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

7. Monitoring

Section 19 of the 2005 Act requires the Responsible Authority to monitor significant environmental effects arising as a result of the implementation of the plan, programme or strategy. The purpose of the monitoring is to identify any unforeseen adverse effects at an early stage and to enable appropriate remedial action to be taken.

No significant adverse environmental effects were identified in the Environmental Report and therefore no mitigation or monitoring measures were proposed by the SEA (Section 4).

There are several existing monitoring and research programmes in place that can add to the evidence base in relation in relation to potential impacts of closing fishing for sandeel in all Scottish waters. These include:

• The abundance and distribution of marine mammals from, for example, the Small Cetaceans in European Atlantic Waters (SCANS) surveys and information made available through the Special Committee on Seals (SCOS) reports on population estimates and trends.
• The abundance and distribution of seabirds, for example, from the UK Seabird Monitoring Programme monitoring of breeding seabird species at coastal and inland colonies across the UK.
• Local colony effects on seabirds through colony surveys, such as the Isle of May Long-Term Study (IMLOTS) which monitors the biology of five species of seabirds breeding on the Isle of May.
• The abundance of predatory fish species from information on the overall state of fish stocks made available through ICES annually.
• The status of Priority Marine Features in Scotland's MPA network, as set out in Scotland's MPA Monitoring Strategy^[13].