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<oai_dc:dc xmlns:oai_dc="http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc/" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc/ http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc.xsd">
  <dc:title xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">2014, Brown and May Marine, Greater Gabbard, Elasmobranch Long-Line Survey</dc:title>
  <dc:type xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">series</dc:type>
  <dc:identifier xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">https://portal.medin.org.uk/portal/start.php?tpc=015_2fb3d9c9-ebe5-4cdf-a67d-aa43a97ac677</dc:identifier>
  <dc:description xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">The Marine Licence L/2013/00076 conditions associated with the Greater Gabbard Offshore Wind Farm (GGOWF) stipulate that elasmobranch monitoring must be undertaken post-construction. In order to fulfil these conditions a second post-construction longline survey targeting elasmobranchs was undertaken between the 4th and 7th August 2014 within and adjacent to the GGOWF and the cable route. The aim of the survey was to determine the abundance and distribution of elasmobranch species and the survey methodology was developed in consultation with the Marine Management Organisation (MMO).
A total of 14 longlines were shot and hauled over the survey duration in which four species of elasmobranch were recorded; lesser spotted dogfish (Scyliorhinus canicula), thornback ray (Raja clavata), smoothhound sp. (Mustelus sp.) and tope (Galeorhinus galeus).
S. canicula was the most abundant species recorded during the survey with the highest numbers caught within the wind farm. R. clavata was most abundant at stations along the export cable.
S. canicula and G. galeus were recorded in the four sampling areas and all four elasmobranch species were caught within the wind farm. The smallest number of elasmobranch species were found at the export cable control stations.
The majority of S. canicula and G.galeus caught during the survey were females, whereas for R. clavata and Mustelus sp. a higher proportion of males were recorded. Aggregations of elasmobranchs by sex and maturity could be in response to seasonal factors, changes in reproductive behaviour or increased prey availability.
A recent review by the MMO (MMO, 2014) in relation to elasmobranchs and electromagnetic fields (EMFs) generated by offshore wind cabling concluded that there is &#x201C;no evidence to suggest that EMFs pose a significant threat at the site or population level&#x201D;.</dc:description>
  <dc:date xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">20240402T08:44:28 20140804T00:00:00</dc:date>
</oai_dc:dc>