Characterizing the second wave of fish and invertebrate colonization of an offshore petroleum platform. (21st February 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Todd, Victoria L G; Susini, Irene; Williamson, Laura D; Todd, Ian B; McLean, Dianne L; Macreadie, Peter I
• Editors: Birchenough, Silvana
• Is Part Of: ICES journal of marine science. Volume 78:Number 3(2021)
• Page Start: 1131
• Page End: 1145
• Publication Date: 2021-02-21
• Subjects: connectivity -- decommissioning -- infrastructure -- jacket -- marine -- O&G platform -- rigs-to-reefs -- ROV; Ocean -- Periodicals; Fisheries -- Periodicals; Fishes -- Periodicals; Marine biology -- Bibliography -- Periodicals; 551.4605
• DOI: 10.1093/icesjms/fsaa245
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1054-3139

Abstract

Abstract: Offshore Oil and Gas (O&G) infrastructure affords structurally complex hard substrata in otherwise featurless areas of the seafloor. Opportunistically collected industrial ROV imagery was used to investigate the colonization of a petroleum platform in the North Sea 1–2 years following installation. Compared to pre-construction communities and pioneering colonizers, we documented 48 additional taxa, including a rare sighting of a pompano ( Trachinotus ovatus ). The second wave of motile colonizers presented greater diversity than the pioneering community. Occurrence of species became more even over the 2 years following installation, with species occurring in more comparable abundances. No on-jacket sessile taxa were recorded during first-wave investigations; however, 17 sessile species were detected after 1 year (decreasing to 16 after 2). Motile species were found to favour structurally complex sections of the jacket ( e.g. mudmat), while sessile organisms favoured exposed elements. Evidence of on-jacket reproduction was found for two commercially important invertebrate species - common whelk ( Buccinum undatum ) and European squid ( Loligo vulgaris ). Moreover, abundance of larvae-producing species experience an 8.5-fold increase over a 2-year period compared to baseline communities. These findings may have implications for decommissioning and resource-management strategies, suggesting that a case-by-case reviewing approach should be favoured over the most common "one size fits all".