A partnership to care for the Clyde: its environment, its people and its visitors 

Autumn 2014 Issue 17

This Issue: Research in the of Clyde

• Marine Protected Area related research in the Clyde • The Clyde Ecosystem Review • Ocean colour comes to the Clyde • Hydrodynamic Modelling in the Clyde Forum News Forum Focus  Contents  Welcome to the Autumn 2014 edition of Clyde Breakers!

This edition of Clyde Breakers focuses on reports from a variety of sources on scientific research that has been carried out recently Clyde 2020 on the Firth of Clyde. It gives the researchers an opportunity to Forum Focus reach a wider audience and so we hope you have your thinking The Clyde 2020 Summit was called by Cabinet caps on! Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment, 2014 has so far proved to be a very busy year. The Forum was Mr Richard Lochhead, as part of the Scottish Government’s commitment to a programme of 3 Sea Level Rise and asked by Scottish Government to co-ordinate the Clyde 2020 Summit in April where many stakeholders were invited to start measures that will identify, test and implement Storm Surges work on a process which aims to set out objectives and an action practical actions which may contribute to the plan to recover the ecosystem in the Firth of Clyde. More on this renewal of the Clyde marine ecosystem. in the Project Managers’ Update on the opposite page. We have The meeting was organised by the Firth of Clyde Forum 3 Clyde 2020 been involved in several workshops/ conferences – in May we led which was tasked by Marine to do this work, a session on coastal adaptation for the and the Clyde bearing in mind their role as an independent organisation Valley Strategic Development Planning Authority during their © SNH focused on marine planning and integrated coastal zone Research on the Firth of climate change adaptation workshop; in June we were involved in Sea Level Rise and Storm management in the Firth of Clyde. Nearly one hundred Clyde Public Dialogue workshops to consider how the general public stakeholders with an interest in the Firth of Clyde view Ecosystem Services & Benefits and the Ecosystem Approach; Surges in the Firth of Clyde ecosystem took part. in August we gave a presentation at the International Marine By Fiona Mills The meeting began with a key note address by the Cabinet 4 Marine Protected Area Conservation Congress held at the SECC. Since the beginning of Secretary and this was followed by presentations on ‘The related research in the the year the Forum has been providing secretariat services to the This project has now managed to access all the data Clyde Ecosystem Review’ by Dr Bill Turrell of Marine South West Inshore Fisheries Group. We have also been working to map projected sea level rise including storm surge Scotland and ‘The Planning Context’ by Anna Donald also Clyde with Marine Scotland to establish how best to deliver Regional at 2020, 2050 and 2080 from South Ayrshire round of Marine Scotland. The participants then split into groups Marine Planning in the Clyde and will provide further updates on to the inner Clyde and as far as Holy Loch near for workshops on vision, practical measures and research. 6 Science and Lamlash Bay this as it progresses. . The workshops aimed to agree the basics of what would We hope you have enjoyed the good weather this summer and The project will link with SEPA flood risk management work make up a vision for Clyde 2020 and tried to set priorities No Take Zone have had an opportunity to get out and about on, in or around the to enable Local Authorities to identify natural and manmade against what practical measures might be appropriate and Firth of Clyde! assets at risk from coastal flooding and to introduce where the focus should lie with regards to research. measures to adapt to and mitigate against climate change. To read a full version of the report on this Summit visit 8 The Clyde Ecosystem Best wishes, Review Case studies in the inner Clyde and Holy Loch will examine http://clydeforum.com/clyde-reports. options for managed realignment whereby natural resources The Firth of Clyde Forum has been asked by Marine Isabel Glasgow such as saltmarsh can provide protection against flood risk. Scotland to continue to co-ordinate Clyde 2020 and we Firth of Clyde Forum Chair 10 Early Evidence of The Firth of Clyde Forum has used this project during a are currently organising further workshops to confirm an workshop with Glasgow and the Clyde Valley Strategic Action Plan before setting up a steering group to take that Fiona Mills and Sarah Brown Overfishing in the Clyde Development Planning Authority to look at climate change forward. Clyde 2020 will also link into the ecosystem work Project Managers adaptation at the coast. We have also used it as a case study stream during the next Regional Marine Planning cycle. for a series of Public Dialogues and meetings with the 13 Marine Biosecurity general public about ‘Ecosystem Services’*. The final project Guidelines Published report will be finished in autumn this year. Thanks go to our Photo courtesy of Claire Pescod funding partners - SNH, Peel Ports Group, GCVSDPA and Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park. 14 Gadoid Biomass in the Tribute to Archie McFarlane, a fisheries In the spirit of this scientific edition of Clyde Breakers, Firth of Clyde colleague who will be sorely missed. here is a quick background on sea level rise projections. The Firth of Clyde Forum Chair, its Core Group The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) members and staff wish to pay tribute to Archie produces global sea level rise projections based on various 16 Ocean Colour comes to McFarlane, past Secretary of the Clyde Fishermen’s emissions scenarios, i.e. different levels of emissions of the Clyde Association, whose untimely death has been a great carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the shock to us all. Archie has been a member of the Core atmosphere. These global scenarios are translated into the Group for the last 5 years. UK Climate Projections (UKCP) which give more detailed 18 Hydrodynamic Modelling We will all remember him as a courteous and dedicated data at the local geographical level. This project will use the in the Clyde colleague, who did not shrink from expressing strong UKCP09 high emissions scenario which describes a world of views on behalf of members of his Association but was • very rapid economic growth, always ready to listen to opposing views. He commanded • increasing population to a peak of 8.7 billion in 2050, 20 FSC Millport universal respect and it was a pleasure to work with him. We will all miss him. • rapid introduction of new and efficient technologies, The huge gap created in the Clyde network by Archie’s • large reductions in regional differences in GDP, death has now been filled by Patrick Stewart, former • high use of fossil fuels. Front cover photograph © SNH Secretary to the Association, who has agreed to take *Ecosystem Services are the benefits provided by the over the work as Secretary on an interim basis. environment that contribute to making human life both Printed on recycled paper possible and worth living. Research in the Firth of Clyde  

