Expert Forum: Potential Risks to Larvae and Plankton from Tidal Turbines

Expert Forum #3

Hosted by Andrea Copping, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
August 11, 2016

Summary:
Lobster and fish larvae are most commonly buoyant and distributed by tidal currents, waves, and other water movements to allow for their dispersal. Similarly zooplankton that spend their lives in the pelagic zone (holoplankton) are at the mercy of water movement. Tidal turbines sited in the estuaries and coastal waters to generate renewable energy are likely to intersect the movement of larvae and zooplankton. Concerns have been raised that commercially and recreationally important species, as well as those that form the base of the marine food web, could be harmed by the operation of tidal turbines.

This forum focused on whether lobster and fish larvae and other zooplankton may be at risk from tidal energy development, whether there is a suitable way to evaluate that risk, and how that risk may be communicated to regulators and stakeholders. (Annex IV Introductory slides). The experts concluded that tidal turbines would be unlikely to pose a risk to these small size classes of marine life.

Presenters:

Potential Risks to Larvae and Plankton from Tidal Turbines: Background
Raeanne Miller, Scottish Association for Marine Sciences (SAMS)

Physics of Turbines Translated to the Planktonic Scale
Brian Sanderson, Acadia Centre for Estuarine Research (ACER)

Lobster Larvae in the Bay of Fundy: Consideration of Risk Due to Turbine Developments in Minas Passage
Brady Quinn, University of New Brunswick

Assessment of Zooplankton Injury and Mortality Resulting from the Deployment of Underwater Turbines for Tidal Energy Projection
David Schleizinger, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth

Other Participants:

• Mark Bevelhimer, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)
• Samatha Eaves, US Deparment of Energy (DOE)
• Genevra Harker-Klimes, Nikki Sather, Marshall Richmond & Garrett Staines, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL)
• Melissa Oldreive, Fundy Ocean Research Center for Energy (FORCE)
• Anna Redden, Acadia University
• Jan Sundberg, Uppsala University
• Michael Wambolt, Fisheries and Oceans Canada

A video recording of the discussion has been posted below: