Three-dimensional redistribution of pelagic fish aggregations associated with floating offshore wind farms

Abstract

Floating offshore wind farms (F-OWFs) are rapidly expanding into offshore pelagic environments, yet their ecological consequences remain poorly resolved because quantitative, non-invasive monitoring is challenging at sea. Here, we integrated environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding and scientific echosounding to assess fish community composition and three-dimensional aggregation structure around a commercial-scale F-OWF off the Goto Islands, Japan. We compared four stations adjacent to turbines with four offshore control stations under comparable environmental conditions across five sampling periods (April and August 2024; May, June, and August 2025) and three depth layers (5, 50, and 80-160 m). eDNA metabarcoding detected 126 fish species, and community structure based on the 30 most frequently detected taxa did not differ significantly between the F-OWF and control areas (Bray-Curtis PERMANOVA, p = 0.60). Species richness varied strongly with sampling period and water layer, with a significant water layer x period interaction, whereas overall richness did not differ between areas (Mann-Whitney U test, p = 0.18). In contrast, acoustic surveys revealed a marked difference in vertical structuring of fish aggregations: in the control area, NASC per mile increased with depth, while this depth-dependence disappeared near turbines. Moreover, the weighted mean normalized depth (WMND) indicated a shallower vertical center of aggregation in the F-OWF area (0.34) than in the control area (0.24), consistent with turbine-associated redistribution in the water column. Although voyage-level integrated NASC per mile did not differ significantly between areas (t-test, p = 0.83), mean values were higher near turbines. Together, these results indicate that F-OWFs can be associated with changes in the three-dimensional organization of fish aggregations without producing pronounced shifts in dominant taxonomic composition. Our study demonstrates the value of combining eDNA metabarcoding and acoustics for evaluating ecological effects of offshore renewable-energy infrastructures and provides a framework for standardized, long-term monitoring as F-OWF deployment accelerates globally.