sampler. Have a look at this video to September to have a closer look at see a grab sampler in action http://youtu. some of this with a diving survey, and to be/rcJvM9XJ5KQ. collect some video clips of the shallow We focussed our surveys on the parts of the MPA which we could not species and communities which were reach on SEPA’s bigger Sir John Murray. being considered as protected features All this information will be invaluable in of the MPAs. These are species and managing the Clyde’s MPAs in the spirit communities which are not yet protected of maintaining the Scottish Government’s sufficiently by other existing protected vision of a ‘clean, healthy, safe, productive areas, but which are of great importance and biologically diverse marine and to maintain a healthy, productive and coastal environment that meets the long biologically diverse marine environment in term needs of people and nature’. Scotland. These species and communities To keep up to date with what the SNH are not only the rare or threatened ones, survey team gets up to around Scotland but also, or maybe even more importantly, throughout the year follow our survey those which are typical for Scotland, and The flame shell bed at Otter Spit © Marine Scotland blog at www.scotlandsseas.wordpress. for which Scotland contains some of com and like “Scottish Natural Heritage” Bringing the drop down video system back on board at the end of a video tow © SNH the world’s best examples. In the Clyde a continuous mat. Other animals and video survey that the mud around Arran on Facebook. plants can attach to this, which increases was riddled with burrows of the scampi there are three MPAs which can protect Links to commissioned reports covering the biodiversity of the area substantially. Nephrops norvegicus in places, but when several of these communities and species. some of the recent research in the Clyde Marine Protected The nests are very easy to miss on video, we looked at grab samples we only found Amongst them are seagrass beds, maerl MPAS: Marine Protected beds, burrowed mud, black guillemots, and the flame shells themselves are well low numbers of other species. Diverse Area related research hidden so we used divers to make sure mud communities can contain an amazing • Infaunal and PSA analyses of grab Areas for the Clyde ocean quahogs, flame shell beds, and in the Clyde diverse mixed sediment communities. we didn’t miss any of it. We found that array of burrowing species of worms, samples from the Clyde Sea - March and the flame shell bed at Otter Spit extends clams, and crustaceans, as well as exposed July 2013 http://www.snh.org.uk/pdfs/ By Lisa Kamphausen, Policy & You can find documents with detailed over 50 ha, but is no longer present and fragile sea pens and anemones. publications/commissioned_reports/745. On the 24th of July, the Scottish Advice Officer, SNH assessments of all of these and much Government (SG) announced further information on the SNH MPA in part of the area where it had been The coarse sediments we sampled off pdf the designation of 30 Marine A beautiful spring day… with white website: www.snh.gov.uk/mpas, but here recorded in the past. Arran on the other hand often had very • Validation of seabed habitat MPA Protected Areas (MPAs) in breaking waves, temperatures are some of the highlights from the Knowing about the distribution of the diverse associated communities. Some search feature records relating to Scottish waters (see www. just above freezing and the odd recent surveys: marine species and communities is only of these coarse sediments are made the South Arran possible Nature scotland.gov.uk for further bit of sleet. Mud and seawater is In 2012 we conducted a detailed diver part of the information we need though. up of fragments of dead maerl. Maerl Conservation MPA http://www.snh.org. details). These sites have been splashing from the sample sorting survey of the flame shell bed off Otter We also have to find out what condition beds are carpets of pink chalky twiglets uk/pdfs/publications/commissioned_ established to protect a range tray, and parts of Arran are still Spit in Loch Fyne. Even though flame these communities are in. Are they well- created by a red seaweed which forms reports/620.pdf of species and habitats including without electricity from the latest shells themselves are highly conspicuous functioning diverse assemblages, where hard branched skeletons. The gaps • Biological analyses of underwater sandeels, fan mussels and flame storm. Fortunately we are safely with their bright orange tentacles, flame many different species all contribute to between the twiglets offer shelter to a video from research cruises in the shell beds. Set within a broader aboard SEPA’s stable 24 m research shell beds are one of the hardest habitats the overall productivity of the ecosystem? vast number of animals and plants, which Clyde Sea (Loch Goil and the South of framework of marine planning, vessel MV Sir John Murray, and can to recognise in the MPA network - all you Or are the communities impoverished, makes maerl beds highly diverse and Arran) and in Orkney (Rousay Sound MPAs have an important role to continue with our survey of the see is that the seabed looks a bit spongy with only a few species? Impoverished productive. Much of the maerl around and Stronsay Firth) http://www.snh.org. play in ensuring the sustainable seabed around Arran despite the and fibrous. The flame shells build nests communities have little resilience to Arran has been broken up into small uk/pdfs/publications/commissioned_ management of our seas, such typically Scottish weather. around themselves by weaving sediment change: if something has a negative effect fragments and rubble, but we study the reports/631.pdf that Scottish waters remain a on one of the few species present, the diversity of communities associated with Since the Marine Protected Area and debris together with their byssus • The distribution and condition of valued and valuable asset now whole system will be affected. Diverse these maerl gravels to inform Marine (MPA) project started we have been threads (similar to the way blue mussels selected MPA search features within and in the future. Three MPAs communities on the other hand can Scotland’s development of appropriate surveying the coastal seas all around attach to rocks), and the nests can form Lochs Alsh, Duich, Creran and Fyne have been identified in the Clyde Scotland to obtain the information we compensate and recover much more management of maerl and maerl gravel - Clyde Sea Sill, South Arran, need to develop and manage this new Processing one of the grab samples – the fine easily, because amongst the greater areas in the MPA. http://www.snh.org.uk/pdfs/publications/ commissioned_reports/566.pdf and Upper Loch Fyne and Loch suit of MPAs. Compared to terrestrial mud is washed off and everything over 1mm variety of species there are likely to We are coming back to Arran in Goil. SG’s announcement is a surveys, marine surveys are very time is caught in the sieve to be identified later be some which are able to tolerate or culmination of years of work by consuming. On land, you can take a © SNH even thrive under the new conditions many people across a number look around to see which animals and and maintain the functioning of the of organisations and groups. plants live in a certain place, and you ecosystem. There has never been a time Here is an article from Lisa may see a forest stretching many miles when resilience to change has been more Kamphausen, Marine Policy along a glen. Underwater visibility is important than it is now - our changing & Advice Officer at Scottish much more restricted, and much of the climate will pose enormous challenges to Natural Heritage, on some of biology of Scotland’s seas remains to be all ecosystems, which will have to adapt the research carried out by her discovered and mapped. We survey the to rapid and dramatic changes as global and her team to inform the seabed either by diving, by using drop temperatures rise at unprecedented rates. decision on the protection of down video systems (an underwater The diversity of marine communities is Scotland’s seas. video camera towed behind a boat), or monitored to ensure it is maintained at a by bringing a chunk of the seabed up level that is as resilient and productive as to the surface with an automatic grab possible. As an example, we saw during a A juvenile Nephrops (scampi) from the mud off Arran © SNH Research in the Firth of Clyde  

