Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Bembridge Recommended Marine Conservation Zone June 2018 Consultation on Sites Proposed for Designation in the Third Tranche of Marine Conservation Zones Sun star and bryozoans on subtidal coarse sediment © Crown Copyright 1 Contents Where is the site located?.................................................................................................... 3 Why is the site environmentally important?.......................................................................... 4 What would this site protect? ............................................................................................... 5 Where are the features located?.......................................................................................... 6 Which activities are likely to be affected? ............................................................................ 8 Which activities are not likely to be affected? ...................................................................... 9 Additional information ........................................................................................................ 10 2 Where is the site located? Bembridge recommended Marine Conservation Zone (MCZ) is an inshore site that covers an area of approximately 75 km². The site lies adjacent to the east coast of the Isle of Wight from Nettlestone Point in the north to Ventnor in the south. The site encompasses the intertidal and subtidal areas extending to the edge of the deep water channel approach into the Eastern Solent. The site overlaps with the South Wight Maritime Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and will offer protection to species and features not currently protected by the SAC. The site boundaries have been modified from those proposed by the Regional MCZ Project. The new boundary excludes the St Helen’s Road Anchorage after consultation with stakeholders. 3 Why is the site environmentally important? The area within Bembridge MCZ is highly diverse with a wide range of habitats and species, from rocky shores and intertidal sediments to deep water habitats, sea pens and burrowing megafauna, making it an ecologically important site. Several species, including the peacock's tail seaweed, are at the most eastern edge of their distribution and are considered to seed other populations around the Isle of Wight. The central area of the site is dominated by an extensive area of limestone and chalk bedrock providing a complex system of crevices, tunnels and pools supporting very diverse algae and invertebrate species such as crustaceans and molluscs. The large areas of subtidal mixed sediments act as a supporting substrate to several important features such as maerl beds. Maerl is Subtidal coarse sediment © Crown a fragile, calcareous, red seaweed that forms Copyright large mats and provides shelter for many other species. It is highly sensitive to seabed activities and takes a long time to recover from damage. The site would also protect the short-snouted seahorse (Hippocampus hippocampus) as well as two species of stalked jellyfish (Lucernariopsis campanulata and Haliclystus species). 4 What would this site protect? Designation would protect the following features. You can read more about the features this site protects and why they are important here. Feature General Management Approach Sheltered muddy gravels Short-snouted seahorse (Hippocampus hippocampus) Stalked jellyfish (Haliclystus species) Maintain in favourable condition Stalked jellyfish (Lucernariopsis campanulata) Subtidal coarse sediment Subtidal sand Native oyster (Ostrea edulis) Seagrass beds Maerl beds Sea pens and burrowing megafauna Recover to favourable condition Peacock's tail (Padina pavonica) Subtidal mixed sediments Subtidal mud 5 Where are the features located? The following maps show the location of the features to be protected within the site. A range of different types of surveys have been used to create these maps. More detailed information on the techniques used can be found here. 6 Duetnsensi??ies surrounding In! 31d end-aged 51315 oflhe Mamm{??l? Edda] Iheir balms havennt hem plotted in his ?gure. Bentn'due rlilCE Version 2 Features ul Cmmatinn Inpurtmce ch ?u'ersiun 2 Regional ch FrujeciArE-a 12mm Ten'itorial Seas Li'rit Sea Land 1- I 4 Features mmded for duigmlim Haltedklr??h Shaft summed 59am Statedjeljr?sh {Mp-31?s campaide?'a F'E-amk's tail [thi'ra perm] Maerl bEdE 3 Seagass beds ai- Stalered muddy gray-35 El 52-39355 beds Shattered muddy- grave-ls Em msm1mm1. mums What-231mm mm mam-BI Hmmnemnum Which activities are likely to be affected? Management decisions are taken on a case by case basis by relevant regulators. If an activity is identified as requiring management this does not necessarily mean that it will need to be significantly restricted. Decisions will be based on the specifics of each case and any restrictions will depend on the sensitivity of the species, habitats or geological/geomorphological features to be protected to the activity taking place. More detail is available in the Impact Assessment. Sectors and activities likely to be affected by designation Best Cost Estimate (£) per year Sector Activity Affected Commercial Fishing UK Bottom trawling, dredging and the £5,000 use of pots, nets, lines & traps Ports and Harbours Environmental Impact Assessments £4,000 Recreation Anchoring and mooring £500 Renewable energy - tidal Environmental Impact Assessments £1,000 Best estimate total cost £10,500 Commercial Fishing UK The following gears are known to be used within the site: • Bottom trawls, dredges and mid-water trawls • Pots, nets, hand lines and traps Locally the most important fisheries within the site are potting, with crab, lobster and whelk being important to the local economy. Potting is regarded as one of the least damaging forms of fishing and any management of this activity within the MCZ is likely to be restricted to particular zones. Netting also occurs within the site with the main target species being bream and skate. The use of mobile trawling gear is already prohibited across much of the site through a bylaw protecting the overlapping SAC. The activities likely to be affected by designation are shown in the table above. 8 Ports and harbours The site borders the deep water channel approach into the Eastern Solent leading to ports of Southampton and Portsmouth. Navigational dredging occurs within 5 km of site and a disposal site (WI071) also lies within this distance. All future applications need to consider the possible effects of the activities on the features designated and likely to incur additional costs as part of the Environmental Impact Assessment. the the will are Recreation The majority of recreational activities within Bembridge MCZ are likely to be unaffected as they do not overlap with potentially sensitive features. The estimated costs are for the closure (voluntary or legislated) to anchoring over seagrass along the western edge of Priory Bay and over the maerl beds on Culver Spit, which is likely to affect boaters, divers and sea angling. The re-siting of a small number of moorings within Priory Bay would also be required. The placement of temporary and permanent race marks within the MCZ is unlikely to be affected as current evidence suggests these do not overlap with potentially sensitive features and the degree of exposure is sufficiently small that the activity does not represent a risk to the feature. Renewable energy - tidal The site overlaps the East of Isle of Wight Area of potential for tidal energy. Future developments relating to the placement of a tidal energy scheme that overlap with or are within 1 km of an MCZ will incur an additional environmental assessment cost. Which activities are not likely to be affected? These activities are known to take place within or adjacent to this site but at their current levels of intensity the best available evidence indicates they are not likely to be damaging the features to be protected: • Aggregate extraction • Beach management • Cables – power and telecommunication cables currently intersect the site • Coastal development and flood and erosion risk management schemes 9 • Coastal infrastructure • Commercial fishing - mid-water trawls Additional information To read the advice provided by Natural England, please visit http://publications.naturalengland.org.uk/publication/6079955233931264 To read the advice provided by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, please visit http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/page-7119 For further information, please contact Defra on • 03459 33 55 77 (UK only) • +44 20 7238 6951 (from outside the UK) • defra.helpline@defra.gsi.gov.uk © Crown copyright 2018 You may re-use this information (excluding logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence v.3. To view this licence visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/ or email PSI@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk This publication is available at www.gov.uk/government/publications 10