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ABSTRACT Offshore wind energy development on the Mid‐Atlantic Bight (MAB) portion of the Northwestern Atlantic continental shelf could have adverse impacts on the future of the Atlantic surfclam,Spisula solidissima, fishery. The current and potential future areas designated for offshore wind energy development overlap with the present‐day and projected Atlantic surfclam fishing grounds and so could limit the fishery. Fishery impacts imposed by displacement of fishing outside wind farm areas and possible restrictions on vessel transit through the wind farms were simulated using a spatially explicit fishery model. The distribution of catch, hours fished, landings per unit effort (LPUE), time at sea, fishing mortality, and the number of fishing trips were projected for five time periods encompassing the period of 2016–2055. Simulations showed a significant decline in the mean of all fishery metrics (apart from LPUE) as the area of wind farm restrictions increased in scale. Impacts were consistently larger when vessel transit through and fishing within offshore wind areas were prohibited. Impacts were also larger for MAB regions off New Jersey and Delmarva than regions farther north and east. These simulations highlight the necessity of evaluating future conditions as warming temperatures shift the surfclam range relative to the immobile wind farm locations. The offshore wind industry must consider projected long‐term impacts of developmental expansion on surrounding sedentary benthic species and the commercially important fisheries that rely on them.
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Effects of warming and fishing on Atlantic sea scallop ( Placopecten magellanicus ) size structure in the Mid-Atlantic rotationally closed areas
Abstract The Atlantic sea scallop supports one of the most lucrative fisheries on the Northeast U.S. shelf. Understanding the interannual variability of sea scallop size structure and associated drivers is critically important for projecting the response of population dynamics to climate change and designing coherent fishery management strategies. In this study, we constructed time series of sea scallop size structures in three rotationally closed areas in the Mid-Atlantic Bight (MAB) and decomposed their total variances using the variance partitioning method. The results suggested that the interannual variances in sea scallop size structures were associated more with thermal stress in regions shallower than 60 m but more with fishing mortality in regions deeper than 60 m. The percentages of small (large) size groups increased (decreased) with elevated thermal stress and fishing pressure. We adopted a scope for growth model to build a mechanistic link between temperature and sea scallop size. Model results suggested a gradual decrease in maximum shell height and habitat contraction under warming. This study quantified the relative contributions of thermal stress and fishing mortality to the variance of scallop size structure and discussed the need for adaptive management plans to mitigate potential socioeconomic impacts caused by size structure changes.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1655686
- PAR ID:
- 10512334
- Editor(s):
- Byron, Carrie
- Publisher / Repository:
- ICES
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- ICES Journal of Marine Science
- Volume:
- 80
- Issue:
- 5
- ISSN:
- 1054-3139
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 1351 to 1366
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsad063
