Fishing leaders call for immediate halt to off shore wind “stampede”

Fishing leaders across Scotland are demanding an immediate stop to further offshore wind farm consents — warning ministers they are on course to gamble away the nation’s seas, jobs and coastal heritage.

Seas around Orkney are set for major off shore energy developments, such as the West of Orkney Wind Farm and the Ayre development, to the East of Orkney, run by Thistle Wind Partners.

The Scottish Fishermen’s Federation (SFF) says the Scottish Government’s plans to install up to 40GW of offshore wind capacity by 2040 are “far too high” and would cause irreversible damage to the marine environment – while displacing fishing fleets from grounds they have worked for generations.

The call for a moratorium is included within SFF’s official responses to two major Scottish Government consultations – the updated Offshore Wind Policy Statement and the draft Sectoral Marine Plan for Offshore Wind Energy – with the industry body warning of “significant and long-term negative impacts” on fishing from both.

Elspeth Macdonald, Chief Executive of SFF, Scotland’s biggest fishing industry body, representing a wide range of inshore and offshore fishing businesses, said: “This isn’t a plan — it’s a stampede.

“The Government is charging ahead without the faintest idea how to protect the people and places that will be trampled in the rush.

“We’ve been telling them for years these plans will seriously damage our industry, but they haven’t listened. Now their own assessments show the harm that will be done to fishing, and the environment on which it depends.

“Until they can prove our industry and our seas will be safeguarded, the only responsible choice is to slam on the brakes.”

More in next week’s edition of The Orcadian.