Abstract
As offshore renewable energy continues to develop in order to meet Government targets and contribute to Net Zero, there is the potential for overlap between areas of interest for development and areas used for fishing. In order to avert this potential conflict there has been agreement, between stakeholders from both the fishing and offshore renewables industries, that dialogue is needed to share information (both ways) in order to promote and strive for an approach where the shared goal is co-existence.
Recognising the importance of co-existence, The Crown Estate, through its Offshore Wind Evidence and Change (OWEC) programme, has therefore supported the National Federation of Fishermen's Organisations (NFFO) to undertake a series of workshops to facilitate such dialogue, the outputs and recommendations from which are contained within this report.
The aim of the project was to take positive, practical steps to support the drive for co-existence between the offshore renewable industry and UK fishing industry. The project enabled evidence supported dialogue and knowledge sharing with the aim of improving the planning process and development of offshore wind through greater co-operation and mutual understanding of sector needs of the fishing industry and the offshore wind sector.
It is hoped that the results of this exercise will in turn foster greater understanding among industry stakeholders and Floating windfarm developers and technology developers, and planners , informed by physical, operational, and environmental constraints, and in what ways and by what means they may be optimized to reduce potential conflict and facilitate co-existence with fisheries.