125. As shown in Figure 11.38, the East Anglia THREE site and offshore cable corridor fall within low intensity sandeel (Ammodytidae spp.) spawning and nursery grounds.
126. Fishing grounds are considered to provide reliable information on the distribution of sandeel habitat areas (Jensen, 2001), and are used as an indicator of the distribution of sandeel habitat (van der Kooij et al. 2008). Known fishing grounds are considered to represent the major areas of sandeel distribution in the North Sea in recognised peer-review publications (Jensen and Christensen, 2008, Jensen et al. 2011). The proposed East Anglia THREE site is located at a considerable distance from the majority of the sandeel habitat areas defined by Jensen et al. (2011) (see Figure 11.34).
127. Recent ichtyoplankton surveys (van Damme et al. 2011) found sandeel yolk sac larvae of lesser sandeel in the area of East Anglia THREE and the offshore cable corridor, particularly in February and March, whilst early larval stages of small sandeel, greater sandeel and smooth sandeel were not found in significant numbers (Diagram 11.12 and Diagram 11.13).
128. As suggested by the landings data (Table 11.5 and Table 11.6), there is little commercial targeting of sandeels in the study area. Traditionally important fishing grounds for this species are located some distance to the north of the East Anglia THREE site, in the Dogger Bank area as shown in Figure 11.39. The majority of the commercial catch of sandeels is for fish meal, predominantly by the non UK fleets including Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Germany. Figure 11.39 presents VMS fishing intensity of the Danish sandeel fleet (2008-2012), the predominant sandeel fishery in the North Sea which shows the majority of the fishing activity occurring to the north of East Anglia THREE.
129. A single Total Allowable Catch (TAC) of 286,424 tonnes is set for the management of sandeel catches in EU waters of ICES divisions IIa, IIIa, and ICES subarea IV. This is divided between UK and non-UK fisheries, with Denmark holding the majority of the TAC (87%). ICES have advised that for the Dogger Bank stock (Sandeel Area 1. southern North Sea) the catch should be less than 224,544 tonnes (ICES Advice, 2013).
130. Sandeels are of conservation interest, being listed as a UK BAP priority species and are considered a nationally important marine feature due to being a component of the diets of fish, marine mammal and seabird species (Furness, 1990; Hammond et al. 1994; Tollit and Thompson, 1996; Wright and Tasker, 1996; Greenstreet et al. 1998, Engelhard et al. 2008).
Preliminary Environmental Information May 2014
131. Sandeels feed on zooplankton (particularly copepods) and some large diatoms as well as worms, small crustaceans, fish larvae and small fish (Rowley and Wilding, East Anglia THREE Offshore Windfarm
Appendix 11.2 Page 59
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151