Impacts of floating offshore wind infrastructure on the distribution and behaviour of fish and marine mammals: IFLOW

随着全球沿海陆架海域城市化的加速，系泊海上浮动基础设施(如可再生能源、碳氢化合物开采、氢气生产、水产养殖)的范围和程度将显著扩大。与海上风力涡轮机相关的系泊浮动结构可能会部署在更广泛的区域，包括增加深度和距离海岸。因此，漂浮风电场越来越有可能部署在对许多大范围迁徙物种，包括底栖鱼类及其捕食者(海洋哺乳动物、海鸟、棘鳍类)重要的高生产力陆架区域内。就对可移动物种的影响而言，这类结构的生态意义仍然知之甚少，但基于现有静态近海结构(例如石油和天然气平台)吸引和保留鱼类群落的能力的现有知识，可能具有重大意义[1]。通过使用引鱼装置(FADS；[2])，鱼对(亚)热带水域漂浮物的引诱是众所周知的，也是被广泛利用的。然而，人们对高纬度漂浮结构的可比影响知之甚少。如果在漂浮的海上风电场或类似的基础设施周围形成持久的鱼类聚集地，这可能会影响其他捕食者的分布，包括苏格兰优先海洋特征，如海洋哺乳动物、海鸟和棘鳍动物，其保护后果未知。这项研究与ScotMER关于海鸟和海上漂浮风重叠的知识差距(以及这种重叠的驱动因素)、海洋哺乳动物在适合可再生能源开发的地点的行为、可再生能源对觅食行为的影响和猎物分布的变化，以及由此对种群水平的影响的潜在影响相联系，并具体确定了珊瑚礁/聚集效应。该项目旨在加深对搁置海洋中鱼类的时空分布的了解，以响应系泊的漂浮离岸结构，并澄清这种结构是否代表了顶级捕食者(发声的鲸目动物)有吸引力的觅食地点。

Moored offshore floating infrastructure (e.g. renewable energy, hydrocarbon exploitation, hydrogen production, aquaculture) will expand significantly in scope and extent, as urbanisation of coastal shelf seas accelerates globally. Moored floating structures associated with offshore wind turbines are likely to be deployed across wide areas, including increasing depths and distances from shore. Floating windfarms are therefore increasingly likely to be deployed within highly productive shelf areas important for many wide-ranging migratory species including benthopelagic fish and their predators (marine mammals, seabirds, elasmobranchs). Ecological significance of such structures, in terms of influence on mobile species, remains poorly understood but could be substantial based on current knowledge about the ability of existing static offshore structures (e.g. oil & gas platforms) to attract and retain fish communities [1]. Attraction of fish to floating objects in (sub-)tropical waters is well known and widely exploited through use of Fish Attracting Devices (FADs; [2]). However, much less is known about comparable effects of floating structures at higher latitudes. If persistent fish aggregations develop around floating offshore windfarms or similar infrastructure, this could influence the distribution of other predators, including Scottish Priority Marine Features such as marine mammals, seabirds and elasmobranchs, with unknown conservation consequences. This research links to ScotMER knowledge gaps surrounding overlap between seabirds and floating offshore wind (and drivers of this overlap), behaviour of marine mammals in locations suitable for renewable energy developments, effects of renewables on foraging behaviour and changes to prey distribution, and thus potential for population-level impacts, with reef/aggregation effects specifically identified. This project seeks to develop understanding of spatiotemporal distribution of fish in shelf seas in response to moored floating offshore structures, and clarify whether such structures represent attractive foraging locations for top predators (vocalising cetaceans).