Sandeel fishing - closure proposals: strategic environmental assessment - post adoption statement

4. How the Environmental Report was taken into account

The Environmental Report details the key environmental impacts of the proposals to close sandeel fishing in all Scottish waters. The key findings can be summarised as follows:

• Sandeel provide an important prey species for several species of seabirds. The positive benefits to seabird productivity and populations of a sandeel fishery closure are difficult to quantify due to the complexity of wider environmental factors that impact upon sandeel availability and seabird demography. However, despite these uncertainties, maximising abundance and availability of sandeel stocks as prey for seabirds in Scotland remains a key mechanism by which resilience in seabird populations might be achieved.
• Sandeel are a key prey species for many marine mammal species in Scottish waters, comprising a large proportion of the diet of seals and some cetaceans. As with seabirds, the extent of benefits are difficult to predict due to the complexity of environmental factors, however an increase in sandeel abundance is likely to be beneficial to several populations of marine mammals given their dependence on sandeel as a prey source.
• The proposed closure may promote sandeel resilience to climate change by limiting variation in Spawning Stock Biomass (SSB) that might affect recruitment and ensuring that sufficient large, early spawning individuals are present in the population.
• The closure may provide benefits to predatory fish through increased prey availability. Predatory fish are often generalist feeders, however some fish species such as whiting, haddock, cod, plaice, lesser weever and grey gurnard have shown higher body condition indices or growth in years of high sandeel abundance.
• The closure may provide benefits to whiting and mackerel, which are caught as bycatches in the sandeel fishery.
• The increased protection that will result from the closure of the sandeel fishery will benefit MPAs that have sandeel as a protected feature, as well as wider conservation areas that are in place for species that rely on sandeel as a source of prey. These include Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) for grey and harbour seal, Special Protection Areas (SPAs) for seabird species, and MPAs for black guillemot and minke whale.
• The implementation of the measures may result in the potential displacement of sandeel fishing activity and its associated pressures outside the boundary of Scottish waters. Effects of displacement are difficult to predict due to the transboundary nature of any displacement and the highly mobile nature of many species of seabird, marine mammal and fish.
• No significant adverse environmental effects were identified in the Environmental Report and therefore no mitigation or monitoring measures were proposed by the SEA.

On the basis of these findings, which draws on the wider evidence base, and with the aim of facilitating the wider environmental benefits outlined in the Environmental Report, the Scottish Government consulted on proposals to close fishing for sandeel in all Scottish waters.