Annual Sampling Report 2003 Workpackage 8: Biodata

Transcription

1 AQUACULTURE AND COASTAL ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY Annual Sampling Report 23 Workpackage 8: Biodata Coastal & Marine Resources Centre, Environmental Research Institute, University College Cork, Ireland Trish Clayton July 23 Key Action n 5: Sustainable agriculture, fisheries and foresting and integrated development of rural areas including mountain areas Contract No. Q5RS

2 AQCESS (Q5RS ) Workpackage 8: Biodata 2 1. Introduction During the third sampling year, the Coastal & Marine Resources Centre (CMRC) obtained further data from a number of sources. Fish landings data was obtained from the Dept. Communications, Marines and Natural Resources (DCMNR) and Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) for both study sites. Landings are recorded according to type i.e. demersal, pelagic, and shellfish and also by species. Landings from 12 Irish ports were available, together with landings from Irish vessels landed in the UK, Spain, France, the Netherlands and Norway. Salmon landings are recorded separately and this data was obtained from the Central Fisheries Board (CFB), which is responsible for the salmon tagging scheme and the issuing of salmon licences. The DCMNR introduced a salmon tagging scheme in 21, which is run by the Central and Regional Fisheries Boards, for commercial and recreational catches of salmon. Gill tags and a logbook are provided with each salmon licence issued. Different coloured tags are given to each type of fisherman. The logbooks are returned at the end of the licence period. The logbook must also be presented if additional tags are needed within the licence period. This provides information on salmon catches on a regional basis. A flatfish survey was carried out in June 2 to examine flatfish numbers found on beaches along the Dingle peninsula. The aim was to develop a better understanding of recruitment in the study sites and the impact of future enhancement efforts. The Biodata annual report for 22 reports on the second flatfish survey carried out in September 21. This survey was carried out by Údaras na Gaeltachta, Taighde Mara Teoranta and the Marine Institute. Bantry Bay contains Ireland s only oil terminal, on Whiddy Island, which operated during the late 196 s and the 197 s. The Irish Government acquired the terminal in 1986, and has 12 floating roof tanks, capable of holding 7.2 million barrels of crude oil. The terminal was used to store oil in the early 199 s and began operating as the point of oil export and import in A baseline environmental survey was carried out in 1996/1997 prior to the facility re-opening and environmental surveys are carried out annually. The results of the baseline survey and the survey in 2 are presented here. The environmental surveys were carried by Byrne O Cleirigh Ltd.

3 AQCESS (Q5RS ) Workpackage 8: Biodata 3 2. Sampling Gear & Methods 2.1 Fish Landings: Fish landings are recorded onboard fishing vessels in logbooks. DCMNR personnel are located in fishing ports around the country, and landings are monitored and checked against the recorded landings. Landings records are then sent to a centralised database in Dublin. This information is then passed onto State Agencies such as BIM, and is used in calculating quotas and also provides information on fishing effort and activity. Salmon landings are recorded by the CFB. 2.2 Flatfish survey: A beach seine survey was carried out at 12 beaches around the Dingle peninsula Gear A standard net was used which was modified for catching flatfish. The net was 2 metres long by 2 metres high, with 1.5mm nylon knot-less mesh. Twenty-eight floats of 215cc were used, together with 1 floats in the middle of 39cc. The foot-rope contained leaded weights. The head- and foot- ropes were 1mm diameter, with 4m bridals coming off each corner. A tickler chain was also added to the footrope, made up of 3/8-inch chain. 15 metres of heavy-duty rope (16mm) were attached to each of the bridles Shooting At each station, the net was loaded into the boat, with one bridle retained on the shore. When the rope end was reached the net was payed out and the boat returned to the shore feeding out the other rope. This ensured that the net was shot the same way and at the same distance from shore at each of the 16 stations Hauling The net was hauled slowly and evenly. Care was taken when hauling the net to ensure the footrope remained in contact with the seabed to minimise escapes. Sampling was carried out on the rising tide. Times of the tows were recorded on the sample sheets.

4 AQCESS (Q5RS ) Workpackage 8: Biodata Environmental data: Under the terms of the planning permission granted for the construction of the Single Point Mooring, Bantry Terminals Ltd were required to carry out a wide range of environmental analyses. Chemical Analysis of the water column was carried out using grab samples at depths of 3m from seven locations in Bantry Bay and a control site in Kenmare Bay. Analysis was also carried out on mussels within Bantry Bay. Mussels were collected from eleven sites within the bay, ten of which are important commercial growing areas. Taste testing of the mussels and a seed mussel distribution survey were carried out. Sediment chemical analysis was also carried out. Samples were carried out at five locations around the Single Point Mooring, and at one location in the vicinity of the SPM. The grab samples were collected using a Van Veer sampler.

