Appendix 11 Commercial Fisheries – Baseline Environment

BERWICK BANK WIND FARM

DIGITAL OFFSHORE SCOPING REPORT

Landing Page

1.1. Background

1.2. Project Overview

1.3. Offshore EIA Scoping Report

1.4. SSE Renewables and the Project EIA Team

1.5. Policy and Legislation

2.1. Introduction

2.2. Design Envelope Approach

2.3. Proposed Development Summary

2.4. Offshore Construction Phase

2.5. Operation and Maintenance Phase

2.6. Decommissioning Phase

2.7. Designed in Measures

3.1. Introduction

3.2. Site Selection and Consideration of Alternatives

3.3. Landfall Locations

4.1. Introduction

4.2. Basis of Assessment

4.3. Key Principals of the EIA

5.1. Physical Processes

5.2. Subsea Noise

5.3. Airborne Noise

5.4. Offshore Air Quality

5.5. Climatic Effects Assessment

6.1. Benthic Subtidal and Intertidal Ecology

6.2. Fish and Shellfish Ecology

6.3. Marine Mammals

6.4. Offshore and Intertidal Ornithology

7.1. Commercial Fisheries

7.2. Shipping and Navigation

7.3. Aviation, Military and Communications

7.4. Marine Archaeology

7.5. Seascape, Landscape and Visual Resources

7.6. Cultural Heritage

7.7. Infrastructure and Other Users

7.8. Offshore Socio-Economics and Tourism

8.1. Overview

8.2. Cumulative Effects Summary

8.3. Transboundary Impacts

8.4. Consultation

8.5. Next Steps

16.3 Baseline Characterisation

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Appendix 11 Commercial Fisheries – Baseline Environment

11.1 Desktop Study

An initial desk-based review of literature and data sources to support this Offshore EIA Scoping Report has identified a number of baseline datasets. These are summarised below:

fisheries datasets available from Marine Scotland’s MAPS NMPi (National Marine Plan interactive);
up to date publicly available fisheries landings and effort from Marine Scotland and the Marine Management Organisation (MMO);
fisheries surveillance sightings;
fishing activity data for UK vessels over 15 m and over available from the MMO (Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) data combined with logbook data).
1. Site-specific Survey Data
  1. No site-specific surveys have been undertaken to inform the Offshore EIA Scoping Report for commercial fisheries. However, extensive consultation with fisheries stakeholders is planned to be undertaken to help inform the commercial fisheries baseline within the Offshore EIAR. In addition, where relevant, the findings of site-specific surveys which may be undertaken for other topics (e.g. benthic subtidal and intertidal ecology (Appendix 7 Open ) and shipping and navigation (Appendix 12 Open )) will be reviewed and integrated in the characterisation of the commercial fisheries baseline, as appropriate.
2. Baseline Characterisation
  1. This section provides an overview of the baseline for commercial fisheries, established through analysis of landings values (£) by species and fishing method (annual average 2015 to 2019).
  2. Scallop dredging makes up the majority of the landings in ICES rectangle 41E8 (where the Berwick Bank Wind Farm Proposed Development Array Area and a section of the ECC are located). Other activities of importance in this rectangle include potting for lobster and crab, and to a much lesser extent, demersal trawling for Nephrops (Apx. Figure 11. 1 Open ▸ and Apx. Figure 11. 2 Open ▸ ).
  3. In inshore rectangles 41E7 and 40E7 (where the inshore section of the offshore ECC is located) demersal trawling for Nephrops represents the main fishing activity, followed by potting for lobster and crabs and, to a lesser extent, scallop dredging. In addition, in rectangle 41E7, razor clams contribute significantly to landings values (Apx. Figure 11. 1 Open ▸ and Apx. Figure 11. 2 Open ▸ ).
  4. As it is apparent from Apx. Figure 11. 1 Open ▸ and Apx. Figure 11. 2 Open ▸ , overall, within the commercial fisheries study area, landings values are considerably higher in rectangle 41E7 than in the rest of rectangles.