Coasts and seas of the United Kingdom Region 6 Eastern England: Flamborough Head to Great Yarmouth edited by J.H. Barne, C.F. Robson, S.S. Kaznowska, J.P. Doody & N.C. Davidson Joint Nature Conservation Committee Monkstone House, City Road Peterborough PE1 1JY UK ©JNCC 1995 This report has been produced by the Coastal Directories Project of the JNCC on behalf of the project Steering Group JNCC Coastal Directories Project Team Project directors Dr J.P. Doody, Dr N.C. Davidson Project management and co-ordination J.H. Barne, C.F. Robson Editing and publication S.S. Kaznowska, F.J. Wright Information systems M. Jones Administration & editorial assistance C.A. Smith, J.A. Mitchell, R. Keddie, E. Leck, S. Palasiuk, N. Stevenson. The project receives guidance from a Steering Group which has more than 200 members. More detailed information and advice comes from the members of the Core Steering Group, which is composed as follows: Dr. J.M. Baxter Scottish Natural Heritage R.J. Bleakley Department of the Environment, Northern Ireland R. Bradley The Association of Sea Fisheries Committees of England and Wales Dr J.P. Doody Joint Nature Conservation Committee Dr. K. Hiscock Joint Nature Conservation Committee Prof. G.A.D. King National Coasts and Estuaries Advisory Group Prof. S.J. Lockwood MAFF Directorate of Fisheries Research C.R. Macduff-Duncan Esso UK (on behalf of the UK Offshore Operators Association) Dr. D.J. Murison Scottish Office Agriculture & Fisheries Department M.L. Pickles National Rivers Authority Dr. H.J. Prosser Welsh Office Dr. J.S. Pullen WWF UK (Worldwide Fund for Nature) Dr. G.P. Radley English Nature Dr. P.C. Reid Plymouth Marine Laboratory Dr. M.J. Roberts Water Resources and Marine, Department of the Environment S.L. Soffe Countryside Council for Wales M.L. Tasker Joint Nature Conservation Committee R.G. Woolmore Countryside Commission Recommended citation for this volume: Barne, J.H., Robson, C.F., Kaznowska, S.S., Doody, J.P., & Davidson, N.C., eds. 1995. Coasts and seas of the United Kingdom. Region 6 Eastern England: Flamborough Head to Great Yarmouth. Peterborough, Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Recommended citation for a chapter in this volume (example): Davidson, N.C. 1995. Chapter 4.1 Estuaries. In: Coasts and seas of the United Kingdom. Region 6 Eastern England: Flamborough Head to Great Yarmouth, ed. by J.H. Barne, C.F. Robson, S.S. Kaznowska, J.P. Doody & N.C. Davidson, 63-66. Peterborough, Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Region 1: ISBN 1 873701 75 6 Region 10: ISBN 1 873701 84 5 Region 2: ISBN 1 873701 76 4 Region 11: ISBN 1 873701 85 3 Region 3: ISBN 1 873701 77 2 Region 12: ISBN 1 873701 86 1 Region 4: ISBN 1 873701 78 0 Region 13: ISBN 1 873701 87 x Region 5: ISBN 1 873701 79 9 Region 14: ISBN 1 873701 88 8 Region 6: ISBN 1 873701 80 2 Region 15/16: ISBN 1 873701 89 6 Region 7: ISBN 1 873701 81 0 Region 17: ISBN 1 873701 92 6 Region 8: ISBN 1 873701 82 9 Region 9: ISBN 1 873701 83 7 Set of 17 regions: ISBN 1 873701 91 8 2 Contents Foreword 5 How to use this book 6 Acknowledgements 7 Chapter 1 Introduction Dr J.P. Doody 9 1.1 The Coastal Directories project 9 1.2 Regional summary 13 Chapter 2 Geology and physical environment British Geological Survey 19 2.1 Coastal geology 19 2.2 Offshore geology 22 2.3 Wind and water 27 2.4 Sediment transport 32 2.5 Sea-level rise and flooding 35 2.6 Coastal landforms 37 Chapter 3 Terrestrial coastal habitats 41 3.1 Cliffs and cliff-top vegetation Dr T.C.D. Dargie 41 3.2 Sand dunes Dr T.C.D. Dargie 44 3.3 Vegetated shingle structures and shorelines Dr R.E. Randall 48 3.4 Coastal lagoons Dr R.N. Bamber & Dr R.S.K. Barnes 51 3.5 Wet grassland Dr H.T. Gee 54 3.6 Saltmarsh Dr M.I. Hill 58 Chapter 4 Marine and estuarine habitats 63 4.1 Estuaries Dr N.C. Davidson 63 4.2 The sea bed R.A. Irving 67 4.3 Plankton M. Edwards & A.W.G. John 74 Chapter 5 Important species 77 5.1 Terrestrial lower plants N.G. Hodgetts 77 5.2 Flowering plants and ferns V.M. Morgan 81 5.3 Land and freshwater invertebrates A.P. Foster & M.S. Parsons 84 5.4 Rare sea-bed species Dr W.G. Sanderson 91 5.5 Exploited sea-bed species Dr. M.G. Pawson & C.F. Robson 94 5.6 Amphibians and reptiles Dr M.J.S. Swan 98 5.7 Fish: exploited sea fish Dr. M.G. Pawson & C.F. Robson 103 5.8 Fish: salmon, sea trout and eels Dr. M. Aprahamian & C.F. Robson 107 5.9 Fish: other species Dr G.W. Potts & S.E. Swaby 109 5.10 Seabirds M.L. Tasker 112 5.11 Other breeding birds D.M. Craddock & D.A. Stroud 115 5.12 Migrant and wintering waterfowl D.A. Stroud & D.M. Craddock 119 