Tribal Consultation in Developing Fisheries Monitoring Plans for Offshore Wind Farms

Indigenous communities have timeless relationships with fisheries that include a culture of respect, stewardship, and sustainability. Offshore wind farm (OWF) development involves fisheries monitoring that can conflict with Indigenous values. Standard fisheries monitoring typically involves extractive methods associated with:
• Benthic habitat disturbance
• High mortality
• Limited statistical power
• Non-targeted catches

Fisheries are a critical concern for Indigenous tribes, and the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) Section 106 Consultation is designed to involve Tribal communities in a meaningful way during the OWF development process, including development of fisheries monitoring plans (FMPs).

Effective consultation includes:
• Early and consistent Tribal involvement throughout a project’s life
• Tribal capacity building for FMP design and review
• Use of Tribal laws and ecological knowledge when developing and implementing FMPs and interpreting survey results

• Fisheries are cultural, as well as environmental and ecological resources to Tribes
• Job creation opportunities include employing Tribal fisheries in the planning and execution of fisheries monitoring, use of tribal vessels, and data sharing
• Not all Tribes have the same cultural priorities and fisheries of concern
• Species of concern to Tribes and regulatory agencies may not overlap
• Tribes co-manage fisheries with states and the Federal government
• Tribal treaties grant rights to harvest fish and shellfish
• Use of non-extractive monitoring methods as a preferred approach