ENVIRONMENTAL STATEMENT BARDOLINO DEVELOPMENT

Bardolino Development Environmental Statement
The most important factor currently affecting seabird numbers is probably the quality and
abundance of prey. Pollution of the sea by oil, predominantly from merchant shipping, can be
a major cause of localised seabird mortality. Although locally important numbers of birds
have been killed directly by oil spills, such spills have primarily been associated with the
transportation of oil, and little or no direct mortality of seabirds has been attributed to
exploration and production activities.
In general, offshore areas of the North Sea contain peak numbers of seabirds following the
breeding season and through winter, with birds tending to forage closer to coastal breeding
colonies in spring and early summer (DTI, 2001).
Of the species commonly present offshore in the North Sea, gannet, skuas and auk species
(guillemot, razorbill and puffin) may be considered to be most vulnerable to oil pollution due to
a combination of heavy reliance on the marine environment, low breeding output with a long
period of immaturity before breeding, and the regional presence of a large percentage of the
biogeographic population.
Species commonly found in the offshore waters, including the proposed development area,
are the fulmar, gannet, guillemot, razorbill, and kittiwake, and herring, great black-backed and
lesser black-backed gulls (DTI, 2001). Other species which are recorded at lower levels
include the pomarine skua, Arctic skua, black-headed gull, common gull, common tern, Arctic
tern, black tern, little auk and puffin.
4.5 SOCIO-ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT
4.5.1 Commercial fishing industry
An assessment of the fishing industry in the proposed development area has been derived
from International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) fisheries statistics, provided
by the Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department (SEERAD). Oil and gas
exploration and production operations have the potential to interfere with fishing activities, for
example as a result of the exclusion of fishing vessels from around subsea wellheads, the
area adjacent to platforms, and associated structures which require protection (CEFAS,
2001b). It is therefore important to have an understanding of the fishing intensity in the
development area in order to evaluate the potential impacts associated with the proposed
activities on the fishing industry.
For management purposes, ICES collates fisheries information for individual rectangles
measuring 30nm by 30nm. Data have been obtained for ICES rectangles 44F1 and 43F1,
which coincide with the proposed development area. Statistical data from the ICES
rectangles provides information on the UK fishing effort and live weight of demersal, pelagic
and shellfish caught by all UK vessels between 2002 and 2006 (SEERAD, 2006a and 2008a).
Data on the economic value of the fishing industry in this area have been produced based on
UK catches and landings (SEERAD, 2008b).
The overall value of the different species by area (financial yield per ICES square) is an
indication of the differential worth of areas and is used as a method of expressing commercial
sensitivity (Coull et al., 1998).
The type of fishing gear and techniques employed by fishermen depends on a variety of
factors, such as:
• species fished, whether these are demersal, pelagic or shellfish;
• depth of water and seabed topography; and
• seabed characteristics.
Species found in the water column (pelagic species) are fished using techniques that do not
interact with the seabed, whereas demersal and shellfish species are generally fished on or
near the seabed and there is therefore the potential for these gears to interact with structures
placed on the seabed.
April 2008 Page 4-31