5.13 Land mammals Dr C.E. Turtle 124 5.14 Seals C.D. Duck 126 5.15 Whales, dolphins and porpoises Dr P.G.H. Evans 129 3 Chapter 6 History and archaeology A.B. Gale & V. Fenwick 133 Chapter 7 Coastal protected sites R.G. Keddie 141 7.1 Introduction 141 7.2 Sites designated under international conventions 143 and directives 7.3 Sites established under national statute 148 7.4 Sites identified by statutory agencies 153 7.5 Other types of protected site 156 Chapter 8 Land use, infrastructure and coastal defence 161 8.1 Introduction M.J. Dunbar, S.J. Everett, S.L. Fowler & J.A. Norton 161 8.2 Land use M.J. Dunbar, S.J. Everett, S.L. Fowler & J.A. Norton 161 8.3 Infrastructure M.J. Dunbar, S.J. Everett, S.L. Fowler, J.A. Norton, C.A. Crumpton & M.J. Goodwin 165 8.4 Coastal defence M.J. Dunbar, S.J. Everett, S.L. Fowler & J.A. Norton 171 Chapter 9 Human activities 175 9.1 Fisheries C.F. Robson 175 9.2 Mariculture C.F. Robson 183 9.3 Quarrying and landfilling C.A. Crumpton & M.J. Goodwin 186 9.4 Marine aggregate extraction, dredging and disposal C.A. Crumpton & M.J. Goodwin 189 of dredge spoil 9.5 Oil and gas development C.A. Crumpton, M.J. Goodwin & J.H.Barne 193 9.6 Water quality and effluent discharges C.A. Crumpton & M.J. Goodwin 195 9.7 Leisure and tourism M.J. Dunbar, S.L. Fowler, Dr N.C. Davidson & D.A. Stroud 201 Chapter 10 Coastal management S.L. Fowler 207 10.1 Introduction 207 10.2 National coastal initiatives with regional elements 208 10.3 Regional coastal management groups and initiatives 211 Appendix A.1 Frequently cited contact organisations and addresses 217 A.2 Local planning authorities, ports and harbour authorities addresses 218 A.3 Core reading list 219 A.4 Contributing authors 220 4 Foreword Information is vital for sound policy formulation. Decision reflecting the extent of the interplay between the coastal makers at national and local level need to know more than environment and human activities. These organisations just the scale, location and importance of natural resources included the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, that are of value to humans. They have to understand how the Scottish Office Agriculture and Fisheries Department, human activities affect the value of those resources and how the National Rivers Authority, the Countryside to conduct those activities in an environmentally sustainable Commission, the Scottish Office, the Welsh Office, the way. This is true for virtually every activity that impinges Department of the Environment, the Sea Fisheries on the natural environment. In the coastal zone the Committees, English Nature, Scottish Natural Heritage and complexity of the relationships between the physical and the Countryside Council for Wales, together with local biological systems adds another dimension to the problems authorities, voluntary conservation organisations and of formulating management policy. private companies (notably those in the oil industry, I am pleased, therefore, to be introducing the Coasts and through the UK Offshore Operators Association). I am also seas of the United Kingdom series. The Coastal Directories pleased to be able to acknowledge the contribution made by project, of which this series of seventeen regional reports, the staff of the Joint Nature Conservation Committee. As covering the whole of the UK coast, is an important product, the work has evolved since the first meetings of the Steering has brought together an encyclopaedic range of information Group in 1990, the value of involving such a broad span of on our coastal resources and the human activities that are interests has been highlighted by the extent to which it has associated with them. Amongst the topics covered are the allowed new approaches and information sources to be basic geology of the coasts around the United Kingdom and identified. measures taken for coast defence and sea protection, the The regional reports will be of value to all who live and distribution and importance of the wildlife and habitats of work in the maritime areas of the UK, where informed our coasts and seas, including fish and fisheries, and the management is the key to the sustainable use of resources. climate and sea level changes to which they all are subject. The reports should become indispensable reference sources In addition to the value of the information itself, the way for organisations shouldering new or expanded the project has been run and the data collected has made an responsibilities for the management of marine Special Areas important contribution to the quality of the product.