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Publication - Impact assessment

Planning Scotland's Seas: 2013 - The Scottish Marine Protected Area Project – Developing the Evidence Base for Impact Assessments and the Sustainability Appraisal Final Report - Appendix E - Marine Site Reports

Published
19 August 2013
Topic
Marine and fisheries
ISBN
9781782567585

This is Appendix E for the pMPA Impact and Sustainability Report containing the detailed site by site reports. Published separately due to size.

View supporting documents Supporting documents

Monach Isles ( MOI)

Site Area (km 2): 68

Site Summary

Table 1. Summary of Proposed Protected Features, Data Confidence and Conservation Objectives [ MOI]
Proposed protected features
Biodiversity Features
Black guillemot.

Geodiversity Features
Quaternary of Scotland - landscape of areal glacial scour, Marine Geomorphology of Scottish Shelf - components to be confirmed by SNH.

Site Description
The Monach Isles site proposal boundary includes all of the islands of the archipelago and waters out to 2km from the coastline. The site derives from the Monach Isles SSSI, and its outer boundary represents a 2km extension of the existing SSSI boundary.
Summary of confidence in presence, extent and condition of proposed protected features and conservation objectives
Proposed Protected Feature Estimated Area of Feature (by scenario) (km 2) Confidence in
Feature Presence 		Confidence in
Feature Extent 		Confidence in
Feature Condition 		Conservation Objective and Risk
Biodiversity Features
Black guillemot *Lower: 57.14
Intermediate: 57.14
Upper: 57.14		 Yes (Seabird 2000 census) Yes (Seabird 2000, 2002) Not known Conserve
Geodiversity Features
Quaternary of Scotland - landscape of areal glacial scour 67.80 Yes ( SNH & JNCC review) Partial - additional work required to map individual features Not known
Marine Geomorphology of Scottish Shelf - components to be confirmed by SNH Yes ( SNH & JNCC review) Partial - additional work required to map individual features Not known
Key: * Estimated area based on best available data
References:
Area of Feature: GeMs
Confidence in feature presence and extent: SNH (2012i)

Summary of Costs and Benefits

Table 2a. Site-Specific Economic Costs on Human Activities arising from the Designation and Management of the Site as an MPA (present value of total costs over 2014 to 2033 inclusive) [ MOI]
Human Activity Cost Impact on Activity
Lower Estimate (£Million) Intermediate Estimate (£Million) Upper Estimate (£Million)
Quantified Economic Costs (Discounted)
Military See national costs See national costs See national costs
Total Quantified Economic Costs N/A N/A N/A
Non-Quantified Economic Costs
Military
  • See national assessment.
  • See national assessment.
  • See national assessment.
Note: For detailed information on economic cost impacts on activities, see Table 4.
Table 2b. Site-Specific Public Sector Costs arising from the Designation and Management of the Site as an MPA (over 2014 to 2033 inclusive) [ MOI]
Description Public Sector Costs
Lower Estimate (£Million) Intermediate Estimate (£Million) Upper Estimate (£Million)
Quantified Public Sector Costs (Discounted)
Preparation of Marine Management Schemes None None None
Preparation of Statutory Instruments None None None
Development of voluntary measures National assessment National assessment National assessment
Site monitoring National assessment National assessment National assessment
Compliance and enforcement National assessment National assessment National assessment
Promotion of public understanding National assessment National assessment National assessment
Regulatory and advisory costs associated with licensing decisions None None None
Total Quantified Public Sector Costs 0.000 0.000 0.000
Non-Quantified Public Sector Costs
None identified.
Table 2c. Summary of Social Impacts and Distribution of Quantified Impacts arising from the Designation and Management of the Site as an MPA (over 2014 to 2033 inclusive) [ MOI]
Key Areas of Social Impact Description Scale of Expected Impact across Scenarios, Average (mean no. of jobs affected) Distributional Analysis
Location Fishing Groups Predominantly Affected Social Groups Affected
Region Port Rural/ Urban/ Island Gear Types Most Affected Vessels most affected Crofters Ethnic minorities With disability or long term sick
None identified (Commercial Fisheries).
Table 2d. Site-Specific Benefits arising from the Designation and Management of the Site as an MPA (over 2014 to 2033 inclusive) [ MOI]
Benefit Description
Ecosystem Services Benefits (Moderate and High Benefits) Relevance Scale of Benefits
Non-use value of natural environment Low Nil - Moderate
Other Benefits
Tourism Higher biodiversity due to designation, and presence of designations, may attract more tourism activity to local economy.
Contribution to ecologically coherent network See report Section 7.5.
Note: For detailed information on ecosystem services benefits, see Tables 9 and 10. For detailed information on other benefits, see Table 5 (activities that would benefit) and Table 8 (contribution to ecologically-coherent network).

