marine farming site – north kilbrannan

Marine Farming Site – North KilbrannanNorth Kilbrannan Video Survey March 2017

MARINE HARVEST ( SCOTLAND) LIMITEDMARCH 2018

Registered in Scotland No. 138843Registered Office, 1st Floor, Admiralty ParkAdmiralty Road, Rosyth, FifeKY11 2YW

Stob Ban HouseGlen Nevis Business ParkFort William, PH33 6RX

01397 715084 -

Kate. Stronach@marineharvest. com

Stob Ban HouseGlen Nevis Business ParkFort William, PH33 6RX http:// marineharvest. com

North Kilbrannan 2017 Baseline Video Survey Report2 | 9

Video Survey Assessment for:

Marine Harvest (Scotland) Ltd. proposed variation to Muck Salmon Farm

Requirement for survey: Baseline

Date of survey: 04/03/2017

Surveyed by: Benthic Solutions Ltd.

Equipment used: Towed Sledge with HD camera and geotagged SD camera

A video survey was undertaken at North Kilbrannan to examine the epifauna on the seabed and the

baseline assessment will be submitted as part of an application for a new site. Marine Harvest

Scotland) Ltd. propose to install a finfish farm at the North Kilbrannan site with a maximum tonnage of

2475. Modelling has been completed using NewDEPOMOD and a predicted deposition footprint

generated. The North Kilbrannan video survey provides seabed footage on a main transect through

the centre line of the proposed pen group and two further transects at right angles at either end of the

proposed group.

North Kilbrannan Biotope Assessment

The footage for the transects has been viewed to identify occurring species, habitat types and

zonation using the Marine Habitat Classification Hierarchy and SACFOR abundance scale from the

JNCC website (2017). Where video footage was collected two sets of footage are recorded; the first is

standard quality with geotagging to track the course of the footage and the second is HD footage to

assist in taxonomic identification.

Field Notes

Changes to the geotagging overlay are made within the field, transect 1 was completed last, due to

human error the geotag reference has remained as KILB_T3, however it is correctly identified as

Transect 1 on the ID sheet at the start of the footage. This is corrected as 13:49 in the footage.


Figure 1: Footage Locations


Table 1: Coordinates

Transect 1 Co-ordinates

Start 55° 41.2510’N 005° 26.6390’W

5 min 55° 41.2858’N 005° 26.6409’W

10 min 55° 41.3204’N 005° 26.6349’N

15 min 55° 41.3557’N 005° 26.6292’W

20 min 55° 41.3864’N 005° 26.6124’W

25 min 55° 41.4312’N 005° 26.5824’W

30 min 55° 41.4754’N 005° 26.5562’W

35 min 55° 41.5238’N 005° 26.5313’W

40 min 55° 41.5658’N 005° 26.5290’W

45 min 55° 41.6055’N 005° 26.5219’W

50 min 55° 41.6397’N 005° 26.5051’W

55 min 55° 41.6805’N 005° 26.4987’W

60 min 55° 41.7120’N 005° 26.4904’W

65 min 55° 41.7540’N 005° 26.4794’W

70 min 55° 41.7910’N 005° 26.4612’W

Finish – 75 min 55° 41.8326’N 005° 26.4401’W


Start 55° 41.6531’N 005° 26.3800’W

5 min 55° 41.6447’N 005° 26.4639’W

55° 41.6462’N 005° 26.5807’W

Finish – 15 min 55° 41.6663’N 005° 26.6851’W


Start 55° 41.4438’N 005° 26.4477’W

5 min 55° 41.4522’N 005° 26.5671’W

10 min 55° 41.4825’N 005° 26.6562’W

Finish – 15 min 55° 41.5059’N 005° 26.7371’W


Footage Biotope Typing

Transect 1

The biotope identifiable within the footage mainly consists of circalittoral mixed sediment where the

seabed consists of a shell, cobble and pebble mix embedded in sandy mud SS.SMx.CMx. This

biotope was assessed as the likely classification based largely upon the occurrence of characterising

species Cerianthus lloydii, Pomatoceros triqueter, Pagurus bernhardus, Liocarcinus depurator,

Buccinum undatum, Asterias rubens, Pecten maximus and Echinus esculentus and the visual

assessment of substrate type.

Within this biotope are compact areas which consist of larger areas of exposed rock, however there is

no unique bio-encrusting epifauna that varies over the course of the transect. The species identified

show reasonable even distribution over the course of the transect with a slight move towards higher

percentage of exposed sandy mud towards the end.

Table 2: Species ID – Transect 1a

Transect 1a

Common Name Latin Name SACFOR abundance estimate

Seven-Armed Starfish Luidia ciliaris R

Rugose Squat Lobster Munida rugosa F

Cushion Star Porania pulvillus F

Harbour Crab Liocarcinus depurator R

Common Starfish Asterias rubens R

Edible Sea Urchin Echinus esculentus O

Butterfish Pholis gunnellus R

Dragonet Callionymus lyra R

Sea Squirt Ascidiella aspersa R

Hermit Crab Pagurus bernhardus R

Poor Cod Trisopterus minutus R

Tube Worm Pomatoