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Environmental benefits of leaving offshore infrastructure in the ocean
Corresponding Author
Ashley M Fowler
Fish Ecology Laboratory, School of Life Sciences, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia
[email protected]Search for more papers by this authorJon C Svendsen
National Institute of Aquatic Resources (DTU Aqua), Section for Ecosystem based Marine Management, Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark
Search for more papers by this authorPeter I Macreadie
Deakin University, Geelong, Australia, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science and Built Environment, Centre for Integrative Ecology
Search for more papers by this authorDaniel OB Jones
National Oceanography Centre, University of Southampton Waterfront Campus, European Way, Southampton, UK
Search for more papers by this authorArjen R Boon
Department of Ecosystem and Sediment Dynamics, Deltares, Delft, the Netherlands
Search for more papers by this authorDavid J Booth
Fish Ecology Laboratory, School of Life Sciences, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia
Search for more papers by this authorRobin Brabant
Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Operational Directorate Natural Environment, Marine Ecology and Management, Brussels, Belgium
Search for more papers by this authorJeremy T Claisse
Department of Biological Sciences, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, CA
Search for more papers by this authorThomas G Dahlgren
Uni Research, Bergen, Norway
Department of Marine Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
Search for more papers by this authorSteven Degraer
Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Operational Directorate Natural Environment, Marine Ecology and Management, Brussels, Belgium
Search for more papers by this authorQuenton R Dokken
Texas Institute for Applied Environmental Research, Tarleton State University, Stephenville, TX
Search for more papers by this authorDavid G Johns
Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean Science, The Laboratory, Plymouth, UK
Search for more papers by this authorHan J Lindeboom
Wageningen University, Chair group Aquatic Ecology and Water Quality Management, Wageningen, the Netherlands
Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, ‘t Horntje, the Netherlands
Search for more papers by this authorRoel May
Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, Trondheim, Norway
Search for more papers by this authorAlbertinka J Murk
Marine Animal Ecology Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, the Netherlands
Search for more papers by this authorGeir Ottersen
Institute of Marine Research, Bergen, Norway
Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis, Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
Search for more papers by this authorDonna M Schroeder
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Camarillo, CA
Search for more papers by this authorJonas Teilmann
Marine Mammal Research, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Roskilde, Denmark
Search for more papers by this authorVictoria Todd
Ocean Science Consulting Ltd, Dunbar, UK
School of Media Arts and Technology, Southampton Solent University, Southampton, UK
Search for more papers by this authorGert Van Hoey
Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Department of Aquatic Environment and Quality, Oostende, Belgium
Search for more papers by this authorJan Vanaverbeke
Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Operational Directorate Natural Environment, Marine Ecology and Management, Brussels, Belgium
Search for more papers by this authorJoop WP Coolen
Wageningen University, Chair group Aquatic Ecology and Water Quality Management, Wageningen, the Netherlands
Wageningen Marine Research, Den Helder, the Netherlands
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Ashley M Fowler
Fish Ecology Laboratory, School of Life Sciences, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia
[email protected]Search for more papers by this authorJon C Svendsen
National Institute of Aquatic Resources (DTU Aqua), Section for Ecosystem based Marine Management, Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark
Search for more papers by this authorPeter I Macreadie
Deakin University, Geelong, Australia, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science and Built Environment, Centre for Integrative Ecology
Search for more papers by this authorDaniel OB Jones
National Oceanography Centre, University of Southampton Waterfront Campus, European Way, Southampton, UK
Search for more papers by this authorArjen R Boon
Department of Ecosystem and Sediment Dynamics, Deltares, Delft, the Netherlands
Search for more papers by this authorDavid J Booth
Fish Ecology Laboratory, School of Life Sciences, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia
Search for more papers by this authorRobin Brabant
Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Operational Directorate Natural Environment, Marine Ecology and Management, Brussels, Belgium
Search for more papers by this authorJeremy T Claisse
Department of Biological Sciences, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, CA
Search for more papers by this authorThomas G Dahlgren
Uni Research, Bergen, Norway
Department of Marine Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
Search for more papers by this authorSteven Degraer
Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Operational Directorate Natural Environment, Marine Ecology and Management, Brussels, Belgium
Search for more papers by this authorQuenton R Dokken
Texas Institute for Applied Environmental Research, Tarleton State University, Stephenville, TX
Search for more papers by this authorDavid G Johns
Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean Science, The Laboratory, Plymouth, UK
Search for more papers by this authorHan J Lindeboom
Wageningen University, Chair group Aquatic Ecology and Water Quality Management, Wageningen, the Netherlands
Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, ‘t Horntje, the Netherlands
Search for more papers by this authorRoel May
Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, Trondheim, Norway
Search for more papers by this authorAlbertinka J Murk
Marine Animal Ecology Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, the Netherlands
Search for more papers by this authorGeir Ottersen
Institute of Marine Research, Bergen, Norway
Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis, Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
Search for more papers by this authorDonna M Schroeder
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Camarillo, CA
Search for more papers by this authorJonas Teilmann
Marine Mammal Research, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Roskilde, Denmark
Search for more papers by this authorVictoria Todd
Ocean Science Consulting Ltd, Dunbar, UK
School of Media Arts and Technology, Southampton Solent University, Southampton, UK
Search for more papers by this authorGert Van Hoey
Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Department of Aquatic Environment and Quality, Oostende, Belgium
Search for more papers by this authorJan Vanaverbeke
Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Operational Directorate Natural Environment, Marine Ecology and Management, Brussels, Belgium
Search for more papers by this authorJoop WP Coolen
Wageningen University, Chair group Aquatic Ecology and Water Quality Management, Wageningen, the Netherlands
Wageningen Marine Research, Den Helder, the Netherlands
Search for more papers by this authorAbstract
The removal of thousands of structures associated with oil and gas development from the world's oceans is well underway, yet the environmental impacts of this decommissioning practice remain unknown. Similar impacts will be associated with the eventual removal of offshore wind turbines. We conducted a global survey of environmental experts to guide best decommissioning practices in the North Sea, a region with a substantial removal burden. In contrast to current regulations, 94.7% of experts (36 out of 38) agreed that a more flexible case-by-case approach to decommissioning could benefit the North Sea environment. Partial removal options were considered to deliver better environmental outcomes than complete removal for platforms, but both approaches were equally supported for wind turbines. Key considerations identified for decommissioning were biodiversity enhancement, provision of reef habitat, and protection from bottom trawling, all of which are negatively affected by complete removal. We provide recommendations to guide the revision of offshore decommissioning policy, including a temporary suspension of obligatory removal.
Supporting Information
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fee1827-sup-0001-FigS1.pdfPDF document, 145.8 KB | |
fee1827-sup-0002-FigS2.pdfPDF document, 363.7 KB | |
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fee1827-sup-0008-FigS8.pdfPDF document, 180.3 KB |
Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.
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