Abstract
Empire Offshore Wind LLC (Empire) proposes to construct and operate an offshore wind farm located in the designated Renewable Energy Lease Area OCS-A 0512. The Empire Wind Lease Area covers approximately 79,350 acres (32,112 hectares) and is located approximately 14 statute miles (mi) (12 nautical miles [nm], 22 kilometers [km]) south of Long Island, New York and 19.5 mi (16.9 nm, 31.4 km) east of Long Branch, New Jersey (Figure 1-1). The Empire Wind Lease Area will be developed as two wind farms, known as Empire Wind 1 and Empire Wind 2. Monitoring efforts are combined for the proposed wind farms, covering the entire Empire Wind Lease Area as described in the Empire Wind Fisheries and Benthic Monitoring Plan (FBMP) (INSPIRE Environmental [INSPIRE] 2023). The results provided in this report pertain to samples collected across the entire Empire Wind Lease Area and a Reference Area.
The New York Bight supports diverse fish and invertebrate assemblages (Guida et al. 2017; Thorne et al. 2020; NJDEP 2022). Fisheries monitoring was designed to assess potential impacts of construction and operation activities within the Empire Wind Lease Area on these biological communities. A monitoring plan was developed in accordance with recommendations made by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s (BOEM) Guidelines for Providing Information on Fisheries for Renewable Energy Development on the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf (BOEM 2019), New York State Energy Research and Development Authority’s (NYSERDA) New York State Offshore Wind Master Plan: Fish and Fisheries Study (NYSERDA 2017), and the Responsible Offshore Science Alliance’s (ROSA’s) Offshore Wind Project Monitoring Framework and Guidelines (ROSA 2021). This FBMP was created using an iterative process with the Empire Wind team coordinating with regional fishing organizations, working groups, and individual fishermen. In addition, through the permitting and development process the Empire Wind team consulted with state and federal fisheries resource management agencies and solicited feedback directly from stakeholders.
Due in part to the concerns of local fishing interests, the FBMP includes a survey designed to document the distribution and biomass of longfin squid (Doryteuthis pealeii) in the Empire Wind Lease Area and at a designated Reference Area during baseline, construction, and post-construction time periods. This monitoring study uses a combination of bottom trawl and aquatic environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling to monitor longfin squid. Bottom trawl sampling is a non-selective method that can detrimentally affect benthic habitat and result in bycatch mortality (reviewed by Methratta 2021). Therefore, eDNA sampling is included to promote development of this non-extractive and sustainable monitoring method of marine fauna (Stat et al. 2019; Methratta 2021). Use of eDNA has emerged in recent years as a potential alternative method to traditional, extractive sampling techniques. It is relatively inexpensive and can generate accurate, unbiased, and high-resolution data (Stat et al. 2019). Results, however, can be influenced by several factors, including DNA persistence and degradation, sampling strategies, workflows, and availability of taxa markers in reference databases (reviewed by Stat et al. 2019; Kopp et al. 2023). Inclusion of an eDNA assessment in the Empire Wind longfin squid survey is designed in part to ground truth the development of this relatively novel fisheries monitoring technique by comparing results to the fish and elasmobranch catches in the bottom trawl survey.