EU probes offshore wind fishing concerns

The European Parliament has escalated concerns from Spain’s fishing industry over offshore wind development, asking the European Commission to carry out a preliminary investigation into alleged failures to comply with European Union law.

The development concerns Petition No. 0620/2026, submitted by the Asociación de Armadores y Pescadores Miracanarias in March. The petition challenges Spain’s implementation of offshore wind projects and their potential consequences for professional fishing and marine ecosystems. Other fisheries and maritime organisations are supporting the initiative.

The Parliament’s Committee on Petitions has referred the case to the Commission and also passed it to the Committee on Fisheries and the Committee on the Environment, Climate and Food Safety. The move keeps the concerns of fishing communities and environmental impacts within the European-level examination.

At the centre of the fishing sector’s concerns are potential restrictions on access to traditional fishing grounds, displacement of fishing activity and the cumulative effects of offshore renewable energy infrastructure on marine ecosystems. These issues could create additional operating costs for fleets forced to relocate fishing effort.

Technical documentation cited by sector organisations examines potential impacts of offshore renewable energy on benthic communities, including electromagnetic fields from subsea cables, underwater noise, vibrations, heat emissions and artificial light. It also considers floating offshore wind’s possible effects on sedimentation, biocolonisation and food-web processes.

Fishing organisations have raised concerns over a technical document on benthic ecosystems that was reportedly published on a Spanish government ministry portal before being removed less than 48 hours later. The sector is seeking clarification over its publication, removal and role in offshore wind planning.

EU maritime spatial planning guidance recognises that coexistence between offshore renewable energy and fisheries can involve spatial exclusion, loss of access, additional costs and ecological effects. Small-scale fisheries may be particularly vulnerable because of their reliance on nearby fishing grounds.

The petition argues that compatibility between offshore wind and fishing must be demonstrated through robust environmental and socio-economic assessments, adequate scientific information and effective participation by fishing communities.

The case remains open, with fisheries organisations expected to submit further technical, scientific and legal evidence as the European examination progresses.