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Appendix I Ecology Company Assessment of Effects on Presence of Birds in Picton Harbour(PDF, 1

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Appendix I Ecology Company Assessment of Effects on Presence of Birds in Picton Harbour(PDF, 1 Presence of Birds in Picton Harbour and Implications for the Proposed Waitohi Picton Ferry Terminal Precinct Redevelopment. PREPARED FOR: Port Marlborough New Zealand Limited and KiwiRail Holdings Limited 30 November 2020 TABLE OF CONTENTS SECTIONS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ....................................................................................................................... 3 1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................ 4 1.1 BACKGROUND .......................................................................................................................... 4 1.2 SCOPE AND OBJECTIVES ........................................................................................................ 4 1.3 EXISTING ENVIRONMENT........................................................................................................ 6 2. METHODS ................................................................................................................................. 7 2.1 DATABASE SEARCH AND DATA SUMMARY .......................................................................... 7 2.2 SITE VISIT .................................................................................................................................. 8 2.3 ASSESSMENT OF EFFECTS METHODOLOGY ......................................................................... 9 3. RESULTS ................................................................................................................................ 11 3.1 EBIRD RECORDS ..................................................................................................................... 11 3.1.1 Within 10km of Picton ............................................................................................ 11 3.1.2 Within Picton Harbour ............................................................................................ 11 3.2 SITE VISIT ................................................................................................................................ 13 3.3 CONSERVATION STATUS ...................................................................................................... 14 3.4 BIRDS LIKELY TO BE AFFECTED............................................................................................ 15 3.4.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 15 3.4.2 Petrels, Shearwaters and Prions (Family Procellariidae) ..................................... 15 3.4.3 Gulls, Terns and Skuas (Family Laridae) ............................................................... 16 3.4.4 Shags and Gannets (Families Phalacrocoracidae and Sulidae) .......................... 17 3.4.5 Godwits, Oystercatchers, Stilts and Dotterels (Families Scolopacidae, Recurvirostridae, Haematopodidae and Charadriidae) ........................................ 18 3.4.6 Penguins (Order Sphenisciformes) ....................................................................... 19 3.4.7 Summary of Birds likely to be Affected ................................................................. 20 4. PLANNING MATTERS ............................................................................................................. 21 4.1 NEW ZEALAND COASTAL POLICY STATEMENT ................................................................. 21 4.2 MARLBOROUGH SOUNDS RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLAN ............................................ 22 4.3 MARLBOROUGH ENVIRONMENT PLAN ................................................................................ 22 5. ASSESSMENT OF EFFECTS .................................................................................................... 24 5.1 TYPES OF EFFECTS ANTICIPATED ....................................................................................... 24 5.2 EFFECTS ON SPECIES ............................................................................................................ 25 6. MITIGATION ........................................................................................................................... 26 6.1 TYPES OF MITIGATION .......................................................................................................... 26 Copyright © The Ecology Company 2020 6.1.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 26 6.1.2 Caspian Tern ........................................................................................................... 26 6.1.3 Variable Oystercatcher ........................................................................................... 26 6.1.4 Kororā (Little blue penguin) ................................................................................... 27 6.2 RECOMMENDED MITIGATIONS ............................................................................................. 27 6.3 MITIGATED EFFECTS ON SPECIES ....................................................................................... 30 7. CONCLUSIONS ....................................................................................................................... 31 8. REFERENCES .......................................................................................................................... 32 APPENDICES: Appendix 1: Birds Recorded within 10km of Picton Appendix 2: Birds Recorded During the Site Visit Copyright © The Ecology Company 2020 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Port Marlborough New Zealand Limited and KiwiRail Holdings Limited propose to redevelop the Waitohi Picton Ferry Precinct by replacing the three existing jetties with one larger one, replacing the existing terminal building, replacing the existing No. 1 wharf, dredging parts of the harbour, realigning the existing road and railway connections and relocating electricity and communication services. Port Marlborough New Zealand and KiwiRail also propose installation of scour protection and construction of a seawall. The proposed works would be staged over approximately four years. The Ecology Company was retained to assess the effects of the proposal on seabirds. This involved an interrogation of the eBirds database combined with a site visit to identify the species of bird likely to be present in the area affected by the redevelopment, and of those, which species were of conservation concern and had a distribution, breeding habits or other life history traits which meant that they should be investigated further to determine the likelihood of any effects. This report also describes what those effects might be and how they could be avoided, remedied or mitigated. Two searches of the eBird database were conducted, one limited to the area within 10km of Picton and the second restricted to Picton Harbour. The data obtained was sorted to remove land birds and grouped by taxa and then the Picton Harbour data was used to inform which species might be most at risk. Thirty-one species of seabird were recorded within Picton Harbour including three species which are considered to be at risk of experiencing adverse effects due to the proposal. These three species were Caspian tern, variable oystercatcher and little blue penguin. A site visit was undertaken between 31 August and 3 September 2020. Thirty-five species of bird (including land birds) were recorded. Caspian tern, variable oystercatcher and little blue penguin were confirmed as present within the affected area, although only one pair of variable oystercatcher and a small number of little blue penguins are considered likely to be affected by the proposed works. In addition, a pair of banded rail were seen in the saltmarsh wetland adjoining Shakespeare Bay. The magnitude of unmitigated effects on variable oystercatcher and little blue penguin is conservatively assessed as negligible and low, resulting in an overall level of effect which is very low and low for these species in Picton Harbour respectively. Provided the saltmarsh wetland is protected from sedimentation, the banded rail are unlikely to be affected. Additional field survey (perhaps using a conservation dog specifically trained to detect penguin) is required to locate the species in the vicinity of the project immediately prior to works commencing and inform decisions about their fate. The mitigations proposed for penguin and variable oystercatcher are species specific and include pest control, provision of nest boxes and possibly relocation and would be best implemented in accordance with a management plan for the purpose of avoiding, remedying and mitigating effects on those species. Implementation of the recommended mitigation actions (i.e. survey to confirm affected numbers and preparation and effective implementation of a management plan for the affected species) would be sufficient to avoid effects on these species due to reduced breeding success for the four years of the project and reduced survival of adults due to human disturbance or potential translocation. Copyright © The Ecology Company 2020 4 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 BACKGROUND Port Marlborough New Zealand Limited (‘PMNZL’) and KiwiRail Holdings Limited (“KR”) propose to redevelop the Waitohi Picton Ferry Terminal Precinct to provide for cruise ships and KR’s proposed introduction of two larger road/rail capable vessels to replace the three existing interisland ferries. The terminal redevelopment would involve (in no particular order): replacement of three jetties with one jetty,
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