The National Inshore Fishermen’s Association has expressed concern about the draft Designated Maritime Area Plan (DMAP) for the south coast published earlier this month.
The draft DMAP identifies four areas off the south coast where offshore wind could be developed and is subject to a six-week public consultation.
NIFA said that the draft south coast DMAP includes “areas in such close proximity to the shore, a mere 6.5 nautical miles” which are of “grave concern to the local inshore fleet on the south east coast, as well the fishing community in general”.
“The announced area overlaps and includes such areas as spawning and nursery grounds for haddock, herring, cod and pollock to name a few, as well as being of vital importance to the inshore fleet due to its shallow water and nearshore location,”it said.
“The vessels working this ground are engaged in a large variety of fishing methods with employment provided in coastal communities as well as a low carbon high quality food products to support employment and tourism ashore,”it said.
“There is real fear within the inshore sector that the fishing effort within this sector is almost “ invisible “ to the likes of ORE developers, DECC as well as other government departments involved in such decisions,”it said.
“The fishing effort/ areas where the most activity takes place by vessels greater than 18m are easily identified by VMS or AIS, whereas this information is not as easily available for smaller inshore vessels,” it noted.
“This can lead to false data or information, as the areas not being fished frequently by the over 18m or mobile fleet are often where effort is concentrated by smaller inshore vessels and static gear,”it said.
“Despite the announcement of the proposed D-Map areas, very little clarity is available to the affected parties regarding number of turbines, turbine size, layout of turbines, cable routing or the possible exclusion from the area during surveys, construction and operating phases,”it said.