Science and the Lamlash Bay No Take Zone By Andrew Binnie, Community of Arran Seabed Trust (COAST)

overexploited fish stocks. The use of a baited underwater video camera allows researchers to count and measure fish populations around Lamlash Bay without the need to dive to the seafloor. Crustacean surveys With the help and expertise of local fishermen, researchers have been catching lobsters and crabs in and around Lamlash Bay. Every individual caught is measured and sexed before being returned to the sea. In addition, lobster and crab are also tagged with a unique number so Images | Animals and plants that attach to the seafloor provide structure and shelter for their growth and movements can be juvenile scallops (left) and other organisms such as pipe fish (right). Such ‘nursery habitats’ monitored. have been found to be two times more abundant within Lamlash Bay NTZ, suggesting the RESULTS seafloor may be recovering. The surveys show that following the designation of the NTZ population dynamics of crustaceans within the that protection from all extractive FURTHER READING protected area have changed. The size activities within the NTZ has altered population dynamics. • Heath, M. R., & Speirs, D. C. (2011). Images | Top left: A lobster after being measured and tagged. Top right: Two divers counting all the organisms they encounter along a 50m and abundance of lobster has markedly Changes in species diversity and size Fin fish populations within and without survey line. Bottom left: The baited underwater video camera within a protective cage. Bottom right: A photoquadrat of the seafloor within increased over time, meaning the composition in the Firth of Clyde the NTZ were not found to be Lamlash Bay, the image shows a starfish on a bed of shells. percentage of lobsters that are above demersal fish community (1927-2009). significantly different possibly due to the legal size is greater in the NTZ than in Proceedings of the Royal Society B returned to the sea. A small sub-sample small size of the NTZ and the mobility of INTRODUCTION surveys to investigate how the Lamlash surrounding waters and there is a greater doi:10.1098/rspb.2011.1015 of scallops is however retained for the fin fish species. In September 2008, Scotland’s first No- Bay NTZ was responding to protection. abundance of lobsters within the zone dissection of their meat and reproductive • Howarth, L. M., Roberts, C. M., Thurstan, Take Zone (NTZ) protecting a small What initially began as a series of basic than outside. Photoquadrats suggest strong signs that organs. R. H., & Stewart, B. D. (2013). The area from all methods of fishing was SCUBA surveys has grown to become an In fact, the frequency of berried female the seafloor within Lamlash Bay NTZ Photoquadrats unintended consequences of simplifying established within the Firth of Clyde at extensive monitoring program drawing on lobsters was 5.5 times greater within is recovering. In fact, the animals and the sea: making the case for complexity. Lamlash Bay, between Holy Isle and the a number of different survey techniques. Over a thousand high resolution the reserve than outside. Based on these plants that attach to the seabed (such as Fish and Fisheries, DOI: 10.1111/faf.12041 Isle of Arran. The NTZ was established With each survey technique designed to photographs were taken of the seabed findings, it has been proposed that the maerl, seaweed, hydroids, bryozoans, and after over a decade of campaigning by gather data on the different ecological over three years in Lamlash Bay. Special 2.67 km2 marine reserve had a potential sponges) have all been found to be more • Howarth, L. M., Wood, H. L., Turner, A. P., the Community of Arran Seabed Trust components that make up Lamlash Bay. software was then used to identify and egg output equivalent to an unprotected abundant within the NTZ than outside. & Beukers-Stewart, B. D. (2011). Complex (COAST) for better protection of their These include: count every organism within the photo area of 19.1 km2; supporting the idea that Such organisms are important because habitat boosts scallop recruitment in a seas and now lies within the larger South Diver surveys and allowed researchers to investigate MPAs can contribute disproportionally to they provide the seafloor with structural fully protected marine reserve. Marine Arran Marine Protected Area which was A team of two divers work along a whether the seafloor within Lamlash Bay recruitment in relation to the actual area complexity, thereby providing shelter for Biology, 158 (8), 1767–1780 NTZ was recovering. they protect. The size, age and biomass juvenile fish, scallops and other animals. designated in July this year. number of 50m x 3m transects in and • Thurstan, R. H., & Roberts, C. M. (2010). Baited underwater video cameras of scallops have also increased and there This article is based on an earlier report SURVEY METHODS outside the NTZ, recording the number Ecological meltdown in the Firth of Clyde, is evidence of increased juvenile scallop from York University PhD student Leigh of organisms they encounter. In addition, Exploring how fish populations respond Scotland: two centuries of change in a In 2010, the University of York in presence within the NTZ. every scallop encountered is collected to the reserve is important if we are Howarth. Leigh has since completed his conjunction with COAST, began coastal marine ecosystem. PloS one, 5 (7), and taken back to the surface where to understand how protecting an area However the abundance of Brown Crab doctorate and is preparing his full results conducting a series of underwater e11767 they are measured and aged, before being of the sea may lead to the recovery of is greater outside the NTZ, suggesting for publication later this year. Research in the Firth of Clyde  

The Clyde Ecosystem In 2010, Marine Scotland Science used research vessel survey data (MSS) commenced work to review obtained from MSS. Review the state of the Clyde Ecosystem What follows is an extract from the in response to expressions of grave Executive Summary of the Clyde By Dr Bill Turrell, Marine Scotland concern for its well-being, based Science Team Leader Ecosystems Review (McIntyre, F., on a study that relied heavily Fernandes, P.G. and W. R. Turrell). on landings data. Independently Graphs courtesy of Prof. Heath and Dr Turrell’s full presentation at the from the process underway within Dr. Speirs Clyde 2020 Summit, which included Marine Scotland, the University of more detail on this topic is available Strathclyde also commenced work from Sarah Brown, Firth of Clyde on the issue of the ecological status Forum Project Manager at sarah@ of the Clyde. The University study clydeforum.com.

As a result of a detailed and well-found analysis, in July • Also the incidence of species with a maximum attainable length 2011 Professor Heath, with Dr Doug Speirs, published an greater than 40 cm declined precipitously and did not recover analysis of the present state of the Clyde Sea demersal during the period of low harvesting rates after the late 1990s fish community in their paper entitled “Changes in species possibly owing to internal predator–prey interactions. diversity and size composition in the Firth of Clyde This means that the Clyde Sea still functions as an ecosystem. demersal fish community (1927-2009)” (Heath and Speirs, Primary production still occurs, powered by the sun and 2011). supplied by water-borne nutrients, which sustains secondary Heath and Speirs’ conclusions (2011) point to a major zooplankton production, which in turn feeds an active food web. ecological impact of fishing in the Clyde. However, the However, the Clyde ecosystem has been changed. The biomass picture portrayed by Heath and Speirs is not one of an of fish in the Clyde is the same, or for some species, more than ecological desert, but of a severely altered ecosystem. Their when intensive fishing started. Additionally, a large and healthy principal conclusions were: population of shellfish (Nephrops) living on the seabed of the • Rather than commercial species being entirely removed Clyde is present, but the community of fish is now made up from the Clyde, the biomass of the six main commercial mostly of small fish, and mostly small whiting. species in the late 2000s was approximately double that The Clyde ecosystem is one that has been used by humans for prior to the onset of trawling in the 1960s. centuries, and hence it is changed. But humans can also now • However, the size structures of these species were influence the direction the ecosystem takes by managing human dramatically different, being markedly deficient in large activities in the future. commercially marketable individuals after the period of peak The full report can be downloaded from http://www.scotland. harvesting rates in the 1980s. gov.uk/Publications/2012/06/7562. Research in the Firth of Clyde 10 11

