Assessing the Impacts of Shrimp Fishing On
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ASSESSING THE IMPACTS OF SHRIMP FISHING ON SABELLARIA SPINULOSA REEF AND ASSOCIATED BIODIVERSITY IN THE WASH AND NORTH NORFOLK SAC, INNER DOWSING RACE BANK NORTH RIDGE SAC AND SURROUNDING AREAS PILOT STUDY Kim Last1, Vicki Hendrick1, Ian Sotheran2, Bob Foster-Smith2, Dan Foster-Smith2, and Zoë Hutchison1 Final Report for Natural England May 2012 1 SAMS Research Services Ltd. 2 Envision Scottish Association of Marine Science Stephenson House Scottish Marine Institute Horsley Business Centre Oban, Argyll, PA37 1QA Horsley, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE15 0NY Impacts of shrimp fishing on S. spinulosa reef TABLE OF CONTENTS Background ................................................................................................................................... 4 Aims .............................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined. Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 4 Strategy ......................................................................................................................................... 8 Sampling Design ........................................................................................................................... 9 Equipment ................................................................................................................................... 10 Multibeam (Interferometric Bathymetry System) ..................................................................... 10 Towed Video Sled ................................................................................................................... 11 Video Systems for Remote Observation ................................................................................... 13 Laser line Profiler .................................................................................................................... 13 Lander ..................................................................................................................................... 14 Scanning Sonar ........................................................................................................................ 15 Positioning .................................................................................................................................. 17 Trial Surveys ............................................................................................................................... 17 th Equipment Trial – Dunstaffnage Bay 4 October 2011 ............................................................. 17 st Survey Trial – Loch Etive 21 October 2011 ............................................................................ 18 Experimental Trawl ................................................................................................................. 23 th th Pilot Study – Southern North Sea 15 – 17 January 2012 ....................................................... 23 Critique of Techniques and Equipment ........................................................................................ 34 Moorings ................................................................................................................................. 34 Multibeam ............................................................................................................................... 34 Towed Video Sled ................................................................................................................... 34 Video System .......................................................................................................................... 35 Laser Profiler ........................................................................................................................... 35 Lander ..................................................................................................................................... 36 Scanning Sonar ........................................................................................................................ 36 Diver Survey ........................................................................................................................... 38 Experimental Trawl ................................................................................................................. 38 Decision – Support Tool .............................................................................................................. 39 Recommendations for a Full Scale Survey ................................................................................... 41 Literature Cited ........................................................................................................................... 42 Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................................... 44 Appendix 1 : Technical Specifications of the GeoSwath System. ............................................. 45 Shallow Water Multibeam and Side Scan System ..................................................................... 45 Appendix 2 : Abbreviations ..................................................................................................... 47 1 Impacts of shrimp fishing on S. spinulosa reef LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 : A) The twin beam trawler the “Lynn Princess”. B) Starboard net showing the beam, bobbins and shoes. C) The “heal” on the shoe. D) The cod end of the net being hauled aboard showing protective net “chaffers” (Photographs © Kim Last). ......... 6 Figure 2 : Hypothetical example of sampling design. ...................................................................... 8 Figure 3 : The surface data acquisition PC and Sonar head of the GeoSwath Plus system. (Photographs © Kongsberg GeoAcoustics Ltd). ............................................................ 11 Figure 4 : The towed video sled with umbilicals on which several cameras and a vertical laser scanner were mounted (Photograph © Ian Sotheran). .................................................... 12 Figure 5 : An anterior view of the video sled deployed in Loch Etive (Image © Hugh Brown, NFSD). ......................................................................................................................... 12 Figure 6 : The laser line generators used, left hand image shows the Savante offshore system mounted on the sled with right hand image showing the simplified battery powered system which was mounted in a the same manner (Photographs © Ian Sotheran)........... 14 Figure 7 : Light-weight lander on which a scanning sonar unit and a high definition video camera were mounted (Photograph © Ian Sotheran). ..................................................... 14 Figure 8 : Second lander configuration trialled in the southern North Sea (Image © Zoë Hutchison). ................................................................................................................... 15 Figure 9 : Image of an ensonified object obtained from a digital scanning sonar system (Image ©Tritech International Ltd). .............................................................................. 16 Figure 10 : Scanning sonar deployed on the lander system successful in sheltered conditions (Image © Ian Sotheran)................................................................................................. 17 Figure 11 : Hand towed system being trailed in Dunstaffnage Bay in shallow waters. (Image © Ian Sotheran). ............................................................................................................... 18 Figure 12 : Location of trial survey site in Loch Etive (56.46108602°N 5.34433104°W). .............. 19 Figure 13 : Mooring for survey in Loch Etive (Image © Kim Last). ................................................ 19 Figure 14 : Plots of the sled tows conducted in the Loch Etive survey (Image © Envision).............. 21 Figure 15 : The screenshot on the left (inverted) shows the 10cm Sabellaria „hummock‟ whilst the screenshot on the right shows the 5cm „hummock‟. The corresponding laser profile of each hummock is plotted below the relevant frame grab image. ..................... 22 Figure 16 : The scanning sonar image of the artificial S. spinulosa „hummock‟ (Image © Envision). ..................................................................................................................... 23 Figure 17 : Location of areas of search for suitable study site (Map © Envision). ............................ 24 Figure 18 : Survey site location (Map © Envision). ......................................................................... 25 Figure 19 : Bathymetric grid and contours around the survey area (Map © Envision). ..................... 25 Figure 20 : Cross sections showing bathymetric profiles of the survey site, top image is a north-south profile and the lower image a west to east profile (Figures © Envision). ..... 26 Figure 21 : Typical catch after a 10 minute haul showing crustaceans, echinoderms, fish and macroalgae. Note abundance of Flustra sp. also seen as most dominant faunal constituent from seabed video tows (Photograph © Kim Last). ..................................... 27 Figure 22 : Comparable paths of the trawler on the initial and reciprocal trawl with direction of tow indicated (Image © Envision). ................................................................................ 28 2 Impacts of shrimp