Marine licensing and consenting: offshore renewable energy projects

The Fisheries Mitigation, Monitoring and Communication Plan (previously known as the Fisheries Management and Mitigation Strategy) has been re-named to clarify and better reflect its purpose.

The Fisheries Mitigation, Monitoring and Communication Plan describes the mitigation, monitoring and communication that will be put in place to avoid or minimise the adverse effects of the project on commercial fisheries (including social and economic impacts) and fish stocks (e.g. mitigate  impacts on spawning grounds or areas of fish or shellfish abundance).  

The Fisheries Mitigation, Monitoring and Communication Plan should contain sufficient information at the application stage. It should not require an update and approval process prior to construction starting (after marine licences and section 36 consents have been granted).

Licence or consent conditions will allow plans to be updated as required throughout the operational life of the infrastructure e.g. as may be required for any adaptive management measures.

Terminology and language used should be clear on commitments of what will be implemented and timelines for implementation. For example stating what will happen rather than ‘may’ or ‘might’ happen. It is unlikely that a Fisheries Mitigation, Monitoring and Communication Plan will be approved where there is lack of clarity on commitments.

Prospective applicants should consult all relevant fisheries stakeholders on the content of the Fisheries Mitigation, Monitoring and Communication Plan throughout the pre-application stage. All efforts should be made to agree the Fisheries Mitigation, Monitoring and Communication Plan with those interests. Consultation may be carried out at the same time as pre-application engagement on other aspects of a project, for example on the Environmental Impact Assessment.

The Fisheries Mitigation, Monitoring and Communication Plan should cover all the phases of a project that the licence or consent application relates to. For offshore renewable energy, licence and consent applications usually relate to the construction and operational phases. Where decommissioning requires a separate marine licence all information required for the decommissioning activities will be submitted at the time of the decommissioning application, included a Fisheries Mitigation, Monitoring and Communication Plan for the decommissioning phase.

If separate marine licences are applied for (for works associated with the construction of the generating station and the transmission infrastructure) a Fisheries Mitigation, Monitoring and Communication Plan will be required for each licence application. Applicants should consider if a separate plan is required for each licence application, in particular if there are mitigation measures and/or monitoring that will be carried out at the operational phase. This will ensure clarity on the requirements of each licensee if the transmission infrastructure is transferred to a new licensee (for the operational phase).

The Fisheries Mitigation, Monitoring and Communication Plan should contain information specific to commercial fisheries and fish stocks. Mitigation, monitoring and communication required for the safety of navigation will be covered by other plans and conditions. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency and the Northern Lighthouse Board are consultees on the safety of navigation.

Relevant commercial fisheries guidance includes:

Fishing Liaison with Offshore Wind and Wet Renewables Group (FLOWW) Best Practice Guidance for Offshore Renewables Developments: Recommendations for Fisheries Liaison

Collaborative Offshore Wind Research into the Environment (COWRIE) Options and Opportunities for Marine Fisheries Mitigation Associated with Windfarms

Scottish Government Assessing fisheries displacement by other licensed marine activities: good practice guidance

Scottish Government National Marine Plan

The Fisheries Mitigation, Monitoring and Communication Plan should include the following information:

Summary of impacts

A summary of the impacts on commercial fisheries and fish and shellfish stocks should be provided. The impacts on commercial fisheries should include both socio-economic impacts and impacts on environmental sustainability.

Information should be provided on each commercial fishery that is impacted, the impacts at each phase of the project (construction, operation and decommissioning) and which activities the commercial fisheries could be impacted by (e.g. vessel transits, wind turbines and array, export cable etc.).

A summary of, or reference to, relevant conclusions of the EIA Report can be given.

A summary of how the Fisheries Mitigation, Monitoring and Communication Plan relates to any commitments in the EIA Report should also be provided.

Mitigation

The plan should set out what mitigation will be put in place to avoid or minimise the adverse impacts on commercial fisheries and fish stocks. All adverse impacts should be mitigated to minimise adverse effects on commercial fisheries and fish stocks. Mitigation measures should be reasonable and proportionate to the adverse effects. If an EIA concludes  no significant adverse effects, mitigation measures will still be required as part of the marine licensing process and National Marine Plan.

Mitigation includes any measures to avoid, prevent, reduce or offset adverse impacts on commercial fisheries and fish stocks.

Mitigation measures should be targeted at each commercial fishery where adverse impacts have been identified.

All mitigation options should be considered, and preferred options informed by the relevant commercial fisheries stakeholders at the pre-application stage.

This should include mitigation through the design of windfarm location and layout, export cable route, cable burial and cable protection to avoid or minimise impact on commercial fisheries.

It should also include consideration of other mitigation measures that are set out in set out in the Collaborative Offshore Wind Research into the Environment (COWRIE) Options and Opportunities for Marine Fisheries Mitigation Associated with Windfarms  which includes:

• measures to enhance stocks of targeted species and/or associated habitats
• research into species of fisheries or aquaculture interest
• measures to support existing fishing activities
• measures to develop new fisheries opportunities or other non-fisheries opportunities

Agreement of transit routes and anchoring areas for vessels associated with the construction and operation may be identified as a mitigation measure. This includes agreement of vessel transit routes to and from construction and operation bases to the generating station or transmission infrastructure. Agreement on vessel transit routes and vessel anchoring areas should be reached between commercial fisheries stakeholders and licensees, with the aim of minimising interference with commercial fishing activity. As the location of construction and operation ports may not be known at the time of application, vessel transit routes and vessel anchoring areas should be set out in the Vessel Management Plan that is likely to be required post-consent.

