The Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management (HaV) is developing a proposal for revised marine spatial plans for the Gulf of Bothnia, the Baltic Sea, and the North Sea. In the new plans, areas for offshore wind power will be expanded to accommodate 120 TWh of electricity production. The work includes conducting an assessment of the consequences of offshore wind farm establishment on commercial fishing. Agrifood will supplement the existing impact assessment with a detailed analysis of the economic effects on commercial fishing.

Questions addressed include the extent to which commercial fishing can relocate to alternative fishing grounds and how this affects revenues and costs. The project also discusses how the establishment of wind power may affect landing patterns and thus coastal communities that receive catches from commercial fishing. The project utilizes both descriptive statistics on fishing, bio-economic models, and economic literature on the importance of fishing for coastal communities.

The project is funded by the Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management and is expected to be completed by the fall of 2024.