The study ‘doesn’t tell you what 100 turbines are going to be like, said Drew Carey, an author of the study and CEO of the Newport-based firm INSPIRE Environmental. ‘(But) it should allay the fears that there would be a catastrophic effect.’
PROVIDENCE — An industry-funded study released last month found no significantly negative effect on fish populations during the construction and operation of the Block Island offshore wind farm.
The study crunched seven years of data from monthly trips out to the site in a commercial trawler, which caught ground fish and invertebrates like butterfish, little skate, scup, winter skate and longfin squid.
Scientists compared what they caught near the wind turbines to what they caught in other similar places outside the project area. The only meaningful effect they found by the wind turbines was positive: a lot more black sea bass were congregating around the Block Island wind farm, probably because they like to hang out near physical structures like wind turbine foundations. Scientists also found more Atlantic cod there, but not often enough to draw any firm conclusions.
“It’s encouraging and reassuring, with the caveat that (the Block Island wind farm) is a small project,” said Drew Carey, an author of the study and CEO of the Newport-based firm INSPIRE Environmental. “It doesn’t tell you what 100 turbines are going to be like. (But) it should allay the fears that there would be a catastrophic effect.”