‘Fishing Boats at Port Righ, Carradale’. John Campbell Mitchell (1898) Early evidence of degree of controversy, we are only now The evidence for this comes from the overfishing in the beginning to realise just how devastating statistics of the Fishery Board (or, more it can be, not only for fish stocks, but properly, the Commission for the British Clyde: a cautionary also for the fragile benthic marine Fisheries) which are held in the archives tale environment, the sea bed itself. Sea bed of the National Records of Scotland in ecology is particularly susceptible to . The Board recorded most By Peter Jones, University of change: it can take years, decades, and landings of herring in Scotland from 1809 Strathclyde even centuries for it to regenerate after onwards, and those of commercially A lot has been written about the disturbance, so the effects of dragging fished ‘whitefish’ (mostly cod, ling and state of the Clyde’s fish stocks, a trawl beam or otter boards across it hake, but also haddock and pollock) from recently. In 2010, a team of marine can long outlive the period of trawling 1821. Not only that; it also recorded, in scientists from York University itself. All things considered, marine one form or another, the total square caused a stir by claiming that the conservationists perhaps have good yardage of drift nets used to catch herring Clyde was at the point of ‘ecological reason for focusing on trawling when and the total yardage of hand-line used to meltdown’.1 Although not everyone pointing to the history of overfishing and catch whitefish from 1845 onwards. agreed with their findings, most destructive fishing methods. By putting these two sets of statistics researchers now believe that over Yet for the Clyde, the focus on the together, it is possible, not only to track 100 years of commercial fishing has development of steam trawling may the overall amount of fish caught across taken a severe toll on Scotland’s have masked an even longer-term trend most of the nineteenth century, but also largest inland sea, and that drastic in overfishing and declining fish stocks. to give an indication of the productivity of action is necessary to safeguard Evidence is now emerging that overfishing fishing in the Clyde from 1845 onwards the marine environment and the was at first a product, not of drastic – something which, to date, has only future of commercial fishing in the changes in productivity with the adoption been done for the twentieth century. The Clyde. Many, if not most, of those of beam trawling and steam power at standard method for calculating fishing measured by square or nets and yardage across the second half of the nineteenth in their availability. The most famous who believe such action is necessary the end of the nineteenth century, but of productivity is to estimate what is called of hand-lines used). century, and in fact the general trend was case of this migratory capriciousness is point the finger of blame at bottom the much gentler, but no less destructive, the ‘catch per unit effort’ (or CPUE) The early results of this exercise are very upwards (Figure 1). This is unsurprising: probably that of the historic Bohuslän trawling and the rise of motor increase in the traditional fishing gear of of fishermen by dividing the amount of interesting indeed. In terms of the herring herring are a migratory species, and fishery in Sweden. There, historians have power. small boats, drift nets and hand-lines fifty fish they catch by the amount of ‘effort’ fishery, it appears that CPUE fluctuated fishermen have long been aware of discovered that the herring would visit Although trawling has always attracted a years earlier. they put into catching them (in this case, considerably, did not generally decline natural, sometimes profound, fluctuations the Kattegat sea (similar, in many ways, CONTINUED ON PAGE 12 Research in the Firth of Clyde 12 13