Summary of Overlaps and Interactions between Proposed Designated Features and Human Activities

Table 3. Overlaps and Potential Interactions between Features and Activities under different Scenarios, indicating need for Assessment of Cost Impacts on Human Activities from Designation of the Site as an MPA [ MOI]
Aggregates Aquaculture (Finfish) Aquaculture (Shellfish) Aviation Carbon Capture & Storage Coastal Protection Commercial Fisheries Energy Generation Military Activities Oil & Gas Ports & Harbours Power Interconnectors Recreational Boating Shipping Telecom Cables Tourism Water Sports
Biodiversity Features
Black guillemot - - - - - - L/I/U - L/I/U - - - - - - L/I/U L/I/U
Geodiversity Features
Quaternary of Scotland - landscape of areal glacial scour
Marine Geomorphology of Scottish Shelf - components to be confirmed by SNH Not considered to be sensitive at the levels of exposure expected from human activities; thus, not considered in the context of management.
Note: L = Lower Scenario; I = Intermediate Scenario; U = Upper Scenario. Normal font indicates that there is an overlap between the activity and proposed designated feature under that scenario, bold indicates that the overlap results in a potential interaction between the activity and proposed designated feature that has resulted in cost impacts under that scenario.
For detail of management measures assessed under each scenario for each activity, and results of the cost estimates, see Table 4.

Human Activity Summaries

Human activities that would be impacted by designation of the site as an MPA

Table 4a. Military [ MOI]

Three military practice areas (Hebrides (D701; D701A; D701C - Missile Firing/Pilotless Target Aircraft)) overlap with the Black Guillemot feature of the MOI proposed MPA under all scenarios (lower, intermediate and upper).

The features and associated habitats which overlap with military activities have not been described as vulnerable to MoD activities in this proposed MPA. It is assumed that management relating to MoD activity will be coordinated through the MoD's Maritime Environmental Sustainability Appraisal Tool ( MESAT) which the MoD uses to assist in meeting its environmental obligations. This process will include operational guidance to reduce significant impacts of military activities on MPAs. It is assumed that the MoD will incur additional costs in adjusting MESAT and other MoD environmental assessment tools in order to consider whether its activities will impact on the conservation objectives of MPAs and also incur additional costs in adjusting electronic charts to consider MPAs. However, these costs will be incurred at national level and hence no site-specific cost assessments have been made.
Economic Costs on the Activity of Designation of the Site as an MPA
Lower Estimate Intermediate Estimate Upper Estimate
Assumptions for cost impacts
  • See National Assessment.
  • See National Assessment.
  • See National Assessment.
Description of one-off costs
Description of recurring costs
Description of non-quantified costs
Quantified Costs on the Activity of Designation of the Site as an MPA (£Million)
Total costs (2014-2033) See national costs See national costs See national costs
Average annual costs See national costs See national costs See national costs
Present value of total costs (2014-2033) See national costs See national costs See national costs
Total costs = Sum of one-off costs and recurring costs for the site summed over the 20 year period.
Average annual costs = Total costs divided by the total number of years under analysis ( i.e. 20).
Present value of total costs = Total costs discounted to their current value, using a discount rate of 3.5%.

Human activities that would benefit from designation of the site as an MPA

Table 5. Human Activities that would Benefit from Designation of the Site as an MPA [ MOI]
Activity Description Lower Estimate Intermediate Estimate Upper Estimate
Tourism Coastal areas are well represented when considering the locations of various tourist related sites within Scotland with a range of site types present in all regions including the North West. Where significant impacts to recreational boating or water sports have been identified for the site, there could also be consequential impacts on tourism. Tourism may benefit from the designation of the MPA as an added attraction to the destination. In addition, there may also be indirect benefits to tourism as a result of benefits to some water sports activities, for example, recreational angling. The intermediate management measures applied to sector activities will result in an increase of the beneficial impacts seen in the lower estimate. The upper management measures applied to sector activities will result in an increase of the beneficial impacts seen in the lower and intermediate estimates.
Water Sports - Sea Angling Sea angling is carried out along most of the Scottish coastline within 6nm ( SSACN). The MOI proposed MPA is a coastal site with the majority of the site being located within 6nm of the UK coastline. Therefore sea angling overlaps with the 'Black Guillemot' feature under al scenarios. No management restrictions upon this activity are required. Sea anglers could benefit from any on-site positive effects resulting from the MPA designation and corresponding management restrictions on sector activities including an increase in the size and diversity of species which in turn is expected to increase the attraction of a site for anglers (Fletcher et al. 2012). The intermediate management measures applied to sector activities will result in an increase of the beneficial impacts seen in the lower estimate. The upper management measures applied to sector activities will result in an increase of the beneficial impacts seen in the lower and intermediate estimates.

