JNCC report series

From December 2007 to March 2008, the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) conducted aerial surveys of non-breeding aggregations of seaducks, divers and grebes within a number of Scottish inshore areas. The aim of the surveys was to collect data on the numbers and distribution of inshore waterbirds in areas of the UK known to be important for these groups of species. The surveys were carried out as part of the JNCC annual programme of surveillance of non-breeding populations of inshore waterbirds in the UK. The areas surveyed by aircraft were: Luce Bay; the Firth of Clyde; the Sound of Gigha; Loch Indaal (Islay); Coll and Tiree; Wester Ross Inner Sound and sealochs; north Orkney; and east Unst, east Mainland and south-west Mainland areas of Shetland. Surveys were conducted from light aircraft, following a line-transect method designed to collect data that are suitable for both distance sampling (to estimate total numbers of birds by correcting for a decrease in detectability with increased distance from the transect line) and spatial modelling (to identify areas with the highest densities of birds).

The purpose of the contract was to delineate the extent of Annex I reef within the Reef East of Shetland Isles Area of Search (Figure 1) and to characterise the biological communities at the site. This was to enable the JNCC to assess this Area of Search against site selection criteria in order to judge whether it could contribute to the Natura network as an offshore Special Area for Conservation (SAC).

Council Directive 92/43/EEC on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora (commonly known as the Habitats Directive) is a European agreement that sets out a number of actions to be taken for nature conservation. This includes the requirement that Member States designate Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) that support certain habitats and species. A series of marine SACs have already been designated around the coast of the United Kingdom as a contribution to the Natura 2000 network. JNCC and the Country Conservation Agencies are now working towards the identification of a second tranche of SACs ‘away from the coast’ (both within territorial waters and offshore waters).

This document presents the findings of the JNCC contract 'Understanding the marine environment-seabed habitat investigations of the Dogger Bank offshore draft SAC'. It presents detailed geomorphological and biological information pertaining to the Dogger Bank along with discussion of the underlying context and justification for the proposed dSAC boundary. The report provides some of the necessary information to enable the JNCC to advise Defra as to the eligibility of the Dogger Bank as a SAC. Additionally, recommendations are made regarding strategies and techniques for the investigation of the Annex I habitat described in the European Commission’s 2007 Guidance (Commission of the European Community, 2007) as ‘sandbanks which are slightly covered by sea water all the time'.

Commissioner Borg in his speech to the European Parliament in May 2008 stated that the Commission would soon be launching a ‘Health Check’ on the CFP. In the last 12 months, the Commission has launched a number of consultations on outstanding issues such as the discarding of fish and the reform of the Community control system. In the build-up to the 2012 CFP review, it is likely that the Commission will propose more regulations relating to the issues mentioned, as well as on other concerns where little progress has been made. However, it is also the hope that 2012 may present an opportunity to call for new and specific actions, including the establishment of targets and timelines which are necessary in achieving sustainable EU fisheries.

A report by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC), Biodiversity: The UK Overseas Territories (Procter and Fleming 1999), summarised the major biodiversity features and highlighted many species and habitats of local and international conservation significance. However, potential impacts from climate change were generally not considered. A study by the Natural Resources Institute and the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, The Impacts of Global Climate Change on the UK Overseas Territories, was the first attempt to consider the potential consequences of climate change for livelihoods and habitats in the Overseas Territories (Sear et al, 2001). For a summary of expected changes in climatic variables – eg sea level, temperature and storm frequency – see Sear et al (2001). The threat from global climate change becoming an increasingly important issue for the UK to consider if it is to meet its responsibilities to biodiversity conservation through international conventions and agreements such as the Convention on Biological Diversity and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Critically, lack of data hinder the development of conservation strategies in the Overseas Territories (Oldfield and Sheppard 1997). The present review is part of a series of new initiatives to assess the implications of climate change for nature conservation in the UK and the Overseas Territories (JNCC 2003).

The most recent assessments of the effects of air pollution on semi-natural habitats in the UK, using critical loads, show that a substantial area is at risk from either acidification or eutrophication. The conservation agencies’ monitoring of SSSI condition is based on Common Standard Monitoring (CSM) guidance http://www.jncc.gov.uk/page-2219. CSM provides a basic framework to ensure consistent monitoring in the UK.

Ground-truthing information was gathered at Stanton Banks on 25th June 2003 by M. Service. Four video tows were completed for sub-area 1 and three tows for sub-area 2. Groundtruthing data was collected for the Blackstone Bank region on 16th February 2004 by M.Service and J. Strong (QUB). Ground-truthing was limited at Stanton Banks by poor weather conditions and the size of the survey area. The video tows were undertaken from a towed sledge that was deployed from the stern of the ship. The amount of cable deployed and depth of water were noted during these surveys such that sledge layback could be calculated and the position corrected. The video system comprised of a Kongsberg Simrad Osprey underwater video camera operated using a Simrad video control deck unit and recorded on VHS tapes via a Panasonic video recorder. Positional information was imprinted on the film using a dGPS linked to TrakView overlay system. Videotapes were later copied to DVD using a Philips DVD Recorder. A stills camera system (Photosea 1000A 35mm camera and Photosea 1500S strobe) was also fitted to the sledge and operated through the Simrad video control unit. Slide film was used, with the resulting stills scanned onto computer using a Nikon CoolScan IV slide scanner. These images were enhanced using Adobe Photoshop, and catalogued with positional information, which was determined as far as possible using the associated video footage.

The surveys addressed in this report have focused on a number of sites to the west of the Outer Hebrides, Scotland, on the UK continental shelf (Figure 1). The sites were selected based upon their distance offshore (around 12nm, which represents the extent of national territorial waters and the official boundary between ‘inshore’ waters and ‘offshore’ waters) and existing broadscale bathymetric and sediment information from the British Geological Survey (Graham et al, 2001), which indicated areas of bedrock reef. Bedrock reef habitat is specified under the EC Habitats Directive (Council Directive 92/43/EEC) and although many examples of such habitat have been examined within UK inshore waters, there are far fewer studies of deeper regions offshore. This project aims to map the broadscale biotopes and habitats of the rocky reef sites west of the Outer Hebrides through integrating multibeam echosounder data, acoustic ground discrimination system (AGDS) data, underwater video/camera surveys and grab data, facilitated through the use of GIS. Where possible, biotopes have been resolved and classified using the National Marine Habitat Classification for Britain and Ireland (Connor et al, 2004), and suggestions are made as to their conservation value at a regional, UK and European level. Recommendations have been made for further survey work where appropriate.

The aim of this study was to investigate an area identified as potentially containing bedrock, stony or biogenic reef, protected habitats listed under Annex I of the EU ‘Habitats Directive’ (92/42/EEC).