FROM PAGE 11

to the Clyde) in tremendous numbers far more ‘susceptible to local impacts of motor power, trawlers and the era of avoid prosecution and the financial cost Firth of Clyde Forum, said: 2 Marine Biosecurity for between twenty and eighty years fishing’. ‘industrial fishing’, but the truth is likely if something does go wrong. Creating “It’s a continual struggle to keep these from the fourteenth to the eighteenth It is no coincidence that the period which to be more complex (and, perhaps, Guidelines Published a biosecurity plan also highlights a invasive species from spreading in Scottish centuries, but then would disappear more unsettling) than that. The history business’s green credentials in responding saw the beginnings of the decline in By Sarah Brown, Firth of Clyde waters. Our seas are important in so as quickly as they arrived for up to a of the Clyde fisheries in the nineteenth responsibly to a serious environmental productivity (CPUE) in whitefish catches Forum many ways for both the environment hundred years at a time. occurred shortly after a great increase century demonstrates that relatively small threat. and the economy and we wanted to In other words, the most likely in the number of boats, boys and men shifts in the balance of power between The Firth of Clyde Forum has produced make it as easy as possible for businesses explanation for the success of the fishing in the Clyde (Figure 3). Many of fishermen and marine resources can a handy, pocket-sized INNS identification and individuals to know what to do in Clyde herring fishermen in the mid- to these would have fished for herring using have quite drastic effects, especially in guide and an online reporting system, response to the new legislation. It is great late-nineteenth century is sheer luck, drift nets in the Spring or Autumn, and fragile and sensitive ecosystems like the linked through from our home to see the guidance already in use by RYA as the herring seem to have migrated would then have reverted to hand lines Clyde. If we are to rectify past wrongs page, www.clydeforum.com, which Scotland.” and protect our sheltered inshore waters north from the open sea, through for whitefish in the Winter. Certainly, complements SNH’s marine tracker James Stuart, CEO of RYAS said, “Creating Kilbrannan Sound and into Loch Fyne in by the 1860s fishermen themselves for the future, the message is that we mobile phone app. need be much more sensitive in all our a biosecurity plan was actually much ever increasing numbers! For whitefish, were noting both the increase in the The invasive plants and animals can interactions with them; and, in this, we simpler than we thought it might be. The though, the story is very different. After number of herring they were catching, destroy local species and habitats, cannot afford to ignore the lessons of risk based approach was familiar and an initial rise between 1845 and 1848, and the dramatic decrease in the affecting the food chain and biodiversity, history. easily showed where the practical control productivity for hand-liners in the Clyde availability of whitefish. David Galbraith, leading to massive financial costs points were. We established what the followed a consistent and quite dramatic of , spoke for many when for fisheries and other leisure and effective measures would be including downward trend (Figure 2). Once again, giving evidence to the Parliamentary Peter Jones is a doctoral candidate in commercial marine operations. These pre event communications, hull fouling the explanation for this can be found, Commission on Sea Fisheries in 1866: of environmental history at the University of globetrotters get to Scottish waters by assessment points and a risk assessment at least in part, in the nature of the fish the herring fishery, he said, ‘I think it is Strathclyde. [email protected]. hitching a ride on the hulls of boats or in based on the salinity of the destination themselves. As Mike Heath and Douglas rather gaining. There are both better fish ballast water. Some can survive for several pontoons so even if something did slip Speirs suggested in a recent article and more of them too’; but of the cod days out of the water on damp hulls, through unnoticed we felt confident on Clyde fish stocks in the twentieth and ling fishery, he was adamant that ‘they bilges and water-sports gear. that none of the salt water loving century, demersal white fish in the Clyde are not near-hand so plentiful. I have seen 1 R.H. Thurstan and C.M. Roberts, ‘Ecological Species such as invasive carpet sea squirts species could survive long enough to get (that is, those fish that live close to, or are them getting 20 and 30 score, and now it Meltdown in the Firth of Clyde, Scotland: like Didemnum vexillum, a fast-growing established in the new areas.” partially reliant on, the sea bed) seem to is very rarely they can get eight score’. Two Centuries of Change in a Coastal Marine animal which smothers underwater Stan Whitaker, SNH’s invasive non-native be ‘spatially distinct’ from other demersal Ecosystem’ PLoS One, 5:7 (2010), e11767. So what are we to make of this Following on from the creation of a structures, plants and animals, are already fish communities in the open sea. In other doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0011767, 10. species expert, added: cautionary tale from the archives? On biosecurity plan for the Clyde the present in Scotland. This sea squirt was words, there is reason to believe that 2 M.R. Heath and D.C. Speirs, ‘Changes in “The new guidance on biosecurity the one hand, it suggests that we need Forum has taken the work a step first reported in the UK in 2008, and has there is much less ‘outside recruitment’ Species Diversity and Size Composition in planning is arguably the best of its kind in to look much further back than we have further by publishing, in partnership been found in several sites in the Clyde. of many species of Clyde whitefish than the Firth of Clyde Demersal Fish Community Europe, but we still need to be so far in order to get a true picture of with SNH, guidance on how to Other brackish water species such as the there is among similar communities in (1927-2009)’, Proceedings of the Royal Society vigilant. Once established, it’s how and when our fisheries began to B, 279 (2012), doi:10.1098/rspb.2011.1015, structure a biosecurity plan for a Mitten Crab which can the open sea, and as a result they are particularly hard to control decline. It may seem obvious to blame 548. marine site or specific marine event. destroy bankside habitats the spread of marine species. The guidance has been heralded as with their destructive Invasive non-native species are ground-breaking and has been adopted burrowing and the Zebra the second most serious threat by Natural Resources Wales, SEPA and Mussel, which multiplies to global biodiversity after SNH as guidance for use in case work. at an astonishing rate, habitat loss, with non-native CEFAS and DEFRA have also circulated it can quickly clog water species costing the Scottish to relevant staff for use in their work in intakes and block canal economy around £246 England and Wales. Already RYA Scotland gates thankfully have not got million each year.” has used it to create a biosecurity plan established in the Clyde as for the Commonwealth Games Flotilla far as we know. The guidance, along which recently brought 250 boats to the Freshwater species, such with a review of marine inner Clyde. as the “Killer Shrimp” can biosecurity best practice literature, were produced The guidance gives site operators easy be a massive problem: these by SAMS Research to follow procedures for creating a small creatures have voracious Services Ltd (SRSL). biosecurity plan which will help to reduce appetites and have munched the threat of moving and introducing new their way through the river Dr Adrian Macleod of species to their site. More than 90 marine systems of Europe devouring SRSL said: invasive non-native species have been native invertebrates, fish eggs and “Whether you’re identified in British and Irish waters, 17 of fry. They have not yet been found a boater, a marina which are now established in Scotland. in Scotland, but are considered a or a harbour authority, the As it is now an offence to introduce high risk. responsibility for your impact on the INNS to Scottish waters through The guidance gives detailed steps an marine environment lies with you. The commercial or recreational marine organisation should take to prevent and biosecurity planning guidance makes it activities, even if the introduction was control the movement of any invasive straightforward for those using Scottish unintentional, using the biosecurity species. waters to assess and reduce the risk of planning guidance can help organisations Sarah Brown, Project Manager of the spreading invasive non-native species.” Research in the Firth of Clyde 14 15

