Abstract
The purpose of this memorandum is to provide an update to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) – Division of Wildlife (DOW) on progress-to-date for preconstruction monitoring for the Lake Erie Energy Development Corporation’s (LEEDCo) Icebreaker Wind project. Monitoring is being conducted during the 2016 season to fulfill requirements of the “Aquatic Sampling Protocols for Offshore Wind Development for the Purpose of Securing Submerged Land Leases”. This update covers project activities from July through October 2016 and includes the dates of fieldwork, summary of metadata from the field events, preliminary observations from these events, and any deviations from the original sampling plan. Fieldwork and preliminary data summaries are categorized by the three major types of monitoring including fish community/lower trophic level, physical habitat, and fish behavior. The memorandum fulfills the requirement to provide quarterly updates to DOW of project status and preliminary findings. This is the second quarterly status report. The last status update was delivered to ODNR and FWS on July 26, 2016.