@inproceedings{01JHJC6ASVZVWC5J81HS14RNXS,
  abstract     = {{Europe has set clear but ambitious targets in its EU Green Deal to produce 120GW and 300GW of renewable offshore wind energy by 2030 and 2050 respectively to mitigate the effects of climate change. At the same time, the United Nations predicted we must produce 70% more food by 2050 to meet global food demands. Seafood will play an important role in meeting this demand, as it is a healthy source of protein and micronutrients, emits less CO2 and uses less water and land compared to conventional livestock. However, the increase in human activities at sea not only lead to competition for marine space, but may also impact our ecosystem as a whole and the biodiversity it holds. Yet, currently, the impacts of offshore wind farms towards marine food webs and fisheries remain poorly understood inserting huge uncertainty in the long-term sustainability of these developments. To address this knowledge gap, it is crucial to investigate how wind farms interact and impact marine food webs and commercial biomass, ensuring that the fishery sector is not put at risk. To this end our study will establish a spatial-temporal ecological model for the Southern North Sea using Ecopath with Ecosim (EwE) software. Employing this ecological modelling, we aim to assess the impact of both existing and planned offshore wind farms on the fisheries sector. One of the main tasks, will be to implement the structural, biological and policy impacts induced by OWF developments into the spatial-temporal ecological model. The modelling approach additionally allows us to compare several development scenarios in terms of fishery impact and sustainability. Besides ecological impacts, our study will explore the effects of OWF developments towards the potential of the SNS basin to provide seafood in this altered system.}},
  author       = {{Lorré, Dries and Vandamme, Sara and Janssen, Colin and Asselman, Jana}},
  booktitle    = {{Ecopath 40 Years, Book of abstracts}},
  keywords     = {{ecological modelling,fisheries,offshore wind farms,food web,marine spatial planning}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  location     = {{Ostend, Belgium}},
  pages        = {{59--59}},
  title        = {{Analyzing the influence of offshore wind farms on fisheries in the southern North Sea : understanding impacts, opportunities, and trade-offs}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}