Gadoid Biomass in dominated by one small species of gadoid the Firth of Clyde - the whiting (Merlangius merlangus). By Neil Burns One possible explanation may be that whiting are better suited to surviving and A new project sets out to breeding given the current conditions. For investigate the links between example, in comparison to whiting, cod whiting in the Firth of Clyde and take longer to achieve the larger size they other areas around the Scottish require for spawning4. Current conditions coast. In the face of historically high may prevent the larger gadoid species like fishing pressure in the Clyde whiting cod from surviving long enough within have responded differently to other the Clyde for this to happen, meaning related species (cod and haddock), vastly reduced numbers of offspring persisting in greater numbers albeit contributing to the following generation. at relatively small size. Whether It is not clear whether the changes whiting in the Firth of Clyde are that have taken place in the Clyde are part of a larger West Coast group, symptomatic of an isolated ecosystem or are a separate population is or are part of a wider scale change in fundamental to understanding the fish communities. Many fish species trends seen in this species. In turn migrate to different locations to spawn this information is critical to explain or utilise different habitats at different life the current state of the Clyde’s fish Figure 1. Structuring in fish populations stages (nursery grounds in estuaries for communities and to guide future redrawn from Kritzer and Sale (2004). Small example). The level of exchange among management. circles depict individual populations within areas affects the health of populations The Firth of Clyde has a well-documented the wider population. Arrows indicate larval and so it is important to consider if fish in one area are a resident population or history of fishing for various species travel and recruitment. Thick lines indicate Figure 2. Population connectivity in three gadoid species around the Scottish coast. Arrows show the path taken by fish from the nursery areas just a component of a much larger unit including, among others, herring, turbot the level at which population fluctuations where they spend their first months/years of life as juveniles to the locations where, as mature adults they spawn. Percentages show the (see figure 1). Therefore, an understanding and gadoid (cod family) species like cod can be observed. (i) Network of closed proportional contribution from different nursery areas to the spawning groups. Adapted from; (5) Wright et al., 2006, (6) Wright et al,. 2010 and of the way gadoid populations are and haddock. At present, however, the populations. (ii) Metapopulation. (iii) Patchy (7) Tobin et al., 2010. main fishery focuses on Norway lobster population. The nature and strength of the structured around the Scottish coast is required to explain any differences (Nephrops norvegicus), also referred to as links between areas and populations is their (ear bones) because they accrete layers B-Biological Sciences, 90B: 423-437. observed between species, and within langoustine and prawns. The trend for “connectivity” over the life of the fish allowing specific members of the same species. 4 - Thurstan, R. H. & Roberts, C. M. targeting different species over time is time points to be identified, much (2010). Ecological meltdown in the firth one seen throughout the world’s fisheries Coastal Scottish gadoid populations show like the rings of a tree (figure 3). The of clyde, scotland: two centuries of It would be expected that the reduction as stocks of traditionally targeted species a variety of different levels of connectivity elements incorporated into the bone are change in a coastal marine ecosystem. Plos seen in landings of gadoids described decline until the fishery becomes no between juvenile and adult stages. Figure representative of the waters in which the One, 5: e11767. above would coincide with a reduction in longer profitable. This phenomenon is 2 shows the findings of recent research fish was living. Although not exactly the actual numbers of fish present. The story 5 - Tobin, D., Wright, P. J., Gibb, F. M. & known as “serial overfishing”. In the Clyde examining the contribution of juveniles same as the water chemistry, it is possible in the Firth of Clyde is more complex Gibb, I. M. (2010). The importance of the opening up of the Firth to trawling from nursery areas to known spawning to match the chemical signature of groups than this, however. While landings of life stage to population connectivity in in 1962 and the further relaxing of a grounds. Spawning adult cod can be of fish that have inhabited the same area. commercial species have fallen, little whiting (Merlangius merlangus) from the three nautical mile trawling limit to the seen to come mostly from local juvenile In this way it will be possible to identify if change in actual biomass of demersal northern European shelf. Marine Biology, coast in 1984 allowed fishers to more nursery areas whereas haddock and whiting in the Clyde are part of a larger Figure 3. Whiting otolith section showing fish has been recorded in scientific 157: 1063-1073. easily exploit numerous demersal species whiting show much less reliance on just population or, like cod, live as a closed annual growth increments (annulus) surveys. Rather than simply fewer cod, 6 - Wright, P. J., Neat, F. C., Gibb, F. M., Gibb, (those living on or near the seabed). one juvenile area and tend to recruit population in the Firth. This knowledge consisting of an opaque and translucent haddock and whiting being present, a I. M. & Thordarson, H. (2006). Evidence From the mid 1980s a reduction in from much further afield. Haddock, is key to understanding the reasons zone. change in the species which make up for metapopulation structuring in cod landings of gadoids (such as cod, haddock however would appear to show a similar for the change observed in the Firth of the demersal fish community has been composition in the Firth of Clyde from the west of Scotland and North Sea. and whiting) has overlapped with a pattern to cod for the Clyde. Clyde gadoid populations and the drivers 1 observed. This change also shows a demersal fish community (1927-2009). Journal of Fish Biology, 69: 181-199. switch to a Nephrops dominated fishery , Tracking the movements of fish maintaining the current regime. Effective 2 pattern, with a reduction (or complete Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological . Along with the reduction in landings throughout their lives in the wild is management at appropriate scales is 7 - Wright, P. J., Tobin, D., Gibb, F. M. & absence) in the number of large species Sciences, 279: 543-552. of gadoids the presence of traditionally fraught with difficulty. Small larvae and only possible if the correct geographic Gibb, I. M. (2010). Assessing nursery such as elasmobranchs (sharks and rays) 2 - Hislop, J. R. G. (1984). A comparison non-targeted species in the Clyde has juveniles are difficult to mark or tag scales of the populations living here are contribution to recruitment: relevance of and large cod. Furthermore, the average of the reproductive tactics and strategies also reduced. These include anglerfish and by conventional means; vast numbers understood. This knowledge is essential closed areas to haddock Melanogrammus size of each species now tends to be of cod, haddock, whiting and Norway a number of shark and ray species. To give of them die before becoming adults in supporting the regeneration of the aeglefinus. Marine Ecology Progress Series, smaller than that seen in the past3. With pout in the North Sea. In: POTTS, G. W. some context to this, before 1960 there requiring many to be tagged and adults Firth of Clyde as part of the Clyde2020 400: 221-232. targeted trawling for demersal species & WOOTON, R. J. (eds.) Fish reproduction: were 13 species making up most of the can often be particularly mobile. A programme. having all but stopped from 2005 and a strategies and tactics. London: Academic demersal fish in the Firth of Clyde. Now, technique that has previously proved seasonally protected cod spawning area Press. however, only 8 species contribute to the successful uses the chemical composition Article and figures courtesy of Neil Burns, in place since 2001, these stocks may References same group having climbed from a low of bony structures to infer the location 3 - Hislop, J. R. G. (1986). The demersal PhD student at the University of Glasgow have been expected to recover. However, of 4 species in the late 1990s and early of a fish at the time of bone formation. 1 - Heath, M. R. & Speirs, D. C. (2012). fishery in the Clyde Sea area. Proceedings and Marine Scotland Science. (Supervisors: the demersal fish community is now 2000s. Specifically, it is possible to use otoliths Changes in species diversity and size of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Section Dr David Bailey and Dr Peter Wright). Research in the Firth of Clyde 16 17

