Environmental Statement - Maersk Oil

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Balloch Field Development Environmental Statement
Section 3 Baseline Environment
Fish occupying areas in close proximity to offshore oil and gas installations will be exposed to aqueous
discharges and may accumulate hydrocarbons and other contaminating chemicals in their body
tissues. The most vulnerable stages of the life cycle of fish to general disturbances such as disruption
to sediments and oil pollution are the egg and larval stages, hence recognition of spawning and
nursery times and areas within a development area is imperative.
Table 3‐11 shows approximate spawning and nursery times of some fish species occurring in or near
the area of the proposed development. Spawning and nursery areas cannot be defined with absolute
accuracy and are found to shift over time.
Table 3‐11 Summary of spawning and nursery activity for commercial fish species found in area of the
development (Coull et al., 1998).
Month/Species J F M A M J J A S O N D Nursery*
Norway pout
Nephrops
Blue whiting
Spawning Peak Spawning Nursery
*Nursery areas have been identified for the whole year and are not displayed by month.
Figure 3‐11 and Figure 3‐12 show identified spawning and nursery grounds of some commercially
important species occurring near the proposed development. Given that spawning and nursery
grounds shift over time, it is worth noting that species including sprat and whiting have identified
spawning grounds less than 70 km west of the proposed development area while nursery grounds for
sprat and haddock have been identified less than 40 km to the west and 15 km to the east
respectively.
Shoals of adult and juvenile gadoid species (e.g. whiting, cod and haddock) were observed from the
drop down cameras during the Fugro (2010) survey (Figure 3‐10). Ellis et al., (2012) also report
spurdog, spotted ray, herring, cod, whiting, blue whiting, ling, anglerfish, sandeels, mackerel and
plaice occurring in the area.