Scottish Sanitary Survey Report Sanitary Survey Report Loch Laxford HS-167 October 2014 Report Title Loch Laxford Project Name Scottish Sanitary Survey Food Standards Agency Client/Customer Scotland Cefas Project Reference C6316A Document Number C6316A_2014_04 Revision V1.0 Date 24/10/2014 Revision History Revision Date Pages revised Reason for revision number 0.1 14/08/2014 All Draft report for external review Distribution, ii, Amended in accordance with 1.0 24/10/2014 1, 52 comments received from FSAS Name Position Date Jessica Larkham, Frank Scottish Sanitary Author Cox, Liefy Hendrikz, 24/10/2014 Survey Team Michelle Price-Hayward Principal Shellfish Checked Ron Lee 27/10//2014 Hygiene Scientist Principal Shellfish Approved Ron Lee 27/10/2014 Hygiene Scientist This report was produced by Cefas for its Customer, the Food Standards Agency in Scotland, for the specific purpose of providing a provisional RMP assessment as per the Customer’s requirements. Although every effort has been made to ensure the information contained herein is as complete as possible, there may be additional information that was either not available or not discovered during the survey. Cefas accepts no liability for any costs, liabilities or losses arising as a result of the use of or reliance upon the contents of this report by any person other than its Customer. Centre for Environment, Fisheries & Aquaculture Science, Weymouth Laboratory, Barrack Road, The Nothe, Weymouth DT4 8UB. Tel 01305 206 600 www.cefas.defra.gov.uk Report Distribution Distribution – Loch Laxford Date Name Agency Joyce Carr Scottish Government David Denoon SEPA Douglas Sinclair SEPA Hazel MacLeod SEPA Fiona Garner Scottish Water Alex Adrian Crown Estate Alan Yates Highland Council Anne Grant Highland Council John Ross Harvester Alec Ross Harvester John Ridgway Harvester Partner Organisations The hydrographic assessment and the shoreline survey and its associated report were undertaken by SRSL, Oban. Table of Contents I. Executive Summary .................................................................................. ii II. Sampling Plan .......................................................................................... iv III. Report ....................................................................................................... 1 1. General Description .......................................................................... 1 2. Fishery .............................................................................................. 3 3. Human Population ............................................................................. 5 4. Sewage Discharges .......................................................................... 7 4.1 Community Discharges .................................................................. 7 4.2 Consented Private Discharges - SEPA .......................................... 7 5. Agriculture ....................................................................................... 11 6. Wildlife ............................................................................................ 14 7. Land Cover ..................................................................................... 18 8. Watercourses .................................................................................. 20 9. Meteorological Data ........................................................................ 23 9.1 Rainfall ......................................................................................... 23 9.2 Wind ............................................................................................. 25 10. Classification Information ................................................................ 27 11. Historical E. coli Data ...................................................................... 28 11.1 Validation of historical data .......................................................... 28 11.2 Summary of microbiological results ............................................. 29 11.3 Overall geographical pattern of results ........................................ 29 11.4 Overall temporal pattern of results ............................................... 30 11.5 Seasonal pattern of results .......................................................... 31 11.6 Evaluation of results over 230 E. coli MPN/100 g ........................ 38 11.7 Summary and conclusions ........................................................... 38 12. Designated Waters Data ................................................................. 40 13. Bathymetry and Hydrodynamics ..................................................... 41 13.1 Introduction .................................................................................. 41 13.2 Bathymetry and Hydrodynamics .................................................. 43 13.3 Hydrographic Assessment ........................................................... 50 14. Shoreline Survey Overview ............................................................. 52 15. Bacteriological Survey ..................................................................... 55 16. Overall Assessment ........................................................................ 56 17. Recommendations .......................................................................... 58 18. References ...................................................................................... 60 19. List of Figures and Tables ............................................................... 62 Appendices 1. General Information on Wildlife Impacts 2. Tables of Typical Faecal Bacteria Concentrations 3. Statistical Data 4. Hydrographic Section Glossary 5. Shoreline Survey Report © Crown Copyright 2014. Food Standards Agency Scotland and Cefas. All rights reserved. Loch Laxford Sanitary Survey Report V1.0 24/10/2014 i I. Executive Summary Under (EC) Regulation 854/2004, which sets forth specific rules for the organisation of official controls on products of animal origin intended for human consumption, sanitary surveys of production areas and their associated hydrological catchments and coastal waters are required in order to establish the appropriate representative monitoring points (RMPs) for the monitoring programme. The purpose of the sanitary survey is to demonstrate compliance with the requirements stated in Annex II (Chapter II Paragraph 6) of Regulation (EC) 854/2004. The sanitary survey results in recommendations on the location of RMPs, the frequency of sampling for microbiological monitoring, and the boundaries of the production areas deemed to be represented by the RMPs. A sanitary survey was undertaken on the classified mussel fishery at Loch Laxford on the basis recommended in the European Union Reference Laboratory publication: “Microbiological Monitoring of Bivalve Mollusc Harvesting Area Guide to Good Practice: Technical Application” (http://www.cefas.defra.gov.uk/nrl/information-centre/eu-good-practice-guide.aspx). This area was selected for survey at this time based on a risk-based ranking amongst those Scottish production areas that had yet to receive a survey. Loch Laxford is a sea loch in the northwest of Scotland. It is complex in both topography and bathymetry. The classified production area is comprised of six long-line mussel farms located within both the main loch and within Loch a’ Chadh-Fi, which adjoins it. Sources of human faecal contamination are principally associated with the settlements of Ardmore, Fanagmore and Foindle. Although many of the septic tanks are consented to discharge to soakaway, a number were identified that discharge to the marine environment. There is likely to be a greater overall input to the loch in the vicinity of Ardmore in the spring and summer due to the presence of visitor accommodation. Contamination arising from animal sources is principally associated with sheep, located around Loch a’ Chadh-Fi, and geese and seabirds, noted around the loch but with significant populations near the mouth. Estimated E. coli loadings in watercourses were low to moderate at the time of the shoreline survey. The estimated particle transport distance over a single ebb or flood tide was estimated to be approximately 1 km, with the residual transport over a full tidal cycle being of the order of 0.5 km. From this perspective, many of the mussel farm areas are at, or beyond the limit of transport from identified point sources or watercourses and may only be exposed to intermittent diffuse pollution. The exception is the Loch a’ Chadh-Fi, Ardmore site which is close to sources of contamination from both humans and sheep. A bacteriological survey undertaken at three points showed higher mean and maximum levels at Loch a’ Chadh-Fi, Ardmore than at two other sites. Loch Laxford Sanitary Survey Report V1.0 24/10/2014 ii It is recommended that the production area boundaries be revised to exclude known concentrations of point and diffuse sources where this will not impact on the extent of the current fisheries. It is also recommended that the RMP is moved to the Loch a’ Chadh- Fi, Ardmore site to reflect the risk of contamination that has been identified at that location. Further details are given in the sampling plan. Loch Laxford Sanitary Survey Report V1.0 24/10/2014 iii II. Sampling Plan Production Area Loch Laxford Site Name Loch a’ Chadh-Fi, Ardmore SIN HS-167-318-08 Species Common mussels Type of Fishery Longline NGR of RMP NC 2099 5115 East 220990 North 951150 Tolerance (m) 40 Depth (m) 1-3 Method of Sampling Hand Frequency of