Funding agency: The Research Council of Norway, Collaborative and Knowledge-building Project Program
Project period: 2024-2028
Project leader: Elin Sørhus
Project participants (from our team): Reidun Bjelland, Caroline Durif, Howard Browman, Alesandro Cresci, Anne Berit Skiftesvik
Project summary
Marine ecosystems are under increasing pressure from expanding energy production, including offshore petroleum, wind, and carbon capture projects. This expansion leads to cumulative pollution and a higher risk of oil spills, exacerbating the impact on the marine environment. Climate change further compounds these challenges. The lack of dynamic data pipelines hampers the integration of scientific findings into spatial planning tools for eco-sustainable development in the offshore energy industry. Knowledge gaps about vulnerable early-life stages of key fish species, like the lesser sandeel, hinder effective regulation in the North Sea and Norwegian coast industries. The lesser sandeel plays a crucial role in marine food webs, connecting plankton to top predators. Despite protective measures for adult sandeel, knowledge gaps persist regarding larval dispersal, recruitment dynamics, and responses to stressors from the petroleum industry. The survival of sandeel larvae depends on behavioral patterns, and anthropogenic stressors can impact behavior, affecting individual survival and larval drift pathways. Existing risk assessment models in Norway consider fish eggs and larvae dispersion but lack species-specific knowledge on larval drift patterns and vulnerability to stressors. The KnowSandeel project aims to address these gaps by enhancing risk assessment models by including realism-based larval drift model and empirical sensitive data in addition to develop an operational larval drift forecast tool specifically for sandeel. The project’s deliverables can be adapted for other species, contributing to more precise and sustainable decisions in spatial planning and industrial development in marine environments. Overall, KnowSandeel seeks to promote the coexistence of ecological sustainability and industrial development in offshore activities.