5 AQCESS (Q5RS ) Workpackage 8: Biodata 5 3. Results 3.1 Fish Landings Ireland Landings are recorded from 12 ports around the Irish coast. Landings are also included for landings of Irish vessels in 5 other countries (UK, France, Spain, Netherlands, and Norway). Figure.1 below displays total Irish Landings between 198 and 2. Figure.2 shows the landings of selected species landed during the same period Tonnes Demersal Pelagic Shellfish Total Figure. 1 Total Irish Landings Tonnes Cod Herring Mackerel Whiting Lobster Figure.2 Species landings, Ireland,

6 AQCESS (Q5RS ) Workpackage 8: Biodata Bantry Bay site There are four ports in the Bantry bay study site where fish landings are recorded. One of these, Castletownbere, is a nationally important whitefish port. The data for 1998 for Bantry port is absent. Figure.3 below shows the Landings by type for all ports combined, and Figure.4 shows total Landings for each of the ports in the study sites, for the period Tonnes TOTAL DEMERSAL PELAGIC SHELLFISH Figure.3 Total Landings for Bantry Bay Ports, Tonnes Bantry Castletownbere Garnish/Travara Glengarriff Figure.4 Landings for each of the ports in Bantry Bay,

7 AQCESS (Q5RS ) Workpackage 8: Biodata Dingle peninsula site There are seven ports in the Dingle peninsula site. Again one of these, Dingle, is important nationally as a whitefish port. Data is absent in Ballyheigue and Portmagee from , in Castlegregory and Cromane from and again in Cromane between Tonnes TOTAL DEMERSAL PELAGIC SHELLFISH Figure.5 Total Landings for Dingle peninsula ports, Tonnes Ballyheigue Castlegregory Cromane Dingle Fenit Portmagee Valentia Figure.6 Landings for each of the ports on the Dingle peninsula,

8 AQCESS (Q5RS ) Workpackage 8: Biodata Salmon Total Irish Landings from are presented in Figure. 7 below. Landings were not available for the study sites specifically, but instead were available for Counties Cork and Kerry for the same time period (Figure.8). This figure also displays the weight of salmon caught by method of catch. Drift netting in both Cork and Kerry resulted in the highest catches of salmon Weight (Tonnes) Drift Draft Trap Snapnet Rod Total Figure. 7 Irish Salmon Landings, Weight (Tonnes) Cork Total Cork drift Cork draft Cork rod Kerry Total Kerry drift Kerry draft Kerry rod Figure. 8 Salmon Landings in Co. Cork and Co. Kerry,

9 AQCESS (Q5RS ) Workpackage 8: Biodata Flatfish survey A number of pelagic fish and flatfish species were recorded during the survey. Table 1 below shows the number of flatfish caught in the stations. Table.1 Flatfish caught during the beach seine survey, June 2. Other Bay Station Plaice Turbot Flats Totals Brandon Kilcummin Foilmore Foilmore house Cappa strand Scraggane Scraggane East Smerwick Muirioch Bealban Bealban West Ventry Ventry Caravan Park Ventry Graveyard Cuan Pier Totals Other species caught included Brill, Dab, Sandsole, and Flounder. Pelagic species caught included Pipefish, Sea Scorpions, Sandeels, Gado ids and G obies. Table 2 below shows the average weights of Plaice and Turbot at each station. Table.2 Average weights of Plaice and Turbot (grams) at each station. Bay Station Plaice Turbot Brandon Kilcummin Foilmore Foilmore house Cappa strand Scraggane Scraggane East Smerwick Muirioch Bealban Bealban West Ventry Ventry Caravan Park Ventry Graveyard 5.67 Cuan Pier 4.5

