for a 12-month period ranging from 2022 to 2023. The initiative enables continued and real-time date collection through a buoy system initially funded by the Maryland Energy Administration and deployed by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) in the lease area.
Finally, the third research project on which US Wind and UMCES are partnering includes a passive acoustic monitoring array.
The long-term research project will include passive acoustic monitoring to detect large whales and dolphins to understand their presence and migration patterns in around the lease area and the potential effects of construction.
Working with Cornell University’s Center for Conservation Bioacoustics, two types of listening devices will be deployed to determine the occurrence and position of large whales, dolphins and even porpoises. Additionally, the project will deploy equipment to listen for passing fish, sharks, rays and turtles that have been implanted with transponders for broader scientific research.
“The department appreciates the coordinated research into safer equipment and marine wildlife monitoring,” said DNR Director of Ocean and Coastal Monitoring Catherine McCall. “The ongoing deployment of Maryland’s whale monitoring buoy provides daily detections and helps resource managers protect sensitive species.”
