Last week, the Committee on Fisheries adopted by a large majority the opinion “Exploiting the potential of offshore renewable energies”, drafted by our French MEP Catherine Chabaud (MoDem). The opinion aims to further the exploration of the impact of offshore energies on the fisheries sector.

This underlines the importance of this issue for the shift towards a green economy – renewable offshore energy contributes to achieving the goal of CO2 neutrality. The European Commission calls for a thirty-fold increase in green offshore energy capacity by 2050. This would boost the sector, which the French MEP welcomes.

Nevertheless, we must not lose sight of the impact of offshore energy on the fisheries and aquaculture sector, for example in terms of displacement of fishing grounds or underwater noise. Faced with this, Catherine Chabaud is nevertheless convinced that solutions exist – in her statement, she underlines the importance of dialogue and cooperation with fishermen in the planning of these projects – especially at an early planning stage, in order to avoid negative effects on the sector as much as possible and to allow a harmonious coexistence of the sectors.

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