Offshore Wind Power Projects in the Great Lakes - Ministry of ...

Offshore wind power projects in the Great Lakes: Background and science considerations for fish and fish habitat
There are a number of ways in which the precautionary principle can be applied to offshore wind
developments in the Great Lakes (Box 3). While the onus of conducting environmental risk or
impact assessments for specific projects will likely fall upon the developers themselves,
government or other regulatory agencies within the Great Lakes could also consider initiating
broad-scale baseline fish community monitoring and habitat assessments in those areas
determined to be feasible for development from a wind energy production point of view. In this
way, areas housing sensitive habitat or species or that are otherwise at a significant risk from
development activities can be pre-emptively identified and designated for protection, thereby
becoming off-limits for wind power projects. At the same time, areas posing the least
environmental risk or that are most suitable for wind power developments can also be identified
and pre-selected. This type of pre-emptive inventory and analysis of habitats to identify
avoidance areas is one of the key recommendations forwarded in a recent position statement by
the Great Lakes Commission for jurisdictions responding to habitat alteration proposals
involving wind power and other projects (Dempsey et al. 2006). Not only would such an
initiative help to ensure the protection of valuable Great Lakes resources, but it would also
relieve individual developers of the expense and effort of conducting baseline monitoring
surveys at high-risk sites that would ultimately have to be abandoned. This approach has been
taken by other jurisdictions (including Germany, Sweden and the UK) to support offshore wind
development, and these examples can serve as a model for similar efforts in the Great Lakes.
6.3 Examples from other jurisdictions
There are a number of working models from other jurisdictions involved in offshore wind power
production where the guiding principles of adaptive management and the precautionary approach
have been incorporated into national strategies to promote the facilitation of offshore wind
developments. Here we highlight some of the unique aspects and experiences of several
countries where a sustainable approach to the implementation of offshore wind has been taken.
With a focus on ecological research to inform environmental risk assessments and best
management practices, these examples can provide useful guidance for wind power projects in
the Great Lakes.
Aquatic Research and Development Section 82