This report is a contribution to the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA5) conducted by the Department of Trade and Industry (now Department of Energy and Climate Change). A review of the distribution and abundance of divers, grebes and seaduck in the SEA 5 area was carried out by Cork Ecology at the request of the Department of Trade and Industry as part of the production of the SEA 5 Consultation Document. The study area was defined as the east coast of Scotland from the English border north to John O'Groats, including Orkney and Shetland, and the offshore waters in the SEA 5 area. This review considered thirteen species: red-throated diver, black-throated diver, great northern diver, great crested grebe, red-necked grebe, slavonian grebe, scaup, eider, long-tailed duck, common scoter, velvet scoter, goldeneye and red-breasted merganser.

This report is a contribution to the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA7) conducted by the Department of Trade and Industry (now Department of Energy and Climate Change).The class Cephalopoda comprises three major divisions, of which two: Decapoda (squids and cuttlefish) and Octopoda (octopods) are represented in the SEA 7 Area. They are highly developed, but short-lived molluscs with rapid growth rates. They are important elements in marine food webs and interact significantly with marine mammals, seabirds and commercially exploited finfish species. They also represent a promising future fishery resource in terms of market value, abundance and growth potential. At present, only an estimated 10% of exploitable stocks are utilised worldwide. There are six marketable squid species that occur in the SEA 7 Area. These belong to the long-fin (loliginid) and short-fin (Ommastrephid) squids the two most important exploited families of decpods. In the SEA 7 Area, only one species, Loligo forbesi is commercially exploited on a regular basis, although there are significant landings of other species on occasion. The closely related Loligo vulgaris sometimes appears in catches and the small Alloteuthis subulata is thought to be naturally abundant and an important food item in the marine ecosystem. There are other important species represented in the SEA 7 Area. These include cuttlefish, octopods, sepiolids and a number of deep-water species. Most of these are marketable and may be ecologically important. Large fisheries for some of these species, particularly octopods and cuttlefish operate in European waters further south, but they are not currently exploited in the SEA 7 Area.

This report is a contribution to the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA5) conducted by the Department of Trade and Industry (now Department of Energy and Climate Change). Cephalopods are short-lived molluscs, characterised by rapid growth rates, and are important predators and prey in oceanic and neritic environments. They can range in size from 1.5 cm in pygmy squid (Sepiolidae) to 20 m in giant squid (Architheutidae). Cephalopods exhibit the highest degree of development in invertebrate nervous systems, expressed through complex behaviour patterns such as the ability to learn and the display of complex colour changes. In contrast to other molluscs, most cephalopods lack an external shell, are highly mobile as adults and occupy similar ecological niches to predatory fish. This report focuses mainly on the species of fishery importance: the loliginid squid Loligo forbesi and the ommastrephid squid Todarodes sagittatus and Todaropsis eblanae together with the octopus Eledone cirrhosa. Brief accounts of other commonly occurring cephalopod species are also provided.

This report is a contribution to the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA5) conducted by the Department of Trade and Industry (now Department of Energy and Climate Change). This report provides data on the plankton community in the SEA 5 of the North Sea. Data for this report were provided by the Continuous Plankton Recorder Survey, as well as sourced from outside organisations. The SEA 5 area is influenced by the Shelf Edge Current, which breaks off its main route in the form of the Fair Isle Current, the Dooley Current and the East Shetland Inflow. Oceanic water flows into the North Sea in this area, causing periodic incursions of associated planktonic organisms. The report addresses: phytoplankton and zooplankton community composition; Phytoplankton blooms; Abundance of the copepod Calanus; Mero-, pico- and megaplankton; Phytodetritus and vertical fluxes.

This report is a contribution to the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA2) conducted by the Department of Trade and Industry (now Department of Energy and Climate Change). SEA2 focuses on the mature areas of the North Sea UK continental shelf which is divided into 3 areas - Northern, Central and Southern North Sea. This paper provides an overview of cephalopods - squid, octopus, cuttlefish in the SEA2 area. Cephalopods are short-lived, carnivorous animals that have rapid growth rates and play an important part in oceanic and coastal food webs. They are preyed on by cetaceans, fish and seabirds, and are predators themselves, feeding on fish, crustaceans, molluscs and cephalopods. Knowledge of cephalopod distribution in Scottish waters is mainly based on information from commercial whitefish vessels that catch squid as a by-catch. The loliginid squid Loligo forbesi is the predominant species. English cephalopod landings are dominated by cuttlefish caught in the English Channel outside the area of interest. The benthic octopod Eledone cirrhosa, though a highly valued species in southern Europe, is usually discarded by fishermen in Scottish waters. Fishery management statistics indicate that the areas of highest abundance of Loligo forbesi and of Eledone cirrhosa lie outside the SEA2 area. Cephalopods naturally accumulate high levels of trace metals. The potential of drilling operations to introduce trace metals into the sea is discussed. It is concluded that the overall impact on cephalopods and cephalopod fisheries in the SEA2 area by further oilfield development would be slight.

