NAMAGROEN EMPR Amendment.pdf - DLIST Benguela

Addendum to EMPR for Concessions 8(a), 9(a) and 8(b) 33DurationIntensitySignificanceLong-term to Permanent ; exposure tocontaminants can result in permanentdamage (lifespan of organisms) or death.Negligible; contaminants concentrations inthe sediments are expected to be low andany dissolved contaminants should bequickly diluted to background levels.LowMitigation Measures and Management ActionsNo mitigation measures are necessary as any effects will be rapidly mixed and diluted.4.3.3 Other Impacts Associated with Dredging OperationsThere are a number of other interaction points between dredging operations and aspects of themarine environment, which have primarily been assessed as being of low significance. Theyare discussed briefly here for the sake of completeness.There are numerous known ship wrecks in the area around Concessions 8(a) and 9(a), andconsequently there is a high potential for encountering shipwrecks and other historical orcultural artefacts during dredging operations. Impacts of dredging operations within theimmediate vicinity of wreck material would take the form of both direct damage to wreckstructure, contents and setting, and the destabilisation of sites resulting in renewed corrosionand decay. There is also some potential for impact to discrete items of ship-borne debris. Ifnew sites are found these will be immediately reported to SAHRA.Given the limited extent of the concession areas and their proximity to the shore, dredgingactivities in 8(a), 9(a) and 8(b) are unlikely to interact with the demersal trawling, pelagicpurse-seine, and demersal and pelagic longline fisheries, all of which are conducted furtheroffshore and southwards of the concessions. The demersal (hake) trawling areas all lie indeeper water (>200 m depth). Pelagic purse-seining vessels seldom visit the northernconcession areas, their effort being primarily concentrated further south near Lamberts Bay.As fishing effort in demersal and pelagic longline fishery in this region is low, no interactionwith these fisheries is expected by nearshore mining activities. As most of the coastlineadjacent to the 8(a) and 9(a) Concessions has been proposed as a national park and marinereserve rock and surf angling, and trek- and drift-net fishing is extremely limited and nointeraction is anticipated.Commercial rock-lobster fishing takes place in depths shallower than 15 m at discrete suitablereef areas along the shore of Concession 8(a) and 9(a). However, following the fisheries andenvironmentally induced collapse of the rock-lobster resources in this region in the early 1990s,only a very small proportion of the annual catch is made in this general area, and virtually norock-lobster fishing now occurs in the concession areas. Proposed activities may interact withthis fishery during the commercial fishing season (November to April) by preventing access tospecific fishing sites whilst dredging. However, dredging operations will target only areas ofunconsolidated sediments, and as rock lobsters exhibit associations with, and a preference for,nearshore creviced reef habitats, and avoid gravel and sand areas (Pulfrich & Penney 1998,1999b, 2001), direct interactions between the two industries are unlikely. An approachNamagroen Prospecting & Investments October 2008