Outer Firth of Forth and St Andrews Bay Complex proposed Special Protection Area (pSPA) Advice to Support Management Advice under Regulation 33(2) of the Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 1994 (as amended) and Regulation 18 of the Offshore Marine Conservation (Natural Habitats &c.) Regulations 2007 (as amended) Document version control Version Date Author Reason / Comments Version 1 16/04/15 Emma Philip First draft of text & template for pSPAs. Version 2 18/06/15 Malcolm Fraser First draft continued Version 3 24/06/15 Malcolm Fraser First draft continued Version 4 26/06/15 Malcolm Fraser First draft completed Version 5 27/06/15 Emma Philip Final draft Version 6 21/07/15 Greg Mudge QA completed Version 7 17/12/15 Malcolm Fraser Management option changes and map changes Version 8 18/02/16 Emma Philip Update conservation objectives & final draft Version 9 26/02/16 Emma Philip Version for SPA stakeholders workshop Version 10 14/06/16 Malcolm Fraser Revised to address comments from SPA stakeholders workshop. Version 11 26/06/16 Emma Philip QA’d & final version for submission to Marine Scotland Version 12 03/10/16 Emma Philip & Renewables section updated. Erica Knot Distribution list Format Version Issue date Issued to Electronic Version 4 26/06/15 Emma Philip Electronic Version 5 27/06/15 Marine Scotland, Julie Black (JNCC), Greg Mudge, Katie Gillham Distribution list Electronic Version 8 18/02/16 Greg Mudge Electronic Version 9 26/02/16 Marine Scotland Electronic Version 9 26/02/16 Marine Scotland, Marine Scotland Science and JNCC Electronic Version 10 14/06/16 Emma Philip Electronic Version 11 27/06/16 JNCC Electronic Version 12 28/06/16 Marine Scotland Electronic Version 13 03/10/16 JNCC & Marine Scotland Contents Purpose of advice ............................................................................................................... 1 Site summary ...................................................................................................................... 1 Species distribution within the site ................................................................................... 5 Conservation objectives ................................................................................................... 13 The role of conservation objectives ................................................................................. 13 Draft conservation objectives .......................................................................................... 13 Management Options ........................................................................................................ 16 Existing species protection .............................................................................................. 18 Overview of activities ....................................................................................................... 18 Introduction to fishing activities ...................................................................................... 21 Fishing – mobile gear ...................................................................................................... 22 Fishing – static gear ........................................................................................................ 26 Harvesting – intertidal shellfish and bait ......................................................................... 28 Navigational dredging and disposal ................................................................................ 30 Ports and Harbours activities .......................................................................................... 34 Development or expansion of ports and harbours ........................................................... 35 Recreational activities ...................................................................................................... 37 Introduction to renewables activities .............................................................................. 41 Wind energy .................................................................................................................... 42 Summary of management options ................................................................................... 46 Annex 1. Background to the advice contained in this paper ......................................... 50 Annex 2. Map showing overlapping and neighbouring existing protected areas ....... 52 ii Further information on Special Protection Areas, the wider network and protected areas management is available on the Scottish Natural Heritage website. The following documents provide further information about the features, evidence and assessment of the Outer Firth of Forth and St Andrews Bay Complex pSPA and should be read alongside this paper: Site selection document Marine SPA stakeholder workshop summary report Consultation overview document. iii Purpose of advice This is a working document that has been produced to support initial discussions with stakeholders about potential future management of activities associated with this proposed Special Protection Area (pSPA) during the formal consultation. It sets out the draft conservation objectives for the qualifying features and these provide the starting point for considering whether additional site management is required. This document also sets out management options based on our current understanding of the sensitivities of the qualifying bird species and their supporting habitats to marine activities. The development of site management is an ongoing process which will continue after classification. This paper covers a range of different activities and developments but is not exhaustive. It focuses on where we consider there could be a risk in terms of achieving the conservation objectives. The paper does not attempt to cover all possible future activities or eventualities (e.g. as a result of accidents), and whilst it identifies activities that could contribute to cumulative effects relating to the qualifying species, we do not at this stage have the information to carry out detailed assessments. Site summary The Outer Firth of Forth and St Andrews Bay Complex pSPA comprises an area of 2,720.68 kilometres square (km2). The pSPA stretches from Arbroath to St. Abb’s Head and encompasses the Firth of Forth, the outer Firth of Tay and St. Andrews Bay. The site extends beyond the 12nm boundary of territorial and offshore waters to encompass the feeding areas of some seabirds (Map 1). The Outer Firth of Forth and St Andrews Bay Complex pSPA attracts one of the largest and most diverse concentrations of marine birds in Scotland. In winter, it provides important wintering grounds used for feeding, moulting and roosting by eight species of non-breeding inshore waterfowl (divers, grebe and seaduck). This wintering waterfowl assemblage includes the largest red-throated diver and common eider populations in Scotland. The Firth of Forth is also notable for its concentrations of four species of wintering gulls, including little gull. Black-headed gull, common gull and herring gull use the inshore waters predominantly to roost, although some foraging activity will also occur. In the non-breeding season these together with black-legged kittiwake, common guillemot, European shag and razorbill contribute to an assemblage of over 40,000 seabirds using the site. The site also encompasses feeding grounds for breeding common tern, Arctic tern and European shag nesting at SPA colonies within the site. During the breeding season black-legged kittiwake, gannet, herring gull, common guillemot, puffin, and Manx shearwater also contribute to a major assemblage of over 100,000 seabirds. The qualifying species of the proposed SPA are listed within Table 1. 1 Table 1. Qualifying species and numbers within the Outer Firth of Forth and St Andrews Bay Complex proposed SPA1,2 Number of % of British Species birds population Red-throated diver (non-breeding) 850 5 Slavonian grebe (non-breeding) 30 3 Little gull (non-breeding) 126 2 Common tern (breeding) 890 pairs Arctic tern (breeding) 540 pairs Common eider (non-breeding) 21,550 36[2]3 Long-tailed duck (non-breeding) 1,950 18 Common scoter (non-breeding) 4,680 5 Velvet scoter (non-breeding) 770 31 Goldeneye (non-breeding) 590 3 Red-breasted merganser (non-breeding) 370 4 Northern gannet (breeding) 10,950 3 [1]3 Manx shearwater (breeding4) 2,890 1 European shag (breeding (b) 2,400 (b) 3 [2]3 & non-breeding (nb)) 2,430 (nb) 2 Black-legged kittiwake (breeding (b) 12,020 (b) 2 & non-breeding (nb)) 3190 (nb) n/a Common guillemot (breeding (b) 21,970 1 & non-breeding (nb)) Atlantic puffin (breeding) 61,090 5 28,120 (b) n/a Black-headed gull (non-breeding) 26,830 (nb) 1 Common gull (non-breeding) 14,650 2 Herring gull (breeding (b) 3,040 (b) 1 & non-breeding (nb)) 12,310 (nb) 2 Waterfowl assemblage (non-breeding) >20,000 Seabird assemblage (Breeding & non-breeding) >20,000 The Firths of Forth and Tay are major landforms created during flooding of the land by the sea at the end of the last glaciation. Offshore in the mid Firth of Forth lies a belt of mud-rich sediments. On either side of this along the shore are sandy gravels 1 Further information on source of population estimates is provided in the Site Selection Document 2 ‘Number of birds’ represents the mean maximum value for each species and has been rounded to the nearest 10. The % population has been rounded to the nearest whole number. 3 The % of the biogeographic population of common eider is given in parentheses. 4 Manx shearwater