This report is a contribution to the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA3) conducted by the Department of Trade and Industry (now Department of Energy and Climate Change) and is an addendum to "SEA2 Technical report 009 - Cephalopods, covering overview of cephalopod population, ecology, fisheries, sensitivity" by same authors. This paper provides an overview of cephalopods - squid, octopus, cuttlefish - in the SEA2 and SEA3 areas of the North Sea. Cephalopods are short-lived, carnivorous animals that have rapid growth rates and play an important part in oceanic and coastal food webs. They are preyed on by cetaceans, fish and seabirds, and are predators themselves, feeding on fish, crustaceans, molluscs and cephalopods. Knowledge of cephalopod distribution in Scottish waters is mainly based on information from commercial whitefish vessels that catch squid as a by-catch. The loliginid squid Loligo forbesi is the predominant species. English cephalopod landings are dominated by cuttlefish caught in the English Channel outside the area of interest. The benthic octopod Eledone cirrhosa, though a highly valued species in southern Europe, is usually discarded by fishermen in the SEA2 and SEA3 areas. Fishery management statistics indicate that the areas of highest abundance of Loligo forbesi and of Eledone cirrhosa lie outside the SEA2 and SEA3 areas. Cephalopods naturally accumulate high levels of trace metals. The potential of drilling operations to introduce trace metals into the sea is discussed. It is concluded that the overall impact on cephalopods and cephalopod fisheries in the SEA2 and SEA3 areas by further oilfield development would be slight.

This report is a contribution to the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA6) conducted by the Department of Trade and Industry (now Department of Energy and Climate Change). This report summarises information on the ecology of planktonic species found in the SEA6 area. The Irish Sea is very diverse not only in the physical-chemical regimes operating upon it, but in the ecology of planktonic organisms found there. Data on the nutrient chemistry of the Irish Sea shows that the eastern Irish Sea is more heavily impacted by nutrients owing to freshwater run-off from land, which is far greater than in the western Irish Sea. Nutrients increased from the 1950's to the 1980's after which time the concentrations have levelled off and in some case declined. The phytoplankton biomass appears to have mirrored the influence of the nutrients both in time and space. Highest biomass (inferred from chlorophyll analysis) is generally found in regions of low salinity and tends to be greatest in the eastern Irish Sea. The phytoplankton community has also been shown to vary throughout the seasons and also within different regions or 'ecohydrodynamic' domains of the Irish Sea. The zooplankton community of the Irish Sea has also undergone significant change over the last thirty or so years. The most noticeable of these changes being a significant decrease in abundance of most of the species recorded. Some species distributions and abundances have been shown to be influenced by climate and it is highly likely that other species of plankton in the Irish Sea are also affected in this way. Climate, or more specifically the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), certainly has a major impact upon the physical-chemical environment of the region and this has a direct influence upon the ecology of planktonic organisms found in the Irish Sea.

This report is a contribution to the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA7) conducted by the Department of Trade and Industry (now Department of Energy and Climate Change). The purpose of this report was to provide an assessment of the plankton ecology for SEA7. Owing to the size of the area being assessed this report divides the region into two sections. The basis of this division follows the 200m depth contour generally accepted as being the boundary between the shelf edge and oceanic realms. The first section being waters found on the continental shelf and are therefore more prone to freshwater runoff from land and anthropogenic inputs. The second section represents waters off the shelf edge, these waters are of a more oceanic origin and are less impacted by inputs from land-based sources. Information on the nutrient biogeochemistry (nitrate, phosphate and silicate) are presented for three geographical provinces, the oceanic and shelf edge realms outlined above and also for the Clyde Sea area this being a region noted as having elevated nutrient loadings from anthropogenic sources.

This report is a contribution to the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA7) conducted by the Department of Trade and Industry (now Department of Energy and Climate Change). The aims of this study were: To provide an overview of individual bird species offshore distribution in SEA 7; To identify, where possible, offshore areas in SEA 7 that are important for seabirds; To assess offshore seabird vulnerability to surface pollution in SEA 7; To provide a brief outline on the potential for offshore SPAs in the offshore waters of SEA 7; To highlight major gaps in understanding and survey coverage in the offshore waters of SEA 7. Generally seabird densities were low in offshore waters. Important areas were along the shelf break, Rockall Trough and Rockall Bank. Species diversity of seabirds was low in offshore waters compared to inshore waters, although more species were recorded during the summer months. Offshore waters were defined as greater than 200 m in depth and the offshore distribution of seventeen species of seabirds were reviewed.

This report describes the processing method employed for the analysis of biological samples from a range of depths in the SEA5 area, North Sea collected from Wessex Explorer in summer 2003 as part of the Department of Trade and Industry's (now Department of Energy and Climate Change) Strategic Environmental Assessment SEA5. A spreadsheet of data is included.