Progress on the MOORREEF project

The MOORREEF project has reached a new milestone with its first successful dive.

The MOORREEF project

Launched in 2022 by ISOMer (Institut des Substances et Organismes de la Mer), the MOORREEF project seeks to better understand what happens on the anchor lines of offshore wind turbines when algae settle there. The idea is to see whether a well-designed artificial reef can attract small marine predators that would naturally limit the accumulation of algae and unwanted organisms, a phenomenon known as biofouling.

But this reef could also serve another purpose: to encourage biodiversity in wind farms and to better understand the effect of these reefs on marine life, such as fish or species that settle there.

As part of the project, a new monitoring protocol will be developed. It will need to be easy to use, reliable, reproducible, and will enable the accurate measurement of algae presence.

The proposed reef is made up of stacked pipes of different sizes, arranged in such a way as to create hiding places suitable for certain marine species, particularly those of interest to fisheries. This reef, designed on a 1/10 scale, can be installed on the mooring buoys used to weigh down the anchor lines of floating wind turbines. It also incorporates a device to limit the impact of these lines on the seabed.

This project is supported by WEAMEC and Nantes University.

Latest developments

In early June 2025, various teams (researchers, engineers, technicians, divers, operators, sailors, etc.) went out to sea to submerge the scientific monitoring stations at the bottom of the ocean, off the coast of Les Sables d’Olonne. Two months after installation, a dive was organized on site. According to a LinkedIn post by Antoine Dubois, a postdoctoral researcher on the project, marine species have already colonized the artificial reef. These include conger eels, pout, capelin, a young pollock, and a spider crab.

What’s next?

The project will now be able to move forward more quickly with the publication of explanations on the Océan Récif Avenir association’s website and the dissemination of scientific results to local diving associations and clubs, as well as to professional and amateur fishermen.