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Government seeks a third of Danish waters for offshore wind power
by Eurofish
On April 19, the Danish government announced a proposal to reserve one-third of the country’s marine waters for offshore wind generation, an idea that the Danish Fishermen’s Association says needs a rethink. Wind power, both at sea and on land, provides much of Denmark’s electricity, but in both environments, there are competing uses for the locations of the huge turbines, their hard-to-miss blades, and the large bases that hold them up. In Denmark’s extensive Exclusive Economic Zone, offshore wind turbines collectively take up a lot of space on the sea bottom. Fishing operations near wind turbines are possible, but there are risks and fishing boats give each wind turbine a wide berth. The potential conflicts aren’t going away, because to meet the country’s electricity demand, more turbines are always being planned.
The government’s proposal to set aside a third of the country’s waters seems good for the wind power sector. But the competing interests in this case—the fishing boats who will be cut off from those waters—believe there must be a way for coexistence and are asking for dialogue with the government to find a compromise. The Danish Fishermen’s
Association says wind turbines are, of course, needed for the green transition, but fishermen provide healthy, climate-friendly food and many jobs. A dialogue between the government and the two competing interests, the association states, can give the government better advice as to where to put wind turbines, rather than simply reserving huge swaths of ocean area for them. Environmental impact should also be considered, the association says. Collecting turbines all in one area could have severe consequences for marine ecosystems despite a lack of fishing. Spreading turbines around, and spacing them appropriately, according to fishing interests, allowing fishermen to operate near them, is feasible, without the severe plan the government currently proposes.
Italy: EU aid helps Ligurian seafood sector alleviate costs from Russian war
The vice president of the council of the northwest Italian region of Liguria has announced that aid from Brussels will be forthcoming to the region’s fisheries and aquaculture sector to help offset economic costs caused by Russia’s war against Ukraine. Announcing from the region’s capital Genoa,
Allesandro Piana, vice president with responsibility for fisheries, said the European Commission’s EMFF (European Maritime and Fisheries Fund) has agreed to provide financial support, set to start with at EUR 52,000. “Our attention to the sector continues with all the funds we can gather,” he said, including specific measures aimed at mitigating the disruption of costs and the market caused by the conflict in Ukraine.
The war’s impacts have disrupted the fishery and aquaculture sector in Italy and throughout Europe, pushing up input costs (fuel, electricity, gas) and volatility in markets at home and abroad. Coming on top of the consequences of the pandemic and Brexit, the war has threatened fishermen, processors, distributors, and others to—or in some cases past—the point of insolvency.
The Fifth Baltic Sea Fisheries Forum, 12 April 2023, Tallinn
