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MARINE TIMES NEWS November 5th:
Launch of Seafood / Offshore Renewable Energy Working Group Publications

The Department of Environment, Climate and Communications has announced the online launch of new guidance documents relating to the managed introduction of Offshore Renewable Energy to the State’s maritime area, with specific focus on the interaction between the ORE and Seafood sectors.

The suite of guidance documents have been produced by the Seafood/ORE Working Group under the independent chairmanship of Captain Robert McCabe.

The publications will be available to access via a dedicated webpage hosted by the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications at the following address: www.gov.ie/SeafoodOREWG

Captain McCabe commented, “I am delighted that the suite of guidance documents are now available to a wider online audience. On behalf of the working group, I would like to thank the Department for facilitating this. The annual report and suite of guidance documents have been made possible due to the expertise and diligent hard work of the working group over the past two years. I wish to commend the considerable efforts of the membership for their ongoing commitment to the work of the group.’’

Publications include:

Annual Report
This is the 2024 Annual Report from the Working Group to its stakeholders. The stakeholders of the Working Group are all of those involved in or affected by the interaction between the Seafood and ORE sectors. The report covers the period from May 2022 to May 2024. Further reports will be published annually.

The role of the Seafood / ORE Working Group (the Working Group) is to facilitate discussion on matters arising from the interaction of the Irish seafood and offshore renewable energy industries, to promote and share best practice, and to encourage liaison with other sectors in the marine environment.

The group have also established Sub-Groups dealing with issues such as Activity, Impacts, Data Hub, Commercial Activity for Fishing Vessels, Coexistence, and Dispute Resolution.

The meetings of the Working Group generally comprise four elements, direct engagement between members, consideration of Sub-Group reports, presentations on topics of interest, and development of Guidance Documents.

Guidance Documents:

Seafood / ORE Engagement in Ireland - a summary guide
This Guide is intended to provide Offshore Renewable Energy projects, seafood stakeholders, and others involved in the interaction between the Seafood and ORE sectors, with guidance on how to engage and co-exist in a meaningful and constructive manner throughout the lifecycle of an ORE Project. This is the 2nd edition of this guide.

Dispute Resolution Mechanism
This Dispute Resolution Mechanism (DRM) is a tool to be used, where and when appropriate, to assist with resolving matters of disagreement related to specific interactions between the Seafood and ORE sectors (including relevant Government Departments and State / Semi State Agencies)

Registration Guide
The purpose of this guide is to support fishing vessel owners who may wish to use their vessels for short term commercial operations for ORE projects. This change of use requires registration as a commercial vessel and a subsequent return to the Fishing Vessel register.

Co-existence
A guide on co-existence is currently under development and will also be made available once finalised by the working group.