Codling Wind Park is establishing a dedicated €500,000 Fisheries Fund to benefit the fishing industry operating within and around the Codling Bank area of the Irish Sea. The €500,000 fund will have a €100,000 annual budget to support different initiatives for the next five years.
The fund will support opportunities for both inshore and offshore fishing by fishers associated with the development. Fishers are being asked to bring forward their own ideas about how the fund should be used. The project’s fishing engagement manager meets regularly with local fishers and will discuss the terms of reference and progress proposals for the fund directly with them.
Codling Wind Park has also confirmed it will consider other ideas to support fishers including helping establish a lobster hatchery. This would involve raising and releasing young lobsters back into the Irish Sea to increase fishing opportunities. The project is engaging with fishers on this proposal which would significantly support a sustainable and productive fishery in the area.
The development has also published a Fisheries Charter or code of practice which will guide its engagement with fishers and its care of marine life on Codling Bank. The charter, which will be the first code of its type between an offshore wind developer and fishers in Ireland, commits the wind farm to a range of sustainable development practices and responsible stewardship of the waters and seabed.
Co-project director of Codling Wind Park Scott Sutherland said: “The purpose of this fund is to support initiatives that could be of benefit to fishing communities, rather than benefitting one individual fisher over another. For example, adding value to a fishery, improving port infrastructure, improving safety, or exploring innovation and fishery diversification.
“This fund will help support the fishing industry and long-term sustainable fishing on Codling Bank. We want to work with the fishers in the area to develop the terms of reference for this fisheries fund to ensure the money generates maximum benefit for the fishing industry into the future. We want to hear from the fishers about what they think this fund should be used for.”
Co-project director Thomas Gellert added: “We are making a commitment to the fishers who use Codling Bank that we want to help them build a sustainable future. We have been engaging with fishers for a long time now on a wide variety of issues.
“One of the key benefits of this engagement is that we have been able to share with each other our different perspectives and see how the development can and will co-exist with the fishery. We are also very proud to be the first developer in Ireland to publish a Fisheries Charter which commits the project to engaging fairly with fishers, to boosting marine biodiversity and to developing sustainable fishing practices.”