Moving seafloor boulders for subsea cables creates challenges for commercial fishers
For generations, commercial fishermen have avoided the naturally occurring boulder fields that cover parts of the seafloor off Rhode Island and Southern New England. Today, as offshore wind projects have been built alongside existing ocean industries, subsea cable installers have relocated a number of those boulders, creating an unexpected challenge. Fishermen have raised concerns that relocated boulders could create new hazards for towing gear, damage expensive fishing equipment, limit access to traditional fishing grounds, and alter important marine habitats.
Rhode Island Sea Grant has helped bring together commercial fishermen, offshore wind developers, regulators, researchers, and other partners to better understand the challenges surrounding boulder relocation and identify practical solutions through collaboration.
Machines like these relocate boulders on the seafloor to clear a path for laying cables such as those from offshore wind developments to the shore. You can read more about these machines on the Utility ROV Services website.
Photo courtesy of Utility ROV Services.
One outcome of those efforts is a new report from the Rhode Island Sea Grant Legal Program and the Marine Affairs Institute at Roger Williams University School of Law, Boulder Relocation for Offshore Energy Development in Rhode Island: Artificial Reefs and Cross-Industry Collaboration.
The report examines the legal and policy considerations surrounding boulder relocation while exploring opportunities to better incorporate commercial fishermen into planning and decision-making.
During offshore wind construction, developers may relocate larger seafloor boulders that interfere with subsea cable installation. Rather than simply moving these boulders without oversight, relocation occurs through federal and state permitting processes designed to minimize impacts.
The report examines how these practices can be improved to reduce conflicts with commercial fishing while also considering the benthic habitats that support economically important species such as Jonah crabs, quahogs, scallops, clams, and lobsters.
The report also explores whether relocated boulders could be intentionally clustered to create artificial reefs, noting that “artificial reefs can provide alternative structures for fish to spawn and benthic species to live within.” It examines the federal and state permitting frameworks that would govern such proposals.
A commercial fishing trawler in Galilee, Rhode Island. Rhode Island Sea Grant is helping bring together commercial fishermen, offshore wind developers, researchers, and regulators to address challenges such as seafloor boulder relocation.
Photo by Meredith Haas.
Beyond the legal framework, the report emphasizes that successful solutions depend on collaboration among all ocean users. According to the report, “Fishers and developers may derive mutual benefits from sharing data” to identify suitable locations for offshore energy infrastructure and relocated boulders while reducing environmental impacts and minimizing conflicts with commercial fishing operations.
The report also looks beyond Rhode Island, highlighting approaches in Massachusetts, Maine, Scotland, and Ireland where early consultation and cross-industry collaboration have helped address similar challenges. As the report concludes, “Strategies to involve fishers early in the pre-construction period of a project could prove beneficial to all parties interested in and involved with the project.”
Kevin Sloan, a coastal policy analyst with the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council, said engaging commercial fishermen throughout the review process helps strengthen project evaluations by incorporating the firsthand knowledge of those who know the seafloor best.
“The reality is that the fishermen know what’s happening,” Sloan said. “They know where things are and aren’t, so we try to engage the commercial fishermen as best we can.”
– Isabella Carmichael, Rhode Island Sea Grant