Abstract
The Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation (CFRF) worked with the fishing vessel (F/V) Harvest Moon to complete the pre-development (June 2021 – January 2023) and construction phases (June – December 2023) of the South Fork Wind Farm (SFWF) ventless fish pot survey. The survey is being conducted to determine the spatial scale of potential impacts on the abundance and distribution of juvenile and adult fish species, particularly structured associated finfish such as black sea bass, scup, and tautog. In particular, the survey was designed to determine if the immediate areas closest to the turbines will experience an alteration in the distribution and abundance of structure-associated fish species due to the turbines creating a “reef effect”. The pre-development phase of the survey was designed to occur from June through December each year of the survey, but foul weather and construction scheduling prevented monthly sampling. Boulder removal activities began in the SFWF lease area late in 2022, and bottom-intensive construction activities began in early 2023.
Within the development area, eight of the twelve turbines were sampled with a single string of ventless fish pots at each location. Each string of ventless fish pots consisted of 18 identical ventless fish pots in approximately 50-meter increments, with the first pot of the string set on the exact location of a potential turbine and the last pot of the string set due south of the turbine. During the construction phase, the strings were offset by about 100 – 150 meters from the turbine location to avoid gear conflicts with construction activities. Monthly, each pot was baited and left to soak for 24-hours prior to sampling. Sampling consisted of speciating the catch from each pot and recording the total number of individuals and the total weight of each species per pot. Individual lengths were recorded for all fish while individual weights were also recorded for target species. Oceanographic data was obtained at each sampling station with conductivity, temperature, depth casts, and temperature loggers.
The catch throughout the first two years of sampling exhibited a strong seasonal component and was dominated by a handful of species. The catch was relatively low during the first two months of the survey and was largely comprised of rock and Jonah crabs. Black sea bass catch increased substantially in August, remained high in the fall, and decreased during the winter. During Year 3, the catch was notably lower in June through August compared to the pre-construction phase, during which pile driving, inter-array cable installation, and scour protection installation occurred.