Do oil and gas platforms off California reduce recruitment of bocaccio to natural habitat? An analysis based on trajectories derived from high-frequency radar

Drift pathways from an existing oil platform to nearshore platform using high-frequency (HF) radars were simulated. The trajectories originated at Platform Irene, located west of Point Conception, California, during two recruiting seasons for bocaccio. The trajectory simulation period from May through August was chosen to span the principal recruitment season. It was assumed that waters from the shallow subtidal to 50-m isobath represented suitable habitat for juvenile recruits. Annual scuba surveys and submersible surveys in the Santa Barbara Channel and Santa Maria Basin regions showed that young of the year (YOY) bocaccio inhabit the upper 35 m around one or more platforms for each year surveyed. Results from 1999 indicated that 10% of the trajectories represented transport to habitat, whereas 76% represented transport across the offshore boundary.