NORWAY is staging a 3D seismic campaign in the Vesteralen (Nordland VII) sector using the survey vessel, Geo Pacific, and Troms II (Ocean Explorer), which will measure impacts on several key commercial fish species.
The plan calls for the seismic data acquisition activities to conclude on August 9, and in order to facilitate the process, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate has entered into compensation agreements with about 100 fishermen in the relevant areas.
Basically, they will be paid for staying tied up while the surveys proceed, though they will still be able to fish when the survey vessels are not in their particular fishing areas.
In the case of the Vesteralen survey, the object of this pioneer project is to study the “startle effect” of seismic surveys on a number of important commercial fish species.
According to the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate, this is the largest project of its kind and is unique in a global context.
In addition to learning more about how different species of fish react to the seismic shock waves, researchers will study how long it takes for fishing to normalise after seismic data acquisition is completed.
The studies of the startle effect will be linked to acoustic measurements.