Post construction surveys to ensure that the seabed is suitable for fishing activities to be safely resumed may be identified as a mitigation measure. If post construction surveys are identified as a mitigation measure details of the surveys should be provided.

Timescales for the implementation of mitigation measures should be provided. Timescales can be described as relative to certain stages (e.g. number of months after the commencement of construction) exact dates do not have to be given.

Monitoring

The plan should confirm if any monitoring of commercial fisheries will be carried out and the purpose of any monitoring.

Timescales for monitoring and reporting should be provided. Timescales can be described as relative to certain stages (e.g. number of months after the commencement of construction) exact dates do not have to be given.

Communication

Information on how the licensee will communicate with commercial fisheries stakeholders should be provided. It should provide information on what will be communicated, how and when, and may include for example:

• use of Company Fishing Liaison Officers (CFLOs) and Fishing Industry Representatives (FIRs) with details of the remit of these roles, what will be communicated and how
• regular updates on website and / or emails to identified contacts, with details on what type of information would be communicated and how this would be distributed e.g. through relevant fishing federations or associations, CFLOs and FIRs
• communication with a project marine coordination centre, with information on when this may be required and how contact details will be shared
• Seafish Kingfisher Bulletin service, with details on what type of information would be communicated
• FishSafe, with details on what type of information would be communicated
• UKHO Radio Navigation Warnings with details on what type of information would be communicated
• UKHO Notice to Mariners with details on what type of information would be communicated
• Port Notice to Mariners within limits of a Harbour Authority, with details on what type of information would be communicated
• Local Notification with details on what type of information would be communicated
• how relevant persons, e.g. contractors, working for the licensee will be made aware of, and follow, the communication plan

The Fisheries Mitigation, Monitoring and Communication Plan provided with the marine licence and section 36 application should not provide personal information e.g. details of individuals such as names and contact numbers. It should provide enough information to clarify how communication will take place, e.g. job titles or places of work that should be contacted, where contacts details will be held. It will be the responsibility of the licensee to hold personal details required in accordance with data protection legislation.

Further information on communication with commercial fishers can be found in Fishing Liaison with Offshore Wind and Wet Renewables Group (FLOWW) Best Practice Guidance for Offshore Renewables Developments: Recommendations for Fisheries Liaison.

Summary of stakeholder engagement

A summary of the stakeholder engagement that was carried out in relation to the Fisheries Mitigation, Monitoring and Communication Plan should be given. This should include:

• information on the type of engagement that was carried out and when it was carried out
• information on how stakeholder views informed mitigation measures, any monitoring or communication plans. Where stakeholder views did not affect a change reasons for this should be given.
• where it does not prove possible to agree the Fisheries Mitigation, Monitoring and Communication Plan with all interests, the reasons for any divergence of views between the parties should be fully explained

The Written Scheme of Investigation and Protocol for Archaeological Discoveries describes the measures that will be put in place to avoid or minimise the adverse effects of the project on marine archaeology and historic environment.

The Written Scheme of Investigation and Protocol for Archaeological Discoveries should contain sufficient information at the application stage. They should not require an update and approval process prior to construction starting (after marine licences and section 36 consents have been granted).

Licence or consent conditions will allow plans to be updated as required throughout the operational life of the infrastructure e.g. as may be required for any adaptive management measures.

Terminology and language used should be clear on commitments of what will be implemented and timelines for implementation. For example stating what will happen rather than ‘may’ or ‘might’ happen. It is unlikely that a Written Scheme of Investigation and Protocol for Archaeological Discoveries will be approved where there is lack of clarity on commitments.

Historic Environment Scotland should be consulted on the content of the Written Scheme of Investigation and Protocol for Archaeological Discoveries at the pre-application stage. This may be carried out at the same time as pre-application engagement on other aspects of a project, for example on the Environmental Impact Assessment.

The Written Scheme of Investigation and Protocol for Archaeological Discoveries should cover all the phases of a project that the licence or consent application relates to. For offshore renewable energy, licence and consent applications usually relate to the construction and operational phases. Where decommissioning requires a separate marine licence all information required for the decommissioning activities will be submitted at the time of the decommissioning application.

If separate marine licences are applied for (for the generating station and the transmission infrastructure) a Written Scheme of Investigation and Protocol for Archaeological Discoveries will be required for each licence application. Applicants should consider if a separate plan is required for each licence application, in particular if there are mitigation measures and/or monitoring that will be carried out at the operational phase. This will ensure clarity on the requirements of each licensee if the transmission infrastructure is transferred to a new licensee (for the operational phase).

The relevant stakeholders can provide information on the most up to date guidance, key guidance includes:

The Crown Estate Archaeological written schemes of investigation for offshore wind farm projects

The Crown Estate Protocol for archaeological discoveries: Offshore Renewables Projects

Scottish Government National Marine Plan

The Written Scheme of Investigation should describe the mitigation measures and monitoring required for marine archaeology. Timescales for the implementation of any mitigation, monitoring and reporting should be provided. Timescales can be described as relative to certain stages (e.g. number of months after the commencement of construction) exact dates do not have to be given.

A summary of how the Written Scheme of Investigation and Protocol for Archaeological Discoveries relates to any commitments in the EIA Report should also be provided.