Region 13. Northern Irish Sea: Colwyn Bay to Stranraer Including the Isle of Man 1996 Region 14
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Coasts and seas of the United Kingdom Region 13 Northern Irish Sea Colwyn Bay to Stranraer, including the Isle of Man edited by J.H. Barne, C.F. Robson, S.S. Kaznowska, J.P. Doody & N.C. Davidson Joint Nature Conservation Committee Monkstone House, City Road Peterborough PE1 1JY UK ©JNCC 1996 This volume has been produced by the Coastal Directories Project of the JNCC on behalf of the project Steering Group, with sponsorship from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries & Food. JNCC Coastal Directories Project Team Project directors Dr J.P. Doody, Dr N.C. Davidson Project management and co-ordination J.H. Barne, C.F. Robson Editing and publication S.S. Kaznowska, F.J. Wright Information systems M. Jones Administration & editorial assistance C.A. Smith, J.A. Mitchell, R.G. Keddie, E. Leck, S. Palasiuk N.M. Stevenson, J.C. Brooksbank The project receives guidance from a Steering Group which has more than 200 members. More detailed information and advice comes from the members of the Core Steering Group, which is composed as follows: Dr. J.M. Baxter Scottish Natural Heritage R.J. Bleakley Department of the Environment, Northern Ireland R. Bradley The Association of Sea Fisheries Committees of England and Wales Dr J.P. Doody Joint Nature Conservation Committee B. Empson National Rivers Authority Dr. K. Hiscock Joint Nature Conservation Committee Prof. G.A.D. King National Coasts and Estuaries Advisory Group Prof. S.J. Lockwood MAFF Directorate of Fisheries Research C.R. Macduff-Duncan Esso UK (on behalf of the UK Offshore Operators Association) Dr. D.J. Murison Scottish Office Agriculture, Environment & Fisheries Department Dr. H.J. Prosser Welsh Office Dr. J.S. Pullen WWF UK (Worldwide Fund for Nature) Dr. G.P. Radley English Nature Dr. P.C. Reid Plymouth Marine Laboratory M.J. Roberts Water Resources and Marine, Department of the Environment S.L. Soffe Countryside Council for Wales M.L. Tasker Joint Nature Conservation Committee R.G. Woolmore Countryside Commission Recommended citation for this volume: Barne, J.H., Robson, C.F., Kaznowska, S.S., Doody, J.P., & Davidson, N.C., eds. 1996. Coasts and seas of the United Kingdom. Region 13 Northern Irish Sea: Colwyn Bay to Stranraer, including the Isle of Man. Peterborough, Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Recommended citation for a chapter in this volume (example): Davidson, N.C. 1996. Chapter 4.1 Estuaries. In: Coasts and seas of the United Kingdom. Region 13 Northern Irish Sea: Colwyn Bay to Stranraer, including the Isle of Man, ed. by J.H. Barne, C.F. Robson, S.S. Kaznowska, J.P. Doody, & N.C. Davidson, 63-66. Peterborough, Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Region 1: ISBN 1 873701 75 6 Region 10: ISBN 1 873701 84 5 Region 2: ISBN 1 873701 76 4 Region 11: ISBN 1 873701 85 3 Region 3: ISBN 1 873701 77 2 Region 12: ISBN 1 873701 86 1 Region 4: ISBN 1 873701 78 0 Region 13: ISBN 1 873701 87 x Region 5: ISBN 1 873701 79 9 Region 14: ISBN 1 873701 88 8 Region 6: ISBN 1 873701 80 2 Region 15/16: ISBN 1 873701 89 6 Region 7: ISBN 1 873701 81 0 Region 17: ISBN 1 873701 92 6 Region 8: ISBN 1 873701 82 9 Region 9: ISBN 1 873701 83 7 Set of 17 regions: ISBN 1 873701 91 8 2 Contents Foreword 5 How to use this book 6 Acknowledgements 7 Chapter 1 Overview Dr J.P. Doody 9 1.1 The Coastal Directories Project 9 1.2 Introduction to the Region 13 Chapter 2 Geology and physical environment British Geological Survey 21 2.1 Coastal geology 21 2.2 Offshore geology 24 2.3 Wind and water 29 2.4 Sediment transport 34 2.5 Sea-level rise and flooding 37 2.6 Coastal landforms 39 Chapter 3 Terrestrial coastal habitats 43 3.1 Cliffs and cliff-top vegetation Dr T.C.D. Dargie 44 3.2 Sand dunes Dr T.C.D. Dargie 48 3.3 Vegetated shingle structures and shorelines Dr R.E. Randall 53 3.4 Coastal lagoons Dr R.S.K. Barnes & Dr R.N. Bamber 57 3.5 Wet grassland Dr H.T. Gee 60 3.6 Saltmarsh Dr M.I. Hill 64 Chapter 4 Marine and estuarine environments 69 4.1 Estuaries Dr N.C. Davidson 69 4.2 The sea bed R.A. Irving, Dr D.R. Jones, Dr T.J. Holt & Prof. S.J. Hawkins 73 4.3 Plankton M. Edwards & A.W.G. John 83 Chapter 5 Important species 87 5.1 Terrestrial lower plants N.G. Hodgetts 87 5.2 Flowering plants and ferns V.M. Morgan 91 5.3 Land and freshwater invertebrates M.S. Parsons & A.P. Foster 96 5.4 Rare sea-bed species Dr W.G. Sanderson 103 5.5 Exploited sea-bed species Dr M.G. Pawson & C.F. Robson 108 5.6 Amphibians and