Volume 76
FishLAT (Fisheries Location Assessment Technology): Approaching the Offshore Energy Transition from a Fisheries Perspective
Authors
Everett, A., E. Hazelwood, and A. Sparks Download PDF Open PDF in BrowserOther Information
Date: November, 2023
Event: Proceedings of the Seventy-Sixth Annual Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute
City: Nassau
Country: The Bahamas
Abstract
The Gulf of Mexico (GOM) has become the flagship for offshore energy development with hundreds of oil and gas platform (O&G) installations and concurrent decommissioning operations occurring in both federal and state waters. Over time, many of these structures have developed thriving reef ecosystems that provide habitat for commercially valuable fish species and a critical resource for fisheries across the northern GOM. However, as society begins to shift away from petroleum-based energy and towards renewables, offshore O&G platforms are either removed or repurposed as reefs; and at the same time, Wind Energy Areas (WEA) have been identified for the installation of offshore wind turbines in the GOM – all with significant impacts to fisheries.