OCEANIC Biofouling database for the ocean energy sector 12/2018

Portugal

BiMEP (Basque Country)

EMEC (UK)

• Biofouling Assemblages of fauna and flora growing on artificial, man-made, structures

(e.g., ships’ hull, pontoons, buoys, OE equipment)

> 4000 organisms responsible for biofouling

Microfouling – e.g., bacteria, fungi, microalgae

Macrofouling

• Soft-fouling – e.g., non-calcareous algae, anemones, hydroids

• Hard-fouling – e.g., barnacles, mussels, calcareous tubeworms

Biofouling in the OE sector

What is biofouling?

Biofouling in the OE sector

What is biofouling?

• Kelps (Phylum Ochrophyta, Class Phaeophycea, Order Laminariales)

Abrasion and alteration of hydrodynamic properties of moving parts

Neutrally buoyant

Weight not exerted on static devices

• Bryozoans (Phylum Bryozoa)

Abrasion and accelerate corrosion of materials

Biofouling in the OE sector

Main biofouling groups

Bugula sp.

Laminaria digitata

www.algaebase.org

• Mussels (Phylum Mollusca, Class Bivalvia, Family Mytilidae)

Exert substantial weight on devices and increase its surface diameter and roughness

• Barnacles (Phylum Arthropoda, Subphylum Crustacea, Infraclass Cirripedia)

Exert weight and increase component size and roughness

• Calcareous tubeworms (Phylum Annelida, Class Polychaeta, Family Serpulidae)

Increase component size and roughness

Biofouling in the OE sector

Main biofouling groups

Spirobranchus sp.

Perforatus

perforatus

Mytilus

galloprovincialis

• Offshore structures = Artificial reefs Attract marine organisms and mimic the functions of natural reefs

Promoters of ecosystem diversity and function

Sactuaries for commercial and/or protected species

• Contribute to the propagation of non-native species (NNS) Impacts biodiversity, habitats and/or ecological processes

Economic threats

Biofouling in the OE sector

Environmental and Economical issues

• Requirements to biofouling control per se are nonexistent worldwide

• Biofouling as vector of NNS propagation

Regarded in several international legislative frameworks

• E.g., EU Directive 2008/56/EC, EU Regulation 1143/2014)

Prevent the introduction and spread of NNS

• Engineering and Environmental standards

Many applicable at a local level (e.g., DNV: North Sea) and not adaptable elsewhere

Biofouling in the OE sector

Legislation

• Knowledge on biofouling not sufficiently transferred across the OE sector

Improper design of devices/components

Improper operation and maintenance methodologies

Hence, increased costs

• Allow the OE sector (and others) a more informed and quick decision

E.g., site selection, frequency and type of maintenance operations

Biofouling database

Why?

i. Ecoregion: Overview of countries encompassed in the mapping (e.g., ‘cold’ versus ‘warm’ regions)

9 Ecoregions

ii. Country/Region and Site: Country (e.g., Netherlands, Ireland) or region (e.g., North Sea, Celtic

Sea) where samples were taken

24 Countries/Regions

iii. Distance to shore: Distance (km) between the sampled site and the closest continental land

0.1 – 195 Km

iv. Type of equipment: OE equipment; Oil & Gas sector, aquaculture, deliberate artificial reefs and test panels

Biofouling database

How?

v. Period of immersion: Period (months or years) during which the biofouling could grow (i.e., from the equipment deployment until data was gathered)

1 month – 39 years

vi. Depth: Depth (m) at which data was retrieved

Surface – 90 m

vii. Species: Qualitative information on main biofouling groups and NNS. Quantitative data on the biofouling thickness (mm) and weight (g FW m-2; also g DW m-2 or g AFDW m-2) and size/length (mm) and weight (g FW/DW/AFDW m-2) of organisms

viii.Reference: Authors who reported the data

Biofouling database

How?

Biofouling and database

Main findings

• 17 marine NNS (within the North Sea) Mainly at the intertidal

8 hard-foulers (mostly Barnacles) and 1 soft-/hard-fouler (Bryozoan)

Ephemeral green, red and brown algae,

barnacles

Kelp

s

Barnacles,

mussels

Serpulids, crustaceans, cnidarians, sea-squirts,

echinoderms

Mobile organisms (e.g., decapods, sea-

stars)

Surfac

e

Bottom

10 m

30 m

90 m

Nbr.

species

-

+

-

Biofouling database

• Available since mid November 2018

Downloads from France, Basque Country, Finland, Sweden and USA

• www.oceanic-project.eu/biofouling-database

Biofouling database

WavEC Offshore Renewables Rua D. Jerónimo Osório, 11, 1º andar 1400-119 Lisbon Tel. +351 21 848 2655 www.wavec.org

Pedro Vinagre Researcher and Project Manager

Thank you