reptiles Dr M.J.S. Swan 113 5.7 Fish: exploited sea fish Dr M.G. Pawson & C.F. Robson 120 5.8 Fish: salmon, sea trout and eels Dr M. Aprahamian & C.F. Robson 125 5.9 Fish: other species Dr G.W. Potts & S.E. Swaby 128 5.10 Seabirds M.L. Tasker 131 5.11 Other breeding birds D.M. Craddock & D.A. Stroud 135 5.12 Migrant and wintering waterfowl D.A. Stroud & D.M. Craddock 140 5.13 Land mammals SGS Environment 146 5.14 Seals C.D. Duck 150 5.15 Whales, dolphins and porpoises Dr P.G.H. Evans 153 3 Chapter 6 History and archaeology 157 6.1 History and archaeology – the mainland A.B. Gale & V. Fenwick 158 6.2 History and archaeology – Isle of Man Dr P.J. Davey & J.J. Woodcock 166 Chapter 7 Coastal protected sites R.G. Keddie 171 7.1 Introduction 171 7.2 Sites designated under international conventions and directives 173 7.3 Sites established under national statute 178 7.4 Sites identified by statutory agencies 185 7.5 Other types of protected site 189 Chapter 8 Land use, infrastructure and coastal defence 195 8.1 Introduction S.L. Fowler, M.J. Dunbar, Dr T.J. Holt, C.A. Crumpton & M.J. Goodwin 195 8.2 Land use S.L. Fowler, M.J. Dunbar & Dr T.J. Holt 196 8.3 Infrastructure S.L. Fowler, M.J. Dunbar, Dr T.J. Holt, C.A. Crumpton & M.J. Goodwin 200 8.4 Coastal defence S.L. Fowler & Dr T.J. Holt 209 Chapter 9 Human activities 215 9.1 Fisheries C.F. Robson 215 9.2 Mariculture C.F. Robson 227 9.3 Quarrying and landfilling C.A. Crumpton & M.J. Goodwin 231 9.4 Marine aggregate extraction, dredging and solid waste C.A. Crumpton & M.J. Goodwin 236 disposal at sea 9.5 Oil and gas development C.A. Crumpton, M.J. Goodwin & J.H.Barne 242 9.6 Water quality and effluent discharges C.A. Crumpton & M.J. Goodwin 245 9.7 Leisure and tourism M.J. Dunbar, S.L. Fowler, Dr N.C. Davidson, D.A. Stroud, Dr D.R Jones, Dr T.J. Holt & Prof. S.J Hawkins 253 Chapter 10 Coastal management S.L. Fowler 263 10.1 Introduction 263 10.2 National coastal initiatives with regional elements 264 10.3 Regional coastal management groups and initiatives 268 Appendix A.1 Frequently cited contact organisations and addresses 279 A.2 Local planning authorities, ports and harbour authorities addresses 281 A.3 Core reading list 283 A.4 Contributing authors 284 4 Foreword Information is vital for sound policy formulation. Decision environment and human activities. These organisations makers at national and local level need to know more than included the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, just the scale, location and importance of natural resources the Scottish Office Agriculture, Environment and Fisheries that are of value to humans. They have to understand how Department, the National Rivers Authority, the Countryside human activities affect the value of those resources and how Commission, the Scottish Office, the Welsh Office, the to conduct those activities in an environmentally sustainable Department of the Environment, the Sea Fisheries way. This is true for virtually every activity that impinges Committees, English Nature, Scottish Natural Heritage and on the natural environment. In the coastal zone the the Countryside Council for Wales, together with local complexity of the relationships between the physical and authorities, voluntary conservation organisations and biological systems adds another dimension to the problems private companies (notably those in the oil industry, of formulating management policy. through the UK Offshore Operators Association). I am also I am pleased, therefore, to be introducing the Coasts and pleased to be able to acknowledge the contribution made by seas of the United Kingdom series. The Coastal Directories the staff of the Joint Nature Conservation Committee. As project, of which this series of seventeen regional reports, the work has evolved since the first meetings of the Steering covering the whole of the UK coast, is an important product, Group in 1990, the value of involving such a broad span of has brought together an encyclopaedic range of information interests has been highlighted by the extent to which it has on our coastal resources and the human activities that are allowed new approaches and information sources to be associated with them. Amongst the topics covered are the identified. basic geology of the coasts around the United Kingdom and The regional reports will be of value to all who live and measures taken for coast defence and sea protection, the work in the maritime areas of the UK, where informed distribution and importance of the wildlife and habitats of management is the key to the sustainable use of resources.