Three areas east of Shetland have been awarded to offshore wind developers for floating wind projects. The decision, part of Scotland’s ScotWind licensing round, has sparked strong concerns within the fishing industry, particularly from Norway, where the longline fleet depends heavily on these waters.
Rich fishing grounds under pressure
The designated sites overlap with some of the most productive fishing areas for species such as ling, cod, tusk and cusk. Norwegian line vessels are especially active there, while Scottish and Shetland boats also depend on the grounds.
Mackerel and herring are caught in smaller numbers, while trawlers operate east of the new wind zones, targeting saithe.
A map from Norway’s Directorate of Fisheries confirms that longlining dominates in the affected waters. This has left operators like Stig-Jarle Ervik, operations manager for the vessel Fjellmøy, deeply concerned.
“If this continues, our group will disappear from the roundfish fishery. Then only the Barents Sea remains,” he warned.
Industry voices ignored
The ScotWind round, announced in 2021, allocated space for 17 projects with a combined capacity of 25 gigawatts – nearly equal to the entire Norwegian offshore wind target. Fishing organisations in both Norway and Scotland objected to several proposed zones, but their protests were not taken into account.
“This is devastating,” Ervik said. He listed several other fishing grounds lost in recent years, including those around Hywind Tampen, platforms with extended exclusion zones, and the Rockall area.
Conservation plans add to worries.
The concerns deepened this week when Scottish authorities unveiled new marine protected areas (MPAs), some of which overlap with regions critical to the Norwegian longline fleet.
“It came as a complete bombshell,” Ervik said. “These are areas heavily used by both conventional longliners and coastal netters.”
Uncertain future for floating wind
Hanna Bauge of the Norwegian vessel owners’ association Fiskebåt noted that the Shetland projects involve floating wind farms, a still-immature technology.
“Costs are high, and state subsidies will be necessary. How this will develop in the years ahead is uncertain. But it will certainly be more demanding to realise than bottom-fixed wind,” she said.
For now, both fishermen and energy developers face an uneasy coexistence in waters east of Shetland, where the race for renewable energy collides with generations of traditional fishing.