Abstract
This report supplements the Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind Construction and Operations Plan.
This evaluation identifies the dominant substrates in the Offshore Project Area and NLA to establish a pre-construction baseline and characterizes potentially sensitive or important seafloor areas that may serve as essential fish habitat (EFH). In accordance with Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM 2019) and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS 2020) guidelines, both sampling protocols and a modified version of the Coastal and Marine Ecological Classifications Standards (CMECS; FGDC 2012) were used to characterize the benthic environment. This report presents:
- a description of the benthic grab sampling methods;
- sediment grain size analysis results;
- benthic macroinvertebrate community analysis using summary statistics and metrics such as taxa richness, density, community composition and more detailed multivariate methods;
- CMECS substrate component classification of each sampling station based on a review of grab sample video imagery and grain size results; and
- a summary of overall results, including a brief comparison to SPI/PV survey results conducted in the project area.