Scotland's fishing leaders are demanding an immediate stop to further offshore wind farm consents – warning ministers they are on course to gamble away the nation’s seas, jobs and coastal heritage.
The Scottish Fishermen’s Federation (SFF) says the Scottish Government’s 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.
The call for a moratorium is included within SFF’s 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.
Elspeth Macdonald, Chief Executive of SFF, Scotland’s biggest fishing industry body, representing a wide range of inshore and offshore fishing businesses, 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.”
Current mitigation measures, SFF says, are either non-existent or useless beyond tiny pockets of sea – and there’s no credible plan to compensate fishing businesses for the losses they will face.
The responses accuse ministers of “reverse engineering” marine plans to fit the outcomes of the ScotWind leasing round, rather than following a genuine plan-led approach. The INTOG process, which opened the seabed to targeted offshore projects, is branded “sketchy” and rushed – with minimal engagement from those most affected.
Despite claims that offshore wind expansion is driven by net-zero, the SFF notes the government’s own updated Offshore Wind Policy Statement published in June make repeated references to economic benefits yet fail to mention the climate crisis even once.
Ms Macdonald added: “Fishing is one of Scotland’s original green industries. The Scottish fleet has been putting healthy, renewable and sustainable food on plates for generations.
“But we’re being shoved aside for projects that feel like a last gamble for a government to revive an ailing Scottish economy.
SFF warns that offshore wind will also bring serious environmental consequences. Studies commissioned by the Scottish Government, alongside international research, point to harm to protected habitats and species. Changing conservation rules to let such impacts happen – and forcing other sectors to pick up the cost – is described as “preposterous”.
Fishing leaders say the cumulative impact of existing and emerging marine conservation policies, , renewable energy projects alongside fishing being expected to offset environmental impacts of offshore wind developments and endless consultations to enable offshore wind whilst strangling the fishing sector is leaving the industry at “breaking point”.
Elspeth said: “The Scottish Government’s approach is picking winners and losers, and fishing seems to lose every time. We need Ministers to step up and support our industry with positive action.
“Renewable food cannot be the price to be paid for renewable energy. Betting the house – and Scotland’s fishing industry – on offshore wind that is far from ‘clean’ and where all the evidence points to both known and not yet fully known environmental damage is a very high-risk strategy.”