Survey Simulation Experimentation and Evaluation Project (SSEEP)

The Survey Simulation Experimentation and Evaluation Project (SSEEP) will use a participatory design approach to develop and apply a simulation modeling framework to quantify the potential impacts to the Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) bottom trawl surveys and data products resulting from offshore wind development. The simulation will be built to evaluate how these impacts can be mitigated to maintain high quality data and information to support fisheries and ecosystem decision-making. The modeling work is being guided through a series of stakeholder workshops and engagement with an expert Steering Committee.

Begun in 2021, SSEEP is a Cooperative Institute of the North Atlantic Region (CINAR) funded, multi-institutional partnership project led by Dr. Gavin Fay at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth School for Marine Science and Technology (UMassD-SMAST) as part of a Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) interagency agreement to develop a strategy for mitigating the effects of offshore wind energy development on NOAA Fisheries scientific surveys.

For more information on the project, you can visit the Project Overview section and learn about the Project Team, or the Stakeholder Workshops section.

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