10 AQCESS (Q5RS ) Workpackage 8: Biodata Environmental data Table.3 below presents the water chemistry analysis for 1996/1997 and 2. Table.4 presents the data for the analysis of mussel tissue for 96/ 97 and. Table.5 displays the analysis of the sediment samples for 96/ 97 and. Comparative data is also presented for the mussel and sediment samples between 1996 and 2 in Tables.6 & 7. Table.3 Water Chemistry Analysis, 1996/1997 and 2, Bantry Bay. Units 96/97 Mean Mean Salinity Susp Solids mg/l <2 <2 THC mg/l <.2 <.1 TPH mg/l <.2 <.1 Cadmium µg/l <.5 <.4 Chromium µg/l < 1.2 <.43 Copper µg/l Lead µg/l Mercury µg/l <.1 <.8 Nickel µg/l Vanadium µg/l <1 <1 Zinc µg/l Tributyl Tin ng/l <2.6 <2.5 Table.4 Chemical Analysis of Mu ssel tissue, 1996/1997 and 2, Bantry Bay. Units 96 Mean 97 Mean Mean Solids Content % % Cadmium mg/kg Chromium mg/kg Copper mg/kg Lead mg/kg Mercury mg/kg Nickel mg/kg Vanadium mg/kg Zinc mg/kg Total Organotins µg/kg 94.6 <44.4 <2 Tributyl Tin µg/kg <2 < 24.9 <2 TBT µg/kg Triphenyl Tin µg/kg <2 <2 <2 Dibutyl Tin µg/kg < Total Hydrocarbons mg/kg Total PAH's mg/kg.625 <.272 na

11 AQCESS (Q5RS ) Workpackage 8: Biodata 11 Table. 5 Chemical Analysis of Sediment Samples, 1996/1997 and 2, Bantry Bay. Units 96 Mean 97 Mean Mean Solids Contents % % Cadmium mg/kg Chromium mg/kg Copper mg/kg Lead mg/kg Mercury mg/kg Nickel mg/kg Vanadium mg/kg Zinc mg/kg Total Organotins µg/kg <5 <5 <5 Tributyl Tin µg/kg <5 <2 <2 TBT µg/kg <12 <2 Triphenyl Tin µg/kg <5 <2 <2 Dibutyl Tin µg/kg <1 <1.6 Total Hydrocarbons mg/kg Total PAH's µg/kg na Table.6 Mussel Tissue analysis, Solids Contents Cadmium Chromium Copper Lead Mercury Nickel Vanadium Zinc TPH Table.7 Sediment Analysis, Solids Contents Cadmium Chromium Copper Lead Mercury Nickel Vanadium Zinc TPH PAH's

12 AQCESS (Q5RS ) Workpackage 8: Biodata Discussion 4.1 Landing s Data Total Irish landings can be seen to reflect the pelagic landings. Landings reached a peak in 1995 and have since been declining. This can also be seen in the selected species landings. Mackerel landings are higher and follow a similar trend to total landings. Landings in the Bantry Bay site can also be seen to reflect the pelagic landings. Castletownbere can be seen to be the most important landing port within the study site. The importance of shellfish landings in the Dingle peninsula sites can also be seen. Total Dingle site landings reflect this rather than the pelagic landings as seen in the Bantry Bay and Ireland landings. Dingle port is a nationally important whitefish port and it can be seen that landings there increased significantly from 198 to 1998, but have since declined. Cromane had high landings in the early 198 s, but this has since become one of the less significant ports in the Dingle site. The main landings in Cromane are shellfish. Salmon landings have fluctuated during the 199 s. Drift netting is the catch method which results in the highest landings. This can also be seen in the Salmon landings for Cork and Kerry, despite the limited open season for drift netting. The drift netting season is only open from 1 st June to the 31 st July each year, with fishing permitted between 4.am- 7.pm, Monday to Thursday. 4.2 Flatfish Survey The flatfish survey results indicate that Plaice outnumber other flatfish at all of the stations sampled. The average number of Plaice caught at each station was 21. The average number of flatfish at all stations was 36. A second survey was carried out in the September of the following year (see Biodata Annual Report 22). Again Plaice was the species most encountered. This survey was carried out at 19 locations around the Dingle peninsula (12 locations were used in the survey in this report). This included Inch beach, the beach closest to the area where mussels are harvested. The highest numbers of flatfish were recorded from the sites on Inch beach in the second survey.

13 AQCESS (Q5RS ) Workpackage 8: Biodata Environmental Data The results of the environmental data are generally within the OSPAR guidelines issued. The water chemistry analysis results showed a decrease for most of the parameters analysed between 96/ 97 and, with the exception of Copper, which slowed a slight increase in concentration. The analysis of mussel tissue results also showed decreases in the parameters measured, with the exception of solids contents and TBT. Results increased in Mercury and Total Hydrocarbons increase between 96 and 97, but decreased again in. The sediment analysis reveals that the parameters measured increased between 96 and 97, and decreased again in, however with results still at a higher level than the initial study in 96. This was seen to be the case for Chromium, Copper, Nickel, Zinc, and Total Hydrocarbons. In other cases an increase in concentration was seen: Lead, Vanadium, Tributyl Tin, and Triphenyl Tin.