The Atlantic surfclam fishery and offshore wind energy development: 2. Assessing economic impacts

Abstract

The Atlantic surfclam (Spisula solidissima) fishery generates approximately USD 30 million in landings revenues annually, distributed across ports throughout the US Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. Overlap between areas of Atlantic surfclam harvests and offshore wind energy leasing make the fishery vulnerable to exclusion and effort displacement as development expands in the region. An existing integrated bioeconomic agent-based model, including spatial dynamics in Atlantic surfclam stock biology, heterogeneous captain behaviour, and federal management processes, was extended to incorporate costs and revenues for fishing vessels and processors and used to evaluate the potential economic effects of offshore wind development on the Atlantic surfclam fishery. Fishing activity and economic outcomes were simulated under different offshore wind energy development scenarios that impose spatial restrictions on Atlantic surfclam vessel fishing and transiting behaviour. Decreases in the number of trips and shifts in the spatial distribution of fishing effort reduced revenues for Atlantic surfclam fishing vessels and processors by ∼3–15% and increased average fishing costs by < 1–5%, with impacts varying across development scenarios and fishing ports. The modelling approach used in this analysis has potential for addressing additional questions surrounding sustainable ocean multi-use and further quantifying interactions between offshore wind energy development and commercial fisheries.

Potential Repercussions of Offshore Wind Energy Development in the Northeast United States for the Atlantic Surfclam Survey and Population Assessment

“…Data from the Atlantic surfclam stock assessment surveys and management council, fishery-dependent data, and guidance from Atlantic surfclam industry and management representatives provided inputs for the development and implementation of SEFES as well as for verification of simulations (Munroe et al 2022). Details of the SEFES model framework are provided by Munroe et al (2022), andScheld et al (2022) provide details of the economic analyses used to assess the fishing fleet and processor operations. Previous implementations of SEFES were used to evaluate temperature-induced range shifts in Atlantic surfclam distribution and associated effects on the stock, fishery, and management (Powell et al 2015Kuykendall et al 2017Kuykendall et al , 2019Stromp et al 2023, this themed issue).…”

“…The last 50 years of the simulation were used for analysis. This period represents a stable realization of the Atlantic surfclam fishery because the population biomass is adjusted to fishing pressure and associated random variability, which was introduced by weather restrictions, captains' choices regarding fishing locations, variability in recruitment, and wind energy lease area restrictions in the relevant simulations, as discussed by Munroe et al (2022) and Scheld et al (2022).…”

“…Offshore wind energy development will include infrastructure that could become obstacles resulting in de facto fishery and survey exclusion areas, potentially leading to fishing effort and catch displacement as well as changes to quotas or catch limits (Methratta et al 2020;Scheld et al 2022). Wind energy development plans in the United States do not automatically exclude competing use areas like fishing grounds, yet users such as commercial fisheries may be limited by other barriers (safety of navigation, lack of insurance, gear conflicts, etc.).…”

“…The redistribution of fishing effort to areas outside of wind energy lease areas potentially can result in localized overharvesting and competition for fishing grounds. For the Atlantic surfclam fishery, the combined effect of fishing exclusion and redistribution of fishing effort has consequences for the overall profitability of the fishery (Scheld et al 2022).…”

Integrating human dimensions in decadal-scale prediction for marine social–ecological systems: lighting the grey zone

“…In fisheries management, a range of time horizons are considered when making decisions, including tactical and longer-term strategic decisions to inform management and sustainability-both of fish stocks and fishing fleets (Benson and Stephenson, 2018;Munroe et al, 2022;Scheld et al, 2022). Tactical decisions, such as setting catch limits or developing rebuilding plans, which often project trends in a fish stock 10 years into the future, can benefit from forecasts of ocean conditions months to a few years into the future (Tommasi et al, 2017a).…”