News

The UK is the current global leader in offshore wind energy and has a commitment to increase capacity significantly by 2030, and beyond. However, scientists currently have a poor understanding of the full socio-economic implications and conflicting pressures on marine space of the rapid expansion of offshore wind capacity. To remedy this, Plymouth Marine Laboratory have launched a survey to capture responses from those in the industry.

Project Lead Dr Claire Szostek encourages you to take part:

“The survey will be open throughout December and the first week of January. We would like to hear from any commercial fishers who have been impacted or think they will be impacted in the future by the development of offshore wind farms. Experiences could be positive or negative, but we hope that by gaining a better understanding of how offshore wind and the fishing industry interact or coexist, we can contribute to developing better, more effective and inclusive marine policies that maximise benefits for people, the economy and the environment.”

“The survey aims to gather information from your experiences of the current impacts of offshore wind farms on the fishing industry, and views on what future impacts might be. All responses will be aggregated, and no personal information will be published. Every response is valued, and we want to gain insight from as many views and experiences as possible.”

Take part in the survey here >> 

Related information

The EcoNex (The marine energy, biodiversity and food nexus) project is working with renewable industry and policy bodies to support evidence-based, informed actions to improve decision making regarding offshore energy developments. EcoNex is a collaboration between researchers at the University of Aberdeen and Plymouth Marine Laboratory.

For more information click here.