Monitoring van de ecologische effecten van de elektromagnetische Veldenrond de stroomkabels van het net op zee (Westerschelde, Borssele) op anadrome fint: Deel 3

In this report, we analyze the potential impact of electromagnetic fields caused by power cables running from Borssele to a wind farm in the North Sea on the movement behavior of twait shad.

The results show no effect of the cables on either the foraging behavior or the spawning migration of twait shad. The residence time of the fish at the detection stations near the cables was not significantly different from that at other detection stations in the area. During spawning, twait shad migrate rapidly through the Westerschelde and do not appear to be hindered by the cables.

However, it should be noted that the detection stations were located more than 50 m from the power cables. Because electromagnetic fields decrease exponentially from the cables, the field strength beyond that distance is likely to be very low (5 nT).