Pittenweem and Methil skippers fear their €4.7m industry may not survive as offshore wind farms expand into fishing grounds.
Prawn fishermen in Fife say offshore wind projects threaten to finish off an industry already battered by Brexit, Covid, rising costs and labour shortages.
According to UK media outlet The Courier, skippers Kirk Doig and John Davidson warn that new subsea cables and turbine zones are shutting them out of traditional grounds with no warning – and no compensation.
Skippers sound the alarm.
Doig, 36, runs the boat Carisma from Pittenweem. “It leaves me gutted,” he says. “We’ve always fished these banks. Now they’re closed off one cable at a time.” His primary concern is the 75km export cable from the Inch Cape wind farm, cutting straight through his trawling routes.
Davidson, 64, who owns six trawlers from Methil, says guard vessels now stop them from fishing where cables lie. “They’ve sh*t on the fishing,” he says. “We can’t tow gear across it, and there’s no payment to cover losses.”
Calls for compensation
The Fishermen’s Mutual Association in Pittenweem fears the local €4.7m prawn sector could collapse unless Inch Cape agrees to compensate mobile boats.
Other developers, such as Neart na Gaoithe, have paid disruption fees to trawlers in the past. But Inch Cape insists it only compensates static-gear fishers like creel boats.
Scottish Fishermen’s Federation (SFF) has gone further, calling for a halt to all new wind farm consents until their impact on fishing is clear. The group warns Scotland risks “systematic displacement” of its inshore fleet.
Government backs renewables
The Scottish Government defends the projects, saying offshore wind is vital to meet net-zero goals and secure the long-term health of marine ecosystems. Ministers insist all schemes go through “robust” approval and monitoring processes to limit harm to other sea users.
For Doig, though, the future looks bleak. “My boy’s ten and loves the boat. But right now? I don’t know if there’ll be anything left for him.”