Ocean colour comes to the Clyde By David McKee, University of Strathclyde

sea that is almost six times greater than As a result it is possible to produce global challenges of interpreting this data will its land area. The questions is: how can maps of ocean chlorophyll concentration be distinguishing changes in water quality we possibly monitor such a vast area? We (Figure 2), but this comes with some from surface reflection effects. We can need to look up for at least part of the limitations. First of all, the camera cannot see these effects in the ripple patterns answer. see through clouds, so images such as at the bottom left of the image, which is Since 1st August 1997, when a satellite Figure 2 are built up over periods of probably reflection from internal waves. called SeaStar was launched into space weeks or even months to fill in the gaps We can also see a fast ship near the carrying a spectral camera called SeaWiFS caused by cloud cover. Residents of the bottom centre, possibly the fast ferry (Sea-Viewing Wide Field-of-View Sensor), west coast of Scotland will quickly realise sailing from Troon, which leaves a long space agencies such as NASA and ESA that this problem is particularly acute wake (dark line) and rapidly spreading have maintained a series of satellite here. We recently analysed NASA data bow waves (bright lines). sensors that provide daily global images to find that the west coast of Scotland Moving to the Clyde Estuary itself of the entire world ocean. So how do suffers from more than 50% cloud cover (Figure 5), we can see a large area of high Figure 4: A high resolution image of the these spectral cameras work? on 95% of days! sediment concentration in the outer southern Clyde Sea using LandSat-8 (band 4). White light from the sun passes through A second big limitation is spatial Firth (red colours), and relatively low the Earth’s atmosphere and hits the resolution. Each pixel in a standard sediment at the mouth of and growing community of active researchers surface of the ocean. Some of the light satellite image is approximately 1km x interestingly towards where the Clyde in the Scottish industrial and research enters the ocean and is absorbed by algae 1km. This makes perfect sense for global enters the scene from Glasgow. There are sectors that are developing new platforms or mud and some of it is reflected back imaging; smaller pixels would mean even is some evidence of where dredging has and sensors to expand on current up towards space again. Satellites at the more data and would quickly become previously taken place to maintain the capabilities. We are currently working Figure 1: Palm trees in Rothesay courtesy of the Gulf Stream. No polar bears in sight. top of the atmosphere measure how unmanageable. However, this does limit shipping channel and the keen-eyed might with colleagues from SAMS and UWS to much light is reflected back and changes how useful the data is close to shore be able to spot some small ships near develop spectral cameras to be mounted the Tail of the Bank, possibly including The sea has always been a place of Atlantic, we have palm trees in Rothesay, in the colour of the light (wavelength). and in inshore areas such as the Firth on small remotely piloted aircraft that Dunoon ferries. mystery for human beings. For the not polar bears. We can use this measure of ocean colour of Clyde where we have islands, sea- would offer even higher spatial resolution. vast majority of people, our direct to determine a number of important lochs and the estuary itself. In order to These new high resolution images open The oceans also play another critical role We believe that this could become experience of the sea extends to properties of the seawater, including get data from narrow fjords and rivers, up a whole range of new potential in Earth’s climate system. Surface waters an extremely useful technology for no more than paddling on the very the concentration of phytoplankton we need sensors with better spatial applications for ocean colour remote of the ocean are home to phytoplankton, monitoring specific sites such as fish edge. Even for those who spend (chlorophyll concentration), the resolution. A new generation of satellite sensing. These include supporting microscopic plants that capture carbon farms, marine protected areas and power significant time on or even in the concentration of sediment, and the sensors will provide exactly that. development and monitoring of marine dioxide and convert it into plant plants. Looking further into the future, sea, we barely scratch the surface clarity of the water (diffuse attenuation renewable energy projects, aquaculture material, releasing oxygen back into We were recently able to start accessing there is a growing community of Scottish of what is there. The cliché is that coefficient, turbidity and euphotic depth). operations, marine protected zones and the environment through the process data from a new satellite sensor, LandSat- researchers who are working towards we know more about the moon and A big part of the research activity in the many, many others. The key to success of photosynthesis. Many people will be 8, which carries a spectral camera that developing microsatellites, Cubesats, stars than we do about the oceans MORSE (Marine Optics and Remote will be to develop new, reliable data aware of the importance of tropical gives 30m resolution at the sea surface. that are a tiny fraction of the size (and on our doorstep. Sensing) group at the University of products that are properly validated and rainforests in regulating oxygen and This dramatically increases the resolution cost) of traditional satellite systems, and Strathclyde is developing new and that can be used with confidence by the Understanding how the sea works is, of carbon levels in the atmosphere. Fewer we are able to achieve in areas like the could provide images with the same or improved ways to generate these wider community. This is a major focus of course, tremendously important for the are aware that an equivalent amount of Clyde Sea. Figure 3 shows a ‘true colour’ better resolution of LandSat-8 but with products and to provide direct validation our research. large numbers of people that earn their photosynthesis occurs in the ocean as on image recorded by LandSat-8. This ‘true the repeat visit frequency of SeaWiFS . of data quality. living in marine industries or who live land. colour’ image is actually generated We have the technological capability right by mixing data from several different here in Scotland. The key is to generate in close proximity to the coast. Indeed The realisation that the ocean plays waveband (colour) images. Even at this support with potential end users to it is estimated that approximately 40% such fundamental roles in the health of scale you can see incredible detail in encourage funding to get the idea, literally, of the world’s population lives within the planet and local communities has the Clyde Sea area. Of course this lucky off the ground. 100km of a coast. The marine sector led to renewed focus on taking steps to contributes ~£3.5B to the Scottish image was obtained on an unusually clear maintain and enhance its ecological state. Figure 5: A high resolution image of the Clyde economy (excluding oil and gas) and is day and this sensor only revisits once The European Union has introduced estuary using LandSat-8 (band 4). The image associated with ~40,000 jobs including every 8 days – there are no free lunches several directives that seek to protect also shows the southern end of Loch Lomond. in this business. fisheries, tourism and leisure, aquaculture coastal and inshore waters from over- and many other areas. Scotland truly is a exploitation and damage and to ensure Zooming into the southern part of maritime nation. that we provide future generations with Figure 2: A global view of marine and the scene and selecting a single (red) The ocean is also a critical component of a legacy of a marine system that can terrestrial plant life provided by SeaWiFS. waveband (Figure 4), we can start to the Earth’s global climate system. Ocean support new generations of jobs and Image provided by NASA Goddard Space identify a range of features that would currents transport huge quantities of heat recreational opportunities. Flight Centre. never normally be visible in a lower from warm regions near the equator to Legislation requires that nations take SeaWiFS, and successors such as MODIS resolution image. Here we can see the Figure 3: A true colour image of the Clyde cold polar waters. The effect of this is steps to protect their marine resources and MERIS, are mounted on satellites southern end of the Kintyre peninsula, Sea area provided by LandSat-8. Image particularly important for the west coast and, crucially, to demonstrate that they that are in polar orbits designed to give most of Arran and the surrounding seas. provided by NASA and USGS. of Scotland which enjoys much milder have achieved compliance with the daily passes over virtually every part of The image is affected by some clouds winters than places such as northern relevant directives. For Scotland, this is a the globe at times when the sun is close in the bottom right hand corner (red Looking to the future, there are great Canada and Moscow that are on similar mammoth task. Scotland has 18,000km of to noon and there is plenty of light to patches) with evidence of cloud shadows opportunities to build on the technology latitudes. Thanks to the Gulf Stream in the coastline and is responsible for an area of record images (sun-synchronous orbit). (nearby dark blue patches). One of the that is currently available. There is a Research in the Firth of Clyde 18 19

