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), construction phases (June – December 2023), and the first year of the post-construction phase (June – December 2024) 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, 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. Active construction concluded before the start of the survey in 2024, with turbine maintenance and survey activities mostly occurring throughout the year.
Within the South Fork area, eight of the twelve turbines are sampled with a single string of ventless fish pots at each location. Each string of ventless fish pots consists of 18 ventless fish pots in approximately 50-meter increments. Since the turbines have been installed, the first pot is set about 50 meters from the turbine's base, and the string is placed roughly due south of the turbine. During the construction phase, the strings were offset by about 100-150 meters from the turbines to avoid gear conflicts with construction activities. Monthly, each pot is baited and left to soak for 24-hours prior to sampling. Sampling consists of recording the total number of individuals and the total weight of each species per pot. Individual lengths are recorded for all fish, while individual weights are also recorded for target species. Oceanographic data is obtained at each sampling station with conductivity, temperature, depth casts, and temperature loggers that soak throughout the duration of the survey months.
The catch throughout the first two years of sampling exhibited a strong seasonal component and was dominated by a handful of species – black sea bass, scup, Jonah crabs, and Atlantic rock crabs. During Year 3, the catch was notably lower in the first half of the survey compared to the pre-construction phase, likely due to construction activities like pile driving, inter-array cable installation, and scour protection installation that occurred. Throughout the first half of Year 4, the oceanographic conditions were quite different than the previous three years. Cooler and fresher conditions persisted throughout the summer, which may have influenced the changes in species composition over the survey period. For example, the biggest pulse of scup didn’t occur until September. The black sea bass catch remained high in the second half of the survey period, and, overall, the catches were dominated by Jonah and rock crabs in November and December.