If data is missing, lacking, or can no longer be collected in the same way, it could bias available information and regulators’ understanding, potentially leading to lower fishing quotas.
Two fishing industry groups have asked a Congressional committee to allocate tens of millions more in funds to NOAA Fisheries to help the agency mitigate impacts of offshore wind development on its long-standing federal fishery surveys, which inform management and ultimately the fishing quotas that are set each year.
A “huge concern” held by the fishing industry is offshore wind farms impacting or precluding survey vessels from navigating in and around wind farms in order to assess fish stocks, which could in turn impact data collection, explained Fiona Hogan, research director at the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA), earlier this month at a panel on offshore wind in Maine.
If data is missing, lacking, or can no longer be collected in the same way, it could bias available information and regulators’ understanding, potentially leading to lower fishing quotas.
“[W]e are concerned that the dollar amount provided for the Scientific Survey Mitigation work is far too low given the rapid pace of [offshore wind] leasing and the number of scientific surveys that will be impacted,” wrote Annie Hawkins of RODA and Leigh Habegger of Seafood Harvesters of America in the March 17 letter to members of the Congressional Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations Subcommittee.
