Settlement experiments with hatchery-reared Helgoland lobsters (Homarus gammarus) at offshore wind farms – a perspective

• Main Authors: Schmalenbach, Isabel, Krone, Roland, Franke, Heinz-Dieter
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: European lobster; Homarus gammarus
• Online Access: https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/32647/; https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.41221

In the German Bight, the European lobster is largely confined to the rocky subtidal of the island of Helgoland. This small population is isolated from those of other hard-bottom areas in the North Sea. A mark-recapture study at Helgoland has shown that hatchery-reared lobsters successfully settle in their release area. The lobster population of Helgoland is specifically adapted to a small habitat. This characteristic as well as the results of the mark-recapture study at Helgoland suggests that hatchery-reared juvenile lobsters might successfully settled experimentally at stone fields which serve as scour protection for offshore wind turbine foundations. A respective project in the offshore wind farm Borkum Riffgat, financed by the Lower Saxony Water Management, Coastal Defence and Nature Conservation Agency (NLWKN), is in preparation. A successful settlement of lobsters in offshore wind farms would clearly contribute to the preservation of the endangered lobster population in the German Bight.