Oil platforms off California are among the most productive marine fish habitats globally

Claisse, Jeremy T.; Pondella, Daniel J.; Love, Milton S.; Zahn, Laurel A.; Williams, Chelsea M.; Williams, Jonathan P.; Bull, Ann Scarborough

doi:10.1073/pnas.1411477111

Cited by 218 publications

(181 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…Claisse et al 2014, Friedlander et al 2014, Pradella et al 2014). While there is growing evidence to confirm that a variety of fish species aggregate around artificially installed hard structures in marine environments worldwide (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential influence of offshore oil and gas platforms on the feeding ecology of fish assemblages in the North Sea

Fujii¹

2016

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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This article presents results from the first detailed study on the feeding habits of fish assemblages associated with offshore oil and gas platforms in the North Sea. Multi-seasonal sampling was conducted at one of the oil platforms located in the central North Sea between September 2010 and January 2014 to characterise temporal variation in the stomach contents of different fish species. A total of 6 fish species were recorded, including commercially important gadoids such as saithe Pollachius virens, haddock Melanogrammus aeglefinus and cod Gadus morhua. Saithe fed predominantly on euphausiids and haddock consumed a large proportion of ophiuroids, whereas cod were mainly piscivorous. The prey compositions were significantly different between species, indicating the presence of interspecific prey resource partitioning among those species. To further investigate possible links between the feeding habits of the most dominant fish species, saithe, and the physical presence of offshore platforms across the North Sea, a separate set of stomach data was collected during the 2012 Quarter 3 International Bottom Trawl Survey aboard the FRV 'Scotia'. The multivariate analysis of both data sets showed that the observed spatio-temporal variability in the saithe diet was significantly explained by proximity to the nearest offshore platforms and changes in water temperatures, which appear to reflect patterns of euphausiid availability over space and time. The physical presence of the offshore structures may potentially affect the distribution/availability of zooplankton (i.e. euphausiids) and thereby influence the feeding behaviour of saithe and any other marine populations that are interconnected to the dynamics of such trophic interactions.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential influence of offshore oil and gas platforms on the feeding ecology of fish assemblages in the North Sea

Fujii¹

2016

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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“…A subsequent study by Love et al () found evidence that platforms were important for the larval production of bocaccio and cowcod, which would contribute to the recovery of these 2 overfished species. In addition, a more recent article, which was not available at the time of this study, highlights the substantial contribution (on a per unit basis) of California platforms to fish production (see Claisse et al ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 90%

“…This is generally interpreted to mean the absence of all debris associated with oil and gas drilling, production, and transport operations, rather than re‐establishing the specific biological communities that existed before the platform's installation. However, in the time since most of these leases were signed, 1) technological advances have allowed for alternatives to full removal; and 2) studies have shown that the habitat on and under a platform has the potential to become more diverse and biologically productive than preplatform habitat (see Pondella et al this issue; Claisse et al ). As a result, laws and regulations have changed to allow for alternative uses ranging from aquaculture to alternative energy production to artificial reefs that enhance biological production or fishing opportunities.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Considerations in evaluating potential socioeconomic impacts of offshore platform decommissioning in California

Kruse¹,

Bernstein

Scholz³

2015

Integr Envir Assess & Manag

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The 27 oil and gas platforms offshore southern California will eventually reach the end of their useful lifetimes (estimated between 2015 and 2030) and will be decommissioned. Current state and federal laws and regulations allow for alternative uses in lieu of the complete removal required in existing leases. Any decommissioning pathway will create a complex mix of costs, benefits, opportunities, and constraints for multiple user groups. To assist the California Natural Resources Agency in understanding these issues, we evaluated the potential socioeconomic impacts of the 2 most likely options: complete removal and partial removal of the structure to 85 feet below the waterline with the remaining structure left in place as an artificial reef-generally defined as a manmade structure with some properties that mimic a natural reef. We estimated impacts on commercial fishing, commercial shipping, recreational fishing, nonconsumptive boating, and nonconsumptive SCUBA diving. Available data supported quantitative estimates for some impacts, semiquantitative estimates for others, and only qualitative approximations of the direction of impact for still others. Even qualitative estimates of the direction of impacts and of user groups' likely preferred options have been useful to the public and decision makers and provided valuable input to the project's integrative decision model. Uncertainty surrounds even qualitative estimates of the likely direction of impact where interactions between multiple impacts could occur or where user groups include subsets that would experience the same option differently. In addition, we were unable to quantify effects on ecosystem value and on the larger regional ecosystem, because of data gaps on the population sizes and dynamics of key species and the uncertainty surrounding the contribution of platforms to available hard substrate and related natural populations offshore southern California.

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“…The objective of the "rig to reef " approach is to use the decommissioned structures for fisheries yield and production, for recreational activities, to prevent trawling, to repair degraded marine habitats, and for overall economic and social benefit. Ultimately a reefbased food chain may develop providing food sources for larger organisms such as fish (e.g., Claisse et al, 2014). Such a rig-reef community may vary considerably from the naturally occurring species composition and also affect local nutrient recycling within the water column and settling of nutrients to the seafloor, thereby affecting benthic organisms surrounding the reef area.…”

Section: Decommissioningmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Application of Long-Lived Bivalve Sclerochronology in Environmental Baseline Monitoring

Steinhardt¹,

Butler

Carroll

et al. 2016

Front. Mar. Sci.

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Assessments of the impact of construction, operation, and removal of large infrastructures and other human activities on the marine environment are limited because they do not fully quantify the background baseline conditions and relevant scales of natural variability. Baselines as defined in Environmental Impact Assessments typically reflect the status of the environment and its variability drawn from published literature and augmented with some short term site specific characterization. Consequently, it can be difficult to determine whether a change in the environment subsequent to industrial activity is within or outside the range of natural background variability representative of an area over decades or centuries. An innovative approach that shows some promise in overcoming the limitations of traditional baseline monitoring methodology involves the analysis of shell material (sclerochronology) from molluscs living upon or within the seabed in potentially affected areas. Bivalves especially can be effective biomonitors of their environment over a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. A rapidly expanding body of research has established that numerous characteristics of the environment can be reflected in morphological and geochemical properties of the carbonate material in bivalve shells, as well as in functional responses such as growth rates. In addition, the annual banding pattern in shells can provide an absolute chronometer of environmental variability and/or industrial effects. Further, some species of very long-lived bivalves can be crossdated back in time, like trees, by comparing these annual banding patterns in their shells. It is therefore feasible to develop extended timeseries of certain marine environmental variables that can provide important insights into long temporal scales of baseline variability. We review recent innovative work on the shell structure, morphology, and geochemistry of bivalves and conclude that they have substantial potential for use as monitors of environmental variability and the effects of pollutants and disturbance.

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Oil platforms off California are among the most productive marine fish habitats globally

Cited by 218 publications

References 55 publications

Potential influence of offshore oil and gas platforms on the feeding ecology of fish assemblages in the North Sea

Potential influence of offshore oil and gas platforms on the feeding ecology of fish assemblages in the North Sea

Considerations in evaluating potential socioeconomic impacts of offshore platform decommissioning in California

The Application of Long-Lived Bivalve Sclerochronology in Environmental Baseline Monitoring

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