Environmental Statement - Maersk Oil

Balloch Field Development Environmental Statement
Section 3 Baseline Environment
The contribution of existing protected area analysis;
Contribution of other area‐based measures; and
Contribution of least damage/more natural locations.
At the time of writing (August 2012), the final list of MPAs had yet to be announced; however, the 30
draft Scottish MPA search locations are shown in Figure 3‐7. The Balloch location is situated within
the ‘East Scotland’ region, within which are three areas that have been identified as MPA search
locations. The closest, situated approximately 30 km southeast, is the Norwegian Boundary Sediment
Plain (NBSP). Other areas within the region include the East of Gannet and Montrose Fields (EGM),
located approximately 130 km to the south of Balloch, and the Firth of Forth Banks Complex (FOF),
situated over 260 km to the south west.
Figure 3‐7 Scottish Marine Protected Area search locations with Balloch location (reproduced from SNH, 2011).
Balloch
A brief description of the nearest MPA search location, the Norwegian Boundary Sediment Plain (as
described in SNH, 2011), is provided below:
Norwegian Boundary Sediment Plain
The MPA search features that occur within the NBSP search location include ocean quahog and
offshore subtidal sands and gravels. Offshore subtidal sands and gravels occur across the majority of
the search location and constitute shelf biotopes of this search feature, with ocean quahog records
scattered throughout, except at the most northerly and western limits. The search location does not
overlap with any key geodiversity areas or blocks.
3.4.3. SPECIES
The designation of fish species requiring special protection in UK waters is receiving increasing
attention, with particular consideration being paid to large slow‐growing species such as sharks and
rays. At a national level, the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 lists nine protected species of marine
and estuarine fish (European sturgeon, allis and twaite shad, basking shark, angel shark, the whitefish
Coregonus lavaretus, the short‐snouted seahorse, the giant goby and the couchs goby). Under the EC
Habitats Directive, there are eight fish species (European sturgeon, allis and twaite shad, river and sea
lamprey, salmon and Atlantic salmon and the whitefish Coregonus lavaretus) that are afforded
protection. In addition, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources
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