Will help save fish and marine mammals from death from entanglement
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| Lost or abandoned lobster traps are collected from Narragansett Bay. (Photos courtesy of Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation). |
The University of Rhode Island has received a three-year, $2.5 million grant from Ørsted to monitor biodiversity and address historically lost or abandoned fishing gear surrounding Ørsted and Eversource’s Revolution Wind, which is currently under construction off the coast of Rhode Island and will provide clean offshore wind energy to Rhode Island and Connecticut.
The proposal, Monitoring Technologies for Ghost Gear and Ecosystem Biodiversity, is a team effort led by URI in collaboration with the Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation, INSPIRE Environmental, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of San Diego.
Through past projects and research, URI has established connections to
many of these organizations, helping to strengthen these integral
collaborations.
“There’s a lot involved when it comes to the ocean. Having other organizations with similar goals or common problems work together makes this extensive research possible,” said Jim Miller, professor of ocean engineering and oceanography at URI.
“Offshore
wind has the potential to fundamentally transform the state of Rhode Island by
providing clean energy to all of our citizens and reducing the greenhouse gas
footprint of our state,” said College of Engineering Dean Anthony Marchese.
“The College of Engineering at URI is pleased to partner with Ørsted to ensure
that environmental impact is minimized while maximizing the full potential of
offshore wind.”
The
problem of “ghost gear” isn’t beholden to any one thing, so having multiple
groups working to solve the problem is essential. Ghost gear is a term used for
abandoned, lost, or discarded fishing gear. This includes traps, nets and
fishing lines.
“Fishermen
comment that they are unable to effectively remove and dispose of ghost gear
they encounter due to regulatory, time, and safety impediments,” said David
Bethoney, executive director of the Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation.
“Increasing the long-term impacts of this problem are the new, more durable
materials used to produce fishing gear. More recent fishing gear is made of
synthetic materials and can be a large contributor of plastic waste in the
ocean.”
The
foundation is a non-profit, private organization established by commercial
fishermen to conduct collaborative fisheries research and education projects.
Many fishing lines are made from the synthetic chemical polypropylene that
breaks down over time releasing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS.
Gillnets, traps, and other types of fishing gear can also continue to catch
marine life for years, negatively impacting food resources as well as
endangered species.
One
of the main objectives of the project is to identify ghost gear hotspots by
surveying the ocean floor around Revolution Wind. “This project and partnership
is important because it will help us understand the relationship between
offshore wind and ghost gear in waters off the coast of Rhode Island. Offshore
turbine structures offer a new challenge in the accumulation and removal of
ghost fishing gear within wind farm arrays,” said Bethoney. The project
includes a component for addressing future work within turbine fields and
conducting ghost gear removal trips in federal waters.
The
research will assess the potential of remotely operated vehicles to monitor
ghost gear around wind turbines, while optimizing suitability and design. The
team will identify cost-effective, image-based tools that can effectively
detect ghost gear.
Once
that is established, the team can assess the interaction of marine organisms
with ghost gear to collect data on the behavior of both target and bycatch
species, including marine mammals and other marine organisms. This will be
conducted through site sonar, underwater acoustics, and video monitoring.
Together
the results from this study will provide wind farm developers with techniques
for removal and monitoring of ghost gear around wind turbines and a better
understanding of biodiversity impacts of ghost gear.
