Marine Biofouling: A European Database for the Marine Renewable Energy Sector

TLDR

Biofouling significantly raises costs and shortens lifespans of submerged maritime structures, and for the marine renewable energy sector, dispersed data on its composition and magnitude across regions hampers effective management. The study introduces a European biofouling database to enable rapid access to key events and help the MRE sector and offshore industries identify susceptible biofouling communities at specific sites for informed decision‑making. The database aggregates qualitative and quantitative data on fouling species, including non‑native MRE‑associated taxa, across European ecoregions, and records key parameters such as thickness and weight. The resulting biofouling maps support biosecurity risk management planning and academic research.

Abstract

Biofouling is a major problem shared among all maritime sectors employing submerged structures where it leads to substantially increased costs and lowered operational lifespans if poorly addressed. Insight into the ongoing processes at the relevant marine locations is key to effective management of biofouling. Of specific concern for the marine renewable energy (MRE) sector is the fact that information on biofouling composition and magnitude across geographies is dispersed throughout published papers and consulting reports. To enable rapid access to relevant key biofouling events the present work describes a European biofouling database to support the MRE sector and other maritime industries. The database compiles in one document qualitative and quantitative data for challenging biofouling groups, including non-native species associated with MRE and related marine equipment, in different European Ecoregions. It provides information on the occurrence of fouling species and data on key biofouling parameters, such as biofouling thickness and weight. The database aims to aid the MRE sector and offshore industries in understanding which biofouling communities their devices are more susceptible to at a given site, to facilitate informed decisions. In addition, the biofouling mapping is useful for the development of biosecurity risk management plans as well as academic research.