Representation by MONTEUM LIMITED (MONTEUM LIMITED)
- Date submitted
- 2 November 2023
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
We have been fishing the bay between Selsey and Beachy Head since the 1970's (our Managing Director has been fishing here since the 1950's). Our main concerns of Rampion 2 are based on our experience gained from the construction and operation of Rampion 1. The construction phase of Rampion 1 caused much disturbance to the industry. Pushing commercial and domestic vessels out of the area and concentrating them and the fishing fleets’ associated fishing gear in the surrounding areas. Leading to increased gear conflict between fishermen and "bad blood". Gear conflict between the fishing industry and the wind farm vessels (construction and maintenance) also occurs/ed. Increasing the wind farm area will only increase this displacement effect; concentration of vessels and gear conflict. The backfilling of the cable trenches of Rampion 1 has resulted in numerous "free roaming" boulders which ruin fishing nets. The locations of naturally occurring, previous existing boulders where always known and could therefore be avoided. Although the industry is gaining knowledge of these "new" boulders they are not static and are therefore unpredictable making areas relatively unfishable. More cable trenches, especially as they are not using existing trenches from Rampion 1, will result in more areas of the bay being unfishable. Again increasing the displacement effect. Before the construction of Rampion 1 we were concerned about the marine species that are native to our Bay. We understand that some have benefited from Rampion 1, however, we also understand that some have not. We have always been concerned with the Brown crab migration being interrupted by effects produced by inter-ray and export cables of Rampion 1, even during the planning stage. Now since Rampion 1 has been constructed we are even more concerned; the local industry is finding that our current Brown Crab population is not behaving as it should be. They do not appear to be feeding properly, are very sleepy in behaviour and are not migrating as they should. The local crabbing industry is dying. The proposed area of Rampion 2 is on the Brown Crab Hen migratory route, over and around Hooe Bank, from the East of the Channel to the West. The Law now states that species migratory channels must be kept clear. Dover soles, another one of our most commercially important species, normally “fat” and full of meat at this time of year (November), are “skinny” and relatively worthless. Again not good for the industry and local jobs. It has been noted over the past couple of years that European Lobsters and Brown Crab appear to be dying in static gear lobster pots. This is very unusual and several scientific investigations into this have commenced. Whilst the weights of Dover Soles and the deaths of Lobsters and Crab cannot be automatically attributed to Rampion 1, surely the causes of these drastic effects on our marine species should be investigated and resolved prior to any further wind farm construction. With Rampion Wind Farm set to increase in size the effects of the above can only increase. At some point the fishing industry will have to give. Reduced catch, reduced catch quality and increase in gear conflict results in less profits which in turn results in less jobs and a dying industry. The next generation of fishermen, born and bread in local Fishing families, are leaving the industry for the guaranteed money of becoming a Windcat driver for the Wind Farm industry. It is very Hard to compete with the money they offer when fishing is based on what you catch, and that is depleting. Making a dying industry even harder to maintain, but also altering our local community which originated as a fishing town, growing up around the fishing industry.