Letters / Is the fishing industry now irrelevant to our governments?
This is a question for both the Scottish and Westminster governments as they both appear to be commissioning the removal of access to valuable fishing grounds for the UK fishing fleets by approving the construction of offshore wind farms.
Prince Charles during his recent visit to Shetland to open the new fish markets in Scalloway and Lerwick highlighted the fact that more fish pass through the Shetland markets than is landed in all of England, Northern Ireland and Wales put together.
This fact is not a coincidence; it shows how valuable the fishing grounds around Shetland are to the fishing industry and the Shetland community.
Now our governments are auctioning off vast areas of valuable seabed to wind farm developers, with the apparent approval and encouragement of our own Shetland Islands Council.
Proposed area’s presented for consideration when combined, would cover roughly half the area of the Scottish mainland.
This would exclude the fishermen from having access to some of the richest and most prolific fishing grounds in Europe.
Not all of those areas were approved for development but be warned, the excluded areas are still on file and may still be used for possible future development.
A further 200 offshore windmills have been proposed West of Shetland but it is not yet known in what area of fishing grounds or where our fishing fleet are to be excluded from next, to accommodate a windfarm of that size.
William Polson
Whalsay
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