Working Group on Offshore Wind Development and Fisheries (WGOWDF)

The Working Group on Offshore Wind Development and Fisheries (WGOWDF) focuses on the interactions between fisheries and offshore wind energy.

WGOWDF has been working to advance coordination and scientific understanding of the interactions of offshore wind development and fisheries in 2019–2021. The terms of reference (ToRs) examined interactions across the various dimensions of fisheries - inclusive of fisheries resource species, fisheries data collections, fish habitats, and the human dimensions of fisheries. Because the effects of offshore wind energy development are pervasive; and increasing in scale, pace, and magnitude across ICES member countries, these issues also touch upon various other human pressures, marine management, ecosystem science, and survey and monitoring expert groups. As such, the group advanced connections and collaborations with many other ICES groups. International workshops, scientific publications, and symposia directly resulted from WGOWDF activities and member collaborations. These outputs have helped to advance the awareness of issues not previously identified as well as the science on methods to address offshore wind and scientific survey interactions and methods to analyse and develop evidence on fishing community and fish habitat responses to offshore wind development. 

The growing and diverse membership of the group, which is composed of 54 scientists and experts from fishing industry, government, and non-government sectors and across 10 countries, reflects the importance and relevance across ICES member nations. WGOWDF concluded that there is a need to continue to fill evidence gaps on the effects of offshore wind on fisheries. The group recognizes the unique international forum that ICES and WGOWDF represents and is willing to continue to collaborate on high priority fisheries and offshore wind research.