Lobster settlement at the offshore wind farm Riffgat, German Bight (North Sea)

• Main Authors: Krone, Roland, Schmalenbach, Isabel, Franke, Heinz-Dieter
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: European lobster; Homarus gammarus
• Online Access: https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/37215/; https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/37215/1/PosterKroneetal2013BruesselLobster.pdf; https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.44935; https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.44935.d001

The population of the European lobster (Homarus gammarus) at the island of Helgoland inside the central German Bight has been stagnating on a very low level for many decades. A mark-recapture study has shown that hatchery-reared lobsters successfully settle in their release area of Helgoland. The present pilot project aims to test an offshore wind farm as a suitable habitat for lobsters. A successful settlement of lobsters at offshore wind farms would clearly contribute to the preservation of the endangered lobster population in the German Bight. In 2014, reared and marked juvenile individuals of the Helgoland lobster population will be released at the scour protections of the monopiles of the wind farm Riffgat. Systematic hatching and rearing of 3,000 lobster individuals for future release at the wind farm has already been initiated in spring this year. Subjects of investigation will predominantly concern a) the densities of released individuals necessary for a successful settlement at offshore structures, b) the development of the native mobile demersal megafauna at the locations where the lobsters will be released and c) whether the scours will be naturally colonized by wild lobsters as well.