Hydrodynamic Modelling in the Clyde By Alessandro Sabatino, University of Strathclyde

The twice-daily are a dominant feature of coastal and marine activities in the Clyde. The cycle of drying and inundation of the sand and mud flats in the estuary above are obvious to even a casual observer, but for those travelling by ferry, making a living by fishing, or engaging in recreational boating , the currents and rise-and-fall generated by the tides are an every-day part of life. Measuring currents and sea-level changes at a given location is relatively easy using moored instruments – or even just with a pole and a tape-measure on the beach! Generating -tables of expected future sea-level heights above a chart datum is also well understood – some of the earliest applications of modern computer systems were for tidal predictions based on gravitational forces generated by the orbits of the sun and moon. However, producing detailed maps of the tidal currents and heights at different states of the tide is altogether a different matter. Most currently available tidal atlases consist of maps with sparsely distributed arrows indicating the speed and direction of currents estimated from measurements made at sea. In order to improve on crude tidal atlases we need to use mathematical models to predict the flow patterns of water through the complicated topography of a region as the tidal wave passes-by. The basic equation describing this phenomenon

is called Navier-Stokes equation. Unfortunately, despite more of the sea surface levels and currents generated by the 7 main than 200 years of effort by mathematicians and a large prize harmonics of the tides. The model performs these calculations being available for the first person to solve it analytically, at steps of just a few seconds over periods of months, but the nobody has managed to produce a solution. However, it can be results are saved at intervals of 15 minutes. solved computationally using high performance computers. A Using the model outputs, the researchers produced a number project by PhD student Alessandro Sabatino at the University of useful products. The first of these is a map of the tidal range of Strathclyde has implemented a computer model to solve the on a given date – that is the difference in height between low equations for the Firth of Clyde, using software developed at the and high water. Locations with the same range are connected University of Massachusetts. The model is extremely detailed in by contour lines much like the contour lines on an Ordnance the inner parts of the Clyde Sea, down to <100m resolution, and Survey map. Similarly it was possible to produce detailed become coarser in the outer areas extending to Islay and Jura contour maps of the time of high and low water. Detailed maps in the north, and south into the Irish Sea. The model requires a of current speed and direction at different states of the tide ‘parallel computing’ system to run, in which the task is shared reveal the locations of eddies around headlands and in bays out between the processors of a network of inter-connected which experienced navigators of the areas may be already aware computers. of but these results map their extent and quantify the currents. A detailed analysis shows that tides are in fact not just a The research at Strathclyde is continuing, to investigate the single wave passing through a region, but composed of many effects of river inflows on the current patterns, the propagation separate waves – referred to as harmonics, which are akin to of storm surges in sea level up the Clyde into the inner regions, the components of any audio signal. The main harmonic of the and possibly the patterns of waves in the Clyde generated by tides is generated by the gravitational pull of the moon. The winds. Sea level surges and wave overtopping are the main gravitational pull of the sun produces a secondary harmonic, and causes of coastal flooding experienced in some parts of the the interaction of these leads to the spring-neap cycle in which Clyde region. The research is co-sponsored by the University, tidal ranges become larger and smaller over an approximately 2 Marine Scotland Science and the Scottish Environmental week cycle. The computer model produced detailed spatial maps Protection Agency. Research in the Firth of Clyde 20

Tell Us What You Think... Clyde Breakers is your newsletter; tell us what you think of this issue and what you would like to see in the future. If you would like to receive an electronic version of Clyde Breakers rather than a printed copy, please send your email address to us. Many thanks to those of you who contributed to this edition. If you would like to become involved in FSC Millport (source Rachel Summers) the Forum and its work, contact us at the address below. FSC Millport By Daniel Moncrieff, Head of FSC Scotland At the beginning of 2013 the future of Millport Marine Station was seriously Project Manager threatened, when significant funding was withdrawn for the site, and the Firth of Clyde Forum University of London decided they could no longer continue to run it. The Caspian House Field Studies Council (FSC) then took over the site at the beginning of 2 Mariner Court this year. The FSC is in an independent charity which runs 15 residential Clydebank Business Park field centres in the UK and 3 further day centres, and its aim is to increase Clydebank, G81 2NR environmental understanding through first hand experiences of the outdoors. Tel: 0141 951 0820 Millport has a significant reputation, built up over the last 115 years, as a venue for Email: [email protected] marine research and undergraduate marine courses. The FSC aims to continue to Website: www.clydeforum.com provide a venue for these courses, as well as developing other taught terrestrial and freshwater fieldwork investigations as well as microbiology studies for university students. At the same time we are developing residential courses for schools and The Firth of Clyde Forum has a broad a 2015 programme of adult courses ranging from general interest marine biology, membership base with representatives marine mammal and bird courses to specialist courses identifying non-native seaweeds from industry, local authorities, and polychaetes. The aim of all of these courses is to develop understanding of the community groups and charities. The habitats around the Isle of Cumbrae and hopefully help to train the next generation opinions expressed by members within of researchers to monitor and suggest ways of better managing the Clyde and wider this issue are not necessarily the opinions environment. of the Forum or its Core Group. To ensure we continue to attract people to Millport, the FSC have already redeveloped one floor of the oldest part of the Centre, creating new recreational spaces, with three lounges and tea and coffee facilities as well as a new large work room for visiting groups who use the site. An ambitious redevelopment plan has been possible because The Firth of Clyde Forum would like of the generous support of a whole host of organisations including North Ayrshire to thank the following organisations Council and Highlands and Islands Enterprise. Phase 2 of the development plan will for their continued core funding and be finished by next Easter and will include 30 twin en-suite rooms, a further 2 rooms support: which will be fully accessible for wheelchair users and we are also be investing in a new 150 seat lecture theatre and extra classroom. At FSC Millport we are also keen to continue the sites rich tradition of supporting research, and facilities on site such as our Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM); research vessel, the R.V Actinia, large seawater tanks, research aquarium and microbiology facilities are all available for visiting researchers to utilise. This autumn we are also organising a research seminar which includes speakers who have undertaken research at Millport over this year. This is planned for November 1st and more details are available at www.field-studies-council.org/millport The FSC is also keen to continue and develop long term data sets which can be used by visiting students and researchers. Millport has long been an important hub location for the collection of such data, including the longest continuous set of sea water temperatures in Scotland, metrological readings collected on site, a location for a tidal gauge, recorded periodic scientific trawls and regular rocky shore surveys. We plan to make more of this data available on line, to continue this data collection and expand the data collected to include moth trapping and recording and collection of bird data. The aim of this work is to further support the work of students and researchers studying in the area. If you would like more information about any of the projects outlined above, our email address is [email protected]