Offshore renewable energy (ORE) is expanding faster than any other use of the marine environment, reshaping our seas both above and below the surface. As the push for clean energy accelerates and wind farms and floating turbines appear, so do the questions about impacts, especially on fisheries. The European Commission (EU) has turned to ICES for scientific advice on how offshore wind developments impact fisheries and marine ecosystems.
ICES takes pride in being at the forefront of marine science, and this is exemplified by our expanding work on ORE. To provide
this advice, we drew on expertise spanning the economic, social, and ecological impacts of wind farms. This expertise has evolved over the last few years as new groups and experts added to the achievements of ICES pioneering working groups on
Offshore Renewable Energy,
Offshore Wind Developments and Fisheries, and
Marine Benthal and Renewable Energy Developments. The publication of
ICES Roadmap for Offshore Renewable Energy in 2024 marked a step change in our commitment to work on ORE. The Roadmap provided a strategic framework to coordinate science, address knowledge gaps, and integrate ORE into ecosystem-based management.
“It is essential that we leverage the best available scientific knowledge to inform decision making nationally and internationally to avoid, minimize and mitigate any potential negative impacts on marine ecosystems and the sectors that depend on them,” says Colm Lordan, Chair of ICES Advisory Committee.
With our first ORE advice request from the EU, ICES demonstrates not only growth in the scope of our advisory portfolio but also our capacity to provide robust, interdisciplinary advice on one of the most significant transformations in the use of marine space.
The benefit of including economic and social impacts
Integrating economic and social considerations is vital for comprehensive offshore wind farm (OWF) impact assessments. “Fishers will respond to the development of OFW by adapting,” says
Katell Hamon, Wageningen Economic Research and co-chair of ICES Workshop to compile evidence on the impacts of offshore renewable energy on fisheries and marine ecosystems (
WKCOMPORE). Some may continue traditional practices, others might alter fishing grounds or techniques, and some could face ceasing operations due to economic constraints. “Those different responses will have different impacts on the marine environment," continues Hamon, “So, even if we only focus on the ecological part of the social-ecological system, it is important to understand and capture changes in fishers’ behaviour. Changes in the fisheries due to the development of OWF will also directly lead to social and economic impacts on the fisheries and further down the line on activities on land and in fishing communities.”
Assessing impacts
Today's advice explores the economic, social, and ecological impacts of offshore wind farms (OWFs) and floating offshore wind farms (FLOWs) on fisheries in the Baltic Sea, Celtic Seas, and Greater North Sea. It focuses on the scope of the existing evidence base, data, and methods to assess impacts, and considers marine spatial planning and technical measures as approaches for mitigating unwanted impacts.
The advice highlights that the social and economic impacts of wind farms on fisheries are highly context-specific; there's no one-size-fits-all answer. Factors at play can include the type of wind farm, the stage of development, regulations governing fishing activity in and around these installations, and the ability of different fisheries to adapt to changes.
To assess the social and economic impacts of wind farms on fisheries, five classes of data are reported as essential: vessel positional data, fisheries catch and effort data, fisheries economic data, fisheries social data, and OWF and FLOW data. Existing available data are mostly not collected or collated at sufficiently high resolution and cannot yet be linked in ways that enable full evaluation of direct or indirect social and economic impacts of wind farms.
Wind farms can significantly impact commercial fisheries in two main ways. Directly, they can disrupt fishing operations by restricting access to traditional fishing grounds, altering navigation routes, and increasing competition for space in already crowded waters. Indirectly, they might influence fish stocks and marine ecosystems by introducing new structures, changing water currents, sound levels, and habitat conditions but the science-base is not sufficient to quantify the impact of these indirect processes at fishery and ecoregion scales.
ICES found that, at present, no single model or assessment tool can account for all the cumulative pressures linked to wind farms, or provide a comprehensive assessment of the economic, social, and ecological impacts of offshore wind installations on commercial fisheries. Given the significant resources required, the next steps in model development and associated data collection should focus on the economic, social, and ecological impacts of wind farms that matter most to managers and stakeholders.
A community effort
Our work on ORE brings together expertise from across our network and is truly a collaborative effort. Andy Kenny, Chair of the Human Activities, Pressures and Impacts Steering Group has noted that 30 expert groups have contributed to this advice request. “This provides excellent opportunities to use our science, enabling more scientists to see the application of their research to support advice."
Bringing together the evidence of the ecological effects of OWF, Jan Vanaverbeke, MARECO and co-chair of WKCOMPORE, talks about connecting the dots. “The effects of offshore wind farms on the marine environment are very diverse and range from changes in hydrodynamics to alterations in community composition across different trophic levels, both at the local and regional scale. All these effects are related and can only be assessed when literature/scientific evidence from different research fields, reported in many literature sources and describing detailed aspects, are integrated in a holistic framework to connect the dots and see the wider picture."
A milestone in our advisory role
With the publication of this latest advice, ICES establishes itself as a trusted independent advisor on three of the most important uses of marine space: fisheries, marine conservation, and offshore renewables. As governments, industries, and communities seek to balance energy expansion with ocean sustainability, this advice will inform decisions that shape the future of our shared seas.
Find ICES Advice on economic, social, and ecological impacts of offshore wind farms (OWFs) and floating offshore wind farms (FLOWs) on fisheries in the Baltic Sea, Celtic Seas, and Greater North Sea in our library, along with the Report of ICES Workshop to compile evidence on the impacts of offshore renewable energy on fisheries and marine ecosystems (WKCOMPORE).
