Concerns over fishing industry risk from proposed offshore wind farm in South East SA

Residents in a small South Australian coastal town are concerned a proposed offshore wind farm could impact on the local fishing industry.

Port Macdonnell, the southernmost town on the state’s Limestone Coast, is home to about 800 people.

Off its coast, the Southern Ocean has some of the most productive southern rock lobster waters in the country.

Offshore wind developer Blue Float Energy has announced plans to build a 77-turbine wind farm between 8 kilometres and 20km out to sea, which the company says would generate 1.1 gigawatts of clean energy.

Named Southern Winds, the planning stage of the proposed wind farm is expected to take up to eight years with a three-year construction period if all licensing approvals are granted.

Community voices concerns

Blue Float Energy held a drop-in information session in the town on Tuesday night where locals voiced concerns over the visual impact of the turbines and what the proposal meant for the town’s fishing industry.

Fisher and farmer Brodi Milstead said he was not only worried about his industry. 

“No matter what their studies say, we know it’s going to affect our businesses, our environment, our whales, everything that lives there,” he said. 

“They’re saying it’ll create jobs for the South East, but that’s for six to 11 years. My business is going to support my family for generations.”

Further studies to come

Local resident and southern rock lobster fisherman Jeremy Levins said there were still many questions that were yet to be answered.

“There’s a lot of questions people want to know, but there’s not a lot of answers actually given at this stage,” he said.

“I wouldn’t like to see it go ahead here. I think there are more efficient ways of getting power and energy then sticking 70-odd wind farms at sea.

“There will be restrictions that will happen, there will be impacts on the environment where they’re putting them in, and with the fish side; do the vibrations through the water affect their ecosystem?”

The company is currently awaiting for federal government zoning approval, along with a number of environmental, visual and economic tests that are yet to be undertaken. 

Speaking to ABC South East SA ahead of the information session, Blue Float Energy country manager Nick Sankie said on a clear day the turbines would be visible from the coast. 

“At the moment, we’re not allowed to apply for a licence to deploy monitoring equipment or continue our studies,” he said. 

“The Commonwealth has flagged, via the minister for energy, that they intend [to zone] the Southern Ocean region off of Portland.

“So we believe that our project will be within an area to be declared by the Commonwealth government, but we are waiting for that to be declared.”

Mr Sankie said the company would undertake studies to find the impact of the wind farm on local industries once it the feasibility licence was granted. 

“We need to demonstrate how our construction activities and operation are able to co-exist with other users of the area,” he said.