SFF highlights threat of floating wind at annual dinner

Impact of loss of established fishing grounds emphasised to Scottish first minister

Scottish first minister John Swinney was the guest speaker at the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation (SFF) annual dinner, held in Edinburgh’s Scotsman Hotel, where 80 SFF members and guests heard chief executive Elspeth Macdonald outline the threat that floating offshore wind poses for the Scottish fishing industry.

It was the first time for a decade that a first minister has attended the event. Last year’s gala event, held in Edinburgh Castle to mark the 50th anniversary of the SFF, was attended by cabinet secretary Mairi Gougeon.

In her speech, which was widely reported in national media, Elspeth Macdonald warned that the huge footprint of floating wind turbines meant that, regardless of discussions or efforts to accommodate the fishing industry, ‘floating wind and fishing are simply not able to co-exist’.

Eighty SFF members and guests attended the dinner at Edinburgh’s Scotsman Hotel

“Our businesses will be completely excluded from areas that have been fished for generations, and the consequences of that – on businesses, on people, on the environment – are simply not known.

“This is one of, if not the biggest, challenges we currently face as an industry. I want to see the Scottish government put its shoulder to the wheel in doing everything that it can to make sure our industry is not an accidental casualty of floating offshore wind.”

Acknowledging that the changed politics in Scotland, with the ending of the Bute House Agreement and a new first minister, had seen a new approach from the Scottish government to the fishing industry, she added that this must be matched by the government doing things differently, including ‘pragmatic policies that recognise and reflect the imperfect world we operate in, not red tape that ties both us and government in knots’.

In his response, the first minister gave his full support for an industry which he said ‘is engrained in our national identity’, and said that a thriving fishing industry played an essential role in the Scottish economy, and that he was wholly committed to engaging ‘constructively and collaboratively’ with it.

Mr Swinney added: “Fishing is an integral part of our coastal communities. I’m also conscious that those who work in the industry face extraordinary risks. I admire and appreciate the sacrifices they make.”

This story was taken from the latest issue of Fishing News. For more up-to-date and in-depth reports on the UK and Irish commercial fishing sector, subscribe to Fishing News here or buy the latest single issue for just £3.50 here.

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