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impacts. It is currently unclear how many birds would be displaced or may collide with wind turbines across all proposed projects in the North Sea. As a result a firm conclusion on the prediction of the scale of this impact cannot be made at this stage and this will be discussed further in the final ES.


3.1.8 Commercial Fisheries 31.


Fisheries activity in the East Anglia THREE site is largely Dutch beam trawling, with UK static gear fisheries more dominant in the inshore areas. The impact assessment concluded that there would be only minor impacts to commercial fishing activity within the East Anglia THREE site as, unlike with Dutch and Belgian offshore windfarms, fishing will be allowed within the site once it is operational. The greatest impact would likely be felt by fishermen from the UK operating small vessels close to the coast. A Commercial Fisheries Working Group has been formed which includes fishermen, East Anglia THREE Limited and fishing authorities. Through this group it is anticipated mitigation measures can be agreed with the aim of reducing the scale of any impacts.


There is a potential for cumulative impacts to occur if the proposed East Anglia THREE project is built and all of the other potential developments, regulated activities and conservation areas considered are implemented. The scale and likelihood of these impacts occurring depends on how fishing vessels operate and the location and the extent of their fishing grounds relative to other potential developments.


3.1.9 Shipping and Navigation 32.


The southern North Sea is an area of significant shipping and navigation activity including: merchant vessels, ferries, fishing vessels, recreational craft, military vessels, and vessels engaged on specialist operations such as aggregate dredgers. The East Anglia THREE site is located between several shipping routes.


33.


Stakeholder workshops and computer modelling have been used to identify which types of vessels may be impacted by the proposed East Anglia THREE project. The assessment has identified suitable ways to reduce the scale of these impacts to acceptable levels.


34.


Overall, given the distances between the East Anglia THREE site and other developments, cumulative impacts are considered to be broadly acceptable. The assessment included impacts to vessel from other countries outside of the UK and concluded that these would be within tolerable limits.


Preliminary Environmental Information May 2014


East Anglia THREE Offshore Windfarm


Non-Technical Summary Page 7


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