The North Sea Alliance published a new report providing a set of recommendations for ecosystem-based multi-use. The North Sea Alliance include the Deutsche Umwelthilfe, The North Sea Foundation, Seas At Risk, WWF Belgium, WWF Denmark, WWF EU and WWF Germany.
As offshore wind is set to expand significantly across the North Sea, one of the world's busiest sea basins, multi-use is receiving increasing attention as a tool to combine activities such as wind energy, fisheries and aquaculture.
This report argues that multi-use should only be pursued when it reduces cumulative pressure on marine ecosystems and supports nature recovery rather than being used as a tool to add more activities to already overcrowded waters.To this end, multi-use policies should focus on exploring synergies between activities to reduce pressure on marine ecosystems and on combinations between offshore wind and low-impact sectors, such as low-trophic aquaculture and low-impact fisheries.