Huon Aquaculture Company Trumpeter EIS Storm Bay MFDP Appendix A Old Trumpeter Bay lease Baseline survey reports TRUMPETER BAY MF261 (Zone 1): BASELINE ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FINAL REPORT (VERSION 1.0) December 2014 Report to: Huon Aquaculture Group Pty Ltd Prepared by: AQUENAL PTY LTD AQUENAL www.aquenal.com.au MF261 – Zone 1 Trumpeter BLS_Final V1.0 December 2014 Document Review Date Reviewer Company Activity Version 17 December 2014 Sean Riley Aquenal Pty Ltd Review 1.0 Document Distribution Document Date Name Company Version Copies Type Huon Aquaculture 17 December 2014 Dom O’Brien Electronic 1.0 1 Group Pty Ltd Marc Santo, Eric Brain, Marine Farming 23 December 2014 Electronic 1.0 1 Graham Woods, Branch, DPIPWE Kate Hoyle COPYRIGHT: The concepts and information contained in this document are the property of Aquenal Pty Ltd. Use or copying of this document in whole or in part without the written permission of Aquenal Pty Ltd constitutes an infringement of copyright. DISCLAIMER: This report has been prepared on behalf of and for the exclusive use of Aquenal Pty Ltd’s client and is subject to and issued in connection with the provisions of the agreement between Aquenal Pty Ltd and its Client. Aquenal Pty Ltd accepts no liability or responsibility whatsoever for or in respect of any use of or reliance upon this report by any third party. MF261 – Zone 1 Trumpeter BLS_Final V1.0 December 2014 Contents 1 Summary ................................................................................................................................................................... 5 2 Operational Summary ............................................................................................................................................... 7 3 Maps .......................................................................................................................................................................... 8 4 Current Measurements ............................................................................................................................................. 9 5 Bathymetric Profile ................................................................................................................................................. 12 6 Seabed Characteristics and habitat profile ............................................................................................................. 13 7 Underwater Video Survey ....................................................................................................................................... 13 7.1 Filming summary ............................................................................................................................................. 13 7.2 Observations from filming ............................................................................................................................... 14 8 Sediment Chemistry ................................................................................................................................................ 18 8.1 Visual Assessment ........................................................................................................................................... 18 8.2 Redox Potential ............................................................................................................................................... 20 8.3 Sulphide Analysis ............................................................................................................................................. 21 8.4 Particle Size Analysis ....................................................................................................................................... 22 8.5 Organic Content .............................................................................................................................................. 23 8.6 Heavy Metal Analysis ...................................................................................................................................... 23 9 Gazameda gunnii survey ......................................................................................................................................... 24 10 Biological Analysis ................................................................................................................................................... 26 11 Reference ................................................................................................................................................................ 29 List of Figures Figure 1 Location Map – MF261 – Zone 1, Trumpeter Bay. ................................................................................................ 8 Figure 2 Survey map – MF261 – Zone 1 showing compliance sites, control sites and internal habitat dive sites. ........... 8 Figure 3 - Current meter locations ...................................................................................................................................... 9 Figure 4 Polar plots of current velocity and direction ...................................................................................................... 11 Figure 5 Bathymetric profile for MF261 – Zone 1. Depths are corrected to Lowest Astronomical Tide. ......................... 12 Figure 6 Survey habitat map ............................................................................................................................................. 13 Figure 7 Redox potential at 30 mm depth in sediment cores. ......................................................................................... 20 Figure 8 Sulphide concentration in sediment core samples. ............................................................................................ 21 Figure 9 Particle size analysis of the top 100 mm of sediment. ....................................................................................... 22 Figure 10 Organic content in sediment core samples. ..................................................................................................... 23 Figure 11 Location of grab samples taken during Gazameda gunnii survey .................................................................... 25 Figure 12 Photograph of dead G. gunnii shells collected during the survey. ................................................................... 26 Figure 13 Results of MDS analysis. ................................................................................................................................... 28 Figure 13 Benthic faunal analysis of seabed samples – MF261 – Zone 1. K – dominance curves. ................................... 28 List of Tables Table 1 Descriptions of of dives performed. ..................................................................................................................... 14 Table 2 Description of each ROV dive performed at Trumpeter Bay. .............................................................................. 15 Table 3 Visual description of sediment cores at MF261 – Zone 1. ................................................................................... 19 List of Appendices Appendix 1 Survey coordinates for seabed sampling ....................................................................................................... 30 Appendix 2 Redox potential, measured in millivolts from 3cm depth in the sediment cores. ........................................ 31 Appendix 3 Sulphide analysis, measured in sediments at 3 cm from sediment surface. ................................................. 32 Appendix 4 Results of benthic infauna analysis – raw data. ............................................................................................. 33 MF261 – Zone 1 Trumpeter BLS_Final V1.0 December 2014 1 Summary Trumpeter Bay Marine Farming Lease No. 261 (MF261) is located in Storm Bay in southeast Tasmania, approximately 1.5 km seaward of Trumpeter Bay. Lease MF261 is positioned in a marine location and is moderately protected from the prevailing westerly winds. The site is more exposed to southeast winds and seas, but these are generally uncommon, especially during summer periods. In accordance with Schedule 3B for MF261, a finfish baseline environmental survey was required prior to commencement of aquaculture operations. The current baseline survey was restricted to the north-east section of the marine farming zone (MF261 - Zone 1), since initial farming operations will be restricted to this area. Water depths in MF261 - Zone 1 showed minor variation across the survey area and ranged from 27 m in the north-western corner to 30 m in the south- east. Current flow data were collected by Huon Aquaculture. Based on a 6 week deployment period, the data showed that the flow velocities measured in the vicinity of the lease were comparable to those measured in the lower D’Entrecasteaux Channel. This suggests that the lease should provide at least equivalent seafloor recovery conditions to those fish farm leases in the D’Entrecasteaux Channel. Differences in current patterns were evident in relation to depth. In deeper depths (i.e. > 12 m), currents from the SW direction were dominant, with NE flows also an important component of overall current patterns. Surface (i.e. < 12 m) currents tended to be more dominated by NW flows, presumably as a result of localised wind driven circulation. Baseline information on the seafloor appearance and sediments at MF261 - Zone 1 was collected by AMD on 15th