January 21, 2024 — Early results from a survey of fishermen who work around offshore wind projects in the United Kingdom show “more than half of those surveyed have cited a negative outcome on catches and profitability,” according to the Plymouth Marine Laboratory.
The research group is conducting a survey of fishermen through Jan. 21 to assess the impact on the fishing industry from wind power developments. Most of the fishermen responding to the survey so far fish within 6 and 12 nautical miles offshore.
They work on boats from 20 to 140 feet, using “trawls, dredges, creels, pots, jigging machines, hand lines, trammel and gill nets,” according to a Jan. 10 update from the Plymouth Marine Laboratory.
Claire Szostek, an ecosystems services scientist at the Plymouth Marine Laboratory, described some initial results from the survey, encouraging other commercial fishermen to contribute information about how they have been affected, and anticipated future impacts of wind turbine construction.
According to Szostek, “80 percent of the 43 wind farms that are currently operational or under construction are viewed as impacting fishing activity. The majority of fishers have had to use different fishing grounds due to wind farms, with a few choosing to change gear and one fisher leaving the industry as a result.”