Post by: Dale Rodmell, NFFO Assistant Chief Executive,

For the fishing industry, the development of large-scale projects (such as offshore windfarms) in the marine area can mean displacement from customary fishing grounds and knock-on effects elsewhere. A major purpose of the marine planning system, as recognised in the UK Marine Policy Statement, is to manage competition and enable co-existence as far as possible among a growing number of activities.  Policies on co-existence are therefore integral to all the Marine Plans, which influence other policies and their implementation.  Fishing and offshore windfarms are two industries with high demands for marine space, and where practical action to enable co-existence is paramount.

Compatibility   Our understanding of whether commercial fisheries can productively operate within the vicinity of offshore wind farms is still developing.  Due to space requirements, some types of commercial fishing such as seine netting and pair trawling cannot physically operate among wind farms under current typical turbine layouts. There are examples of static fisheries such as crab and lobster pot fisheries operating among wind farm installations, but there is not yet conclusive evidence of significant levels of towed gear fishing activity taking place.  A report examining changes to fishing practices resulting from offshore wind farms identified several potential issues that may hinder co-existence, including:

• Potential seabed hazards from windfarm infrastructure
• Windfarm maintenance works
• Problematic communications.

As technology develops and fixed foundation turbines are installed with larger generating capacities, the spacing requirements between turbines will increase, potentially improving the prospect for co-existence with commercial fisheries. On the other hand, if floating wind technologies developed for deployment in deeper waters, require secure mooring systems, the prospects for co-existence may become more challenging. Click here to read more