Human activities that are present but which would be unaffected by designation of the site as an MPA

Table 6. Human Activities that are Present but which would be Unaffected by Designation of the Site as an MPA [ MOI]
Activity Description
Commercial Fisheries Pots (over-15m) and pots, dredges and other gears (under-15m vessels) operate within the MOI proposed MPA and across the black guillemot feature extent. The value of landings from the MOI area was £17,500 (over-15m vessels) and £23,100 (under-15m vessels, indicated from ICES rectangle landings data) (annual average for 2007-2011, 2012 prices). Provisional Scotmap data indicate the value of landings from the MOI proposed MPA was £31,000, from pots. Landings from the over-15m vessels were predominantly into Snizort (35% by value), North Uist (18%), Uig (16%), Ullapool (9%) and Grimsay (8%). Black guillemot are not thought to be sensitive or vulnerable to pressures from fishing gears, therefore no management measures for fisheries are proposed and no cost impacts are anticipated.

Social and Distributional Analysis of Impacts from Designation of the Site as an MPA

Table 7a. Social Impacts Associated with Quantified and Non-Quantified Economic Costs [ MOI]
Sector Potential Economic Impacts Economic Costs and GVA ( PV) Area of Social Impact Affected Mitigation Significance of Social impact
None identified.
Impacts: xxx - significant negative effect; xx - possible negative effects; x - minimal negative effect, if any; 0 - no noticeable effect expected.
Table 7b. Distribution of Quantified Economic Costs for Commercial Fisheries and Fish Processors (assuming zero displacement of fishing activity) - Location, Age and Gender [ MOI]
Sector/Impact Location Age Gender
Region Ports Rural, Urban, Coastal or Island Children Working Age Pensionable Age Male Female
None identified.
Impacts: xxx - significant negative effect; xx - possible negative effects; x - minimal negative effect, if any; 0 - no noticeable effect expected.
Table 7c. Distribution of Quantified Economic Costs for Commercial Fisheries and Fish Processors (assuming zero displacement of fishing activity) - Fishing Groups, Income Groups and Social Groups [ MOI]
Sector/Impact Fishing Groups Income Groups Social Groups
Vessel Category <15m >15m Gear Types/Sector 10% Most Deprived Middle 80% 10% Most Affluent Crofters Ethnic minorities With Disability or Long-term Sick
None identified.
Impacts: xxx - significant negative effect; xx - possible negative effects; x - minimal negative effect, if any; 0 - no noticeable effect expected.

Potential Contribution of the Site to an Ecologically-Coherent Network

Table 8. Overview of Features Proposed for Designation and how these contribute to an Ecologically Coherent Network of MPAs [ MOI]
Feature Name Representation Replication Linkages Geographic Range
and Variation 		Resilience
Black Guillemot Provides representation of black guillemot in OSPAR Region II. Represents one of six areas representing black guillemot. Not currently understood for black guillemot. MPA area is relatively exposed example of black guillemot and extends coverage of the geographic range to the west. Although not listed by OSPAR as threatened and/or declining, there is evidence of decline. The potential MPA areas may increase resilience.
JNCC (pers. comm.); SNH and JNCC. (2012). Assessment of the potential adequacy of the Scottish MPA network for MPA search features: summary of the application of the stage 5 selection guidelines.
Available online from: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/marine/marine-environment/mpanetwork/engagement/270612.

Anticipated Benefits to Ecosystem Services

Table 9. Summary of Ecosystem Services Benefits arising from Designation of the Site as an MPA [9] [ MOI]
Services Relevance
to Site 		Baseline Level Estimated Impacts of Designation Value Weighting Scale of Benefits Confidence
Lower Intermediate Upper
Fish for human consumption Moderate. Habitats make contribution to food webs. Stocks not at MSY Nil Nil Nil Low. Site fishing grounds have low value Nil High
Fish for non-human consumption Stocks reduced from potential maximum Nil Nil Nil
Gas and climate regulation Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil Moderate Nil High
Natural hazard protection Minimal Low Nil Nil Nil Low Nil High
Regulation of pollution Minimal Low Nil Nil Nil Low Nil High
Non-use value of natural environment Low - protected feature, and contribution of the site to MPA network, have non-use value. Non-use value of the site may decline, but probably stable Nil, no change in key characteristics of site Low - protection of feature of site from minor decline Low, although black guillemot is charismatic species, it is site's only feature Nil - Moderate Moderate
Recreation Low Minimal Nil Minimal Low Minimal Moderate
Research and Education Minimal Nil - Low Nil Minimal Low Minimal Moderate
Total value of changes in ecosystem services Nil for lower scenario, Minimal for upper scenarios Minimal Moderate

Human Activities which Occur within the Proposed MPA Monach Isles

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