Field report passive fishing in offshore wind farm Borssele

Summary

This project developed a research outline together with commercial, small-scale fishers to test fishing methods that could be suitable for fishing in offshore wind farms, including their economic viability, ecological effects, and safety requirements. This is done so that (experimental) passive fishing in wind farms can be initiated. This was done in close collaboration with the fishers in a focus group. Previous to this study, a desk study was performed to collect all the knowledge and information present concerning passive fishing in relation to offshore wind (Neitzel et al. 2023). This knowledge was used to design the field tests for this study. This research investigates further possibilities of commercial passive fishing techniques when looking at operational factors, safety, fishing gear aspects, economic feasibility and ecology. This report describes what has been done in the practical (fieldwork) part of this study and gives a first impression of the lessons learned from the field. The data collected will be further analysed and presented in the final report that will be delivered at a later stage of this project. The operations took place in Borssele I and II offshore wind farm off the Dutch coast during the period April to October 2023. During the field experiments, a total of 35 days were conducted in the Borssele I and II offshore wind farm. The field experiments carried out in the project were as follows: • 5 days using gill nets with YE152. • 16 days using 4 different types of pots with YE152. • 4 days using handlines with KG7. • 10 days using a mechanical jigging system with MDV2. Prior to the experiments, the operational procedures were described in a document that included a Risk Assessment Method Statement and research outline (Plan van Aanpak) for each of the fishing gears. These procedures were aligned and confirmed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (LNV) and the Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management (Rijkswaterstaat). The action plan was also shared with the wind farm owner of Borssele I and II, Ørsted. While the latter was not obligatory, it was helpful for coordinating activities and for safety measures during this project. Subsequently, field protocols were developed and shared with the respective skippers and crew of the involved vessels. The weather conditions during the spring, summer and fall period of 2023 have been unfavourable. The unfavourable conditions have limited the operability of the experiments. The experienced sea states are compared to long term statistics and do show lower operability in 2023. Furthermore, a statistical comparison is made of sea states in Borssele and upcoming wind parks (HKZ, HKN, HKW). This comparison shows sea states will be worse in these upcoming wind parks. The experiences and collected data from the field experiments are currently being processed and analyzed. The final report, as agreed with LNV, will be delivered by the end of May 2024. The final report will provide further details on the practical feasibility of fishing in a wind farm, experiences with the chosen passive fishing methods for this project, the (environmental) effects, biological insights such as bycatch and the presence of birds and marine mammals during the use of the applied methods, and the economic viability of fishing in a wind farm. In addition to the final report, it was agreed that this field report would be prepared with the key findings related to procedures and safety aspects within a wind farm. Most of the field experiments were carried out as planned in the action plan, and there was no need for additional communication with Rijkswaterstaat, the coast guard, or the wind farm owner. However, during some field experiments, a few more or less unexpected events occurred, which were resolved during the course of the experiments. This did require extra time and effort in terms of communication, and it should be avoided in the future for fishers in their daily operations.