April 15, 2020 — In April 2019, the Embassy of the United Kingdom and the state of New York brought two veteran British fishermen across the Atlantic Ocean to speak about their experiences working with offshore wind developers. While offshore wind is relatively new to the United States, with just one wind farm and 30 MW of capacity, the industry has exploded in Europe, with over 100 wind farms and more than 22,000 MW of capacity.
The British fishermen described an early disagreement: an offshore wind developer had done its surveys and determined the placement of a transmission cable, even though this meant laying the cable over a hard rock cliff where it would be exposed to damage and interfere with longstanding fishing activity. The fishermen recognized that this placement would be bad for both industries, hurting the cable’s longevity and creating a potential snag for fishing activity. The two industries hit the drawing board and found an alternative plan: the fishermen knew of nearby soft bottom ocean habitat where the cable could be buried, reducing the developer’s risk and preserving fishing in the area.
Issues like these are ones where fishermen’s knowledge of the seas they have worked on their whole lives – and previous generations worked on before them – can be invaluable, both for maintaining their livelihoods as offshore wind farms are constructed in or around fishing grounds, and for helping developers make the best decisions for their wind businesses.