Migratory fish and offshore wind – from a common knowledge base towards coherent planning
A two-day event on migratory fish and offshore wind power in Kemi in early October culminated in a workshop on taking migratory fish into account in maritime spatial planning. The latest research knowledge and a shared sense of ownership culminates in interaction – a co-ordinated maritime spatial plan created together with stakeholders to promote good marine environmental status and sustainable development of the marine area.
The pressure to promote climate change mitigation measures is high, but so is the impact on nature of mitigation measures. Offshore wind energy is part of the green transition, but little is known about its impacts on marine nature, especially migratory fish. On 8-9 October 2024, the Finnish-Swedish Transboundary River Commission (Suomalais-ruotsalainen rajajokikomissio) organised a second seminar focusing on migratory fish and offshore wind energy. The international event was attended by experts from Finland and Sweden, but also from further abroad via streaming. The aim of the event was to provide participants with the latest information on what is currently known about migratory fish studies and how they might be affected by offshore wind power. Migratory fish, especially salmon, are part of the fishing industry, recreation, tourism and intangible cultural heritage. The seminar programme included new telemetry studies on salmon and trout near the Tornio river, the use of eDNA in marine areas and HELCOM tools for cumulative impact assessment.
“There was widespread recognition of the need to rapidly initiate assessments of the cumulative impacts of offshore wind energy on migratory fish throughout the Baltic Sea, and to find implementing agencies and coordination for this work. The availability of the monitoring data collected in the various projects and compiled in future assessments should be ensured for the various actors.” ( An extract from the event press release of the Finnish-Swedish Transboundary River Commission)
“From the Tornio River, salmon swim to the central and southern parts of the Baltic Sea to spend one to four years there before returning to their natal river to spawn. Salmon born in the Tornio River are thus available to all Baltic Sea fishers. It must be understood that migratory fish are a shared resource of the Baltic Sea and local actions can have a wide international impact. But above all, salmon is part of the cultural heritage of the people of Tornio river,” says Minttu Peuraniemi, a planner with the Lapland Regional Council and a maritime spatial planner.
After the two-day seminar, the Maritime Spatial Planning Coordination Group organised a workshop in the framework of the Baltic Sea2Land project to assess how the maritime spatial plan could support migratory fish. Participants were briefed on which markings and designations, both direct and indirect, support migratory fish. To summarise the current maritime spatial plan, migratory fish have been given a prominent place in the plan through, for example, the Ecological Connection marking. Migratory fish are mentioned in the roadmap for nature conservation and management and also indirectly in the roadmap for fisheries and aquaculture.
Projectplanner Roosa Mikkola shows the basis of maritime spatial planning; the ecosystem based approach.
Participants called for the presentation of entities in the maritime spatial plan from the perspective of migratory fish; the current marking shows only parts of which, and even for these, only river sections are designated as important, while important areas at sea are not mentioned. Nor are migratory fish mentioned in the discussion of cultural heritage. The results of the workshop will be publish later.
To read about the events related to fisheries and offshore wind energy in maritime spatial planning, click here.
