Advancing Innovative Convergence Between Fisheries and Offshore Energy to Drive Adaptive Stewardship of Fisheries Habitat in a Dynamic Blue Economy

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For decades, fisheries and offshore energy in the Gulf of Mexico have developed concurrently, with offshore oil and gas platforms providing fisheries habitats and fishing opportunities for many commercial and recreational fishers. This project will quantify how fisheries use the highly productive artificial reef ecosystems found on offshore oil and gas platforms and produce tools to better understand the impacts of future offshore development (e.g., wind installations) on fisheries. This project will establish the framework for an ecological-economic fisheries model that integrates spatial data from commercial and recreational fisheries and data from ecological parameters, including diversity, abundance, and connectivity, to realize the direct and indirect value that offshore platforms provide for fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico. The goal is to facilitate decision-making for decommissioning and future offshore energy development that considers the ecological, economic, and social implications of the removal or addition of artificial structures on fisheries. The broader impacts of this project will improve sustainable use of fisheries resources for economic growth, create streamlined pathways to capitalize on existing ocean resources, and improve interactions between disconnected ocean-related sectors in the Blue Economy, while also providing educational opportunities in the Gulf of Mexico region.