101. As a consequence of the high fuel costs associated with beam trawling, a number of Dutch beam trawlers have been converted to demersal single or twin rigged otter trawls some of which also engage in fly seining (VisNed skippers pers. comm., May 2013). This type of seine netting is a derivation of traditional anchor seining whereby the vessel does not anchor during hauling of the net, instead holding position using the vessels propeller. It was stated during consultation that from five, to a maximum of ten of these vessels may target grounds within the proposed East Anglia THREE project during the summer months, before moving south in the winter to fish the English Channel.
102. The effective gear widths (from the port and starboard extremities of the gear when towed) were reported to be up to 40mfor beam trawlers and up to 220m for the largest Dutch twin rigged trawlers.
103. With respect to potential future changes to the Dutch fleet it was stated the size of the fleet may decrease slightly in the future, although generally it remains stable with few vessels dropping out. It was reported by skippers that Pulse Wing gear is more efficient at catching sole compared to plaice. As grounds in the region of the East Anglia THREE site are considered to be better for sole than plaice, the number of vessels fishing these grounds is expected to increase as more vessels are fitted with Pulse Wings (VisNed skippers pers. comm., May 2013). It was also suggested that the average size and engine power of vessels in the fleet may decrease slightly as the more fuel efficient, lighter Pulse Wings become prevalent. It was reported that the size of vessels targeting these grounds is however unlikely to fall below 38m as the associated stability is required to efficiently work 12m Pulse Wing gear (VisNed skippers pers. comm., May 2013).
14.4.6 Belgian Fishing Activity – Overview 104. Figure 14.22 shows the surveillance sightings of Belgian registered vessels identified in the vicinity of the proposed East Anglia THREE project. Only beam and demersal otter trawling have been identified as occurring in the area.
14.4.6.1 Beam Trawling 105. From a national perspective, Figure 14.23 shows that activity by the Belgian beam trawl fleet is widely distributed, occurring in the North Sea, English Channel, Western Approaches, Celtic Sea and Irish Sea. With respect to the proposed East Anglia THREE project, landings from the offshore cable analysis area are of moderate to high value in the national context. Those from the windfarm and inshore cable analysis areas are much lower. In all areas, other than the central North Sea, landings are dominated by sole. The ICES rectangles recording the highest value landings are located in the Celtic Sea, eastern English Channel.
Preliminary Environmental Information May 2014
East Anglia THREE Offshore Windfarm
Chapter 14 Commercial Fisheries Page 38
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