North fishing communities could fight back over ‘stampede’ of offshore wind farms

A Highland MSP and former Caithness cop has raised concerns that an increase in offshore wind farms around the north coast could provoke a serious backlash from fishing communities.

Conservate member Tim Eagle said ministers must wake up to the concerns of the Scottish fishing industry after the chief executive of the Scottish Fishing Federation described the roll-out of offshore windfarms as “a stampede”, and warned about the impact on the industry.

He suggested there could be a similar backlash to that being seen with onshore wind and grid infrastructure across the Highlands.

It comes after the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation said Scottish Government 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.

Elspeth Macdonald, chief executive of SFF, called for n immediate stop to further offshore consents, warning ministers they are on course to gamble away the nation’s seas, jobs and coastal heritage.

Mr Eagle said: “The intervention of Elspeth Macdonald is very significant. It clearly shows how anxious the Scottish fishing industry is at the proliferation of offshore wind farms in many of Scotland’s most important fishing areas.

“I have just recently attended a number of public meetings in Highland and Moray which show local people are aghast at the number of planning applications for onshore wind coming their way.

“And now we have our fishing industry and coastal communities up in arms about it too.

“John Swinney and the Scottish Government are at great risk of misreading the public mood in the communities affected and their blithe dismissals of their concerns are really antagonising people in many parts of north-east Scotland and the Highlands and Islands.

“They need to think again and try much harder to work with our communities. Just bulldozing ahead like this is unacceptable. We need to see a proper strategy and not this piecemeal and unplanned approach to such significant developments.”

The SFF’s call for a moratorium is included within its 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.

Ms Macdonald 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.”

The Scottish Government responded at the time by saying such a move would be legally impossible as it must process planning applications in line with legal requirements.