2006, Centre for Marine and Coastal Studies (CMACS), Burbo Bank Offshore Wind Farm, Pre-Construction Commercial Fish Survey (4m Beam Trawl)
series
https://portal.medin.org.uk/portal/start.php?tpc=015_3a2981d47bebb3a95edad315001209fb
This project relates to the specific FEPA requirements for surveys of subtidal benthic (seabed) invertebrate ecology and fish. These are in part addressed by an annual 2m scientific beam trawl survey which complements other work, notably grab sampling and 4m (commercial) beam trawl surveys. The 2m beam trawl survey is undertaken by Centre for Marine and Coastal Studies Ltd (CMACS) on behalf of SeaScape Ltd. The programme commenced with baseline (pre-construction) surveys in autumn 2005 which built upon surveys undertaken in 2002 in support of the project environmental impact assessment. This project relates to the results of monitoring carried out in autumn 2006, during construction of the wind farm, and compares the results with baseline data. The survey outcomes showed some clear differences in benthic fauna sampled by beam trawls that were apparent between baseline survey in 2005 and the during construction survey in 2006. The most notable trend was a marked decrease in abundance of epibenthic invertebrates and infauna sampled by trawls across many sites.
20060514