Abstract
Biofouling is a major problem shared among all maritime sectors employing submerged structures where it leads to substantially increased costs and lowered operational lifespans if poorly addressed. Insight into the ongoing processes at the relevant marine locations is key to effective management of biofouling. Of specific concern for the marine renewable energy (MRE) sector is the fact that information on biofouling composition and magnitude across geographies is dispersed throughout published papers and consulting reports. To enable rapid access to relevant key biofouling events the present work describes a European biofouling database to support the MRE sector and other maritime industries. The database compiles in one document qualitative and quantitative data for challenging biofouling groups, including non-native species associated with MRE and related marine equipment, in different European Ecoregions. It provides information on the occurrence of fouling species and data on key biofouling parameters, such as biofouling thickness and weight. The database aims to aid the MRE sector and offshore industries in understanding which biofouling communities their devices are more susceptible to at a given site, to facilitate informed decisions. In addition, the biofouling mapping is useful for the development of biosecurity risk management plans as well as academic research.
Highlights
Marine biofouling, the settlement of organisms on marine man-made structures, generate various and extensive challenges for industries developing technologies and working in the marine environment worldwide
Because of the variable nature of biofouling and of its impacts on marine renewable energy (MRE) structures/equipment, the biofouling database could be of especial importance for players in the MRE sector allowing them to be more aware of site-specific biofouling and aiding them in defining adequate maintenance plans including nature and frequency of activities
The biofouling database presented in this paper could be especially useful since it provides beforehand a mapping of non-native species found across European waters
Summary
The settlement of organisms on marine man-made structures, generate various and extensive challenges for industries developing technologies and working in the marine environment worldwide. The database includes qualitative and quantitative data on species belonging to the five biofouling groups mentioned above—acorn barnacles, mussels, calcareous tubeworms, bryozoans and kelp—together with other relevant organisms such as hard-shelled organisms and gooseneck barnacles It provides information about the occurrence of the organisms on MRE equipment and other structures, such as from the oil and gas sector, deliberate artificial reefs and test panels. Key biofouling parameters to the MRE sector such as biofouling thickness and weight are included Such a readily available database aims to provide to the developers, operators, regulators and researchers a quick overview of geographical biofouling distribution to facilitate informed decisions and help planning their projects, for example with site selection and subsequent probable frequency of maintenance. It presents the database main findings and a summary of the data encompassed in it and provides the reader with an overview of what information is available and how to access it
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