Member

I used to be a board member of the Marine Management Organisation, and I found it rather disappointing that marine planning, which has been going on for years, does not solve this issue very easily or not sufficiently. There really needs to be strong trust built up with the commercial shipping sector, on which I am less educated, and the fishing industry to make sure that there is room for proper consultation between those organisations and sectors to ensure that we move from a situation of potential conflict with and fear of renewables, particularly floating offshore wind in the Celtic Sea, to something that is seen as a benefit to both. I do not know where the research has got to, but I am particularly interested in how, in many ways, offshore wind areas have become no-take zones for fisheries, and it seems to me that there is an opportunity here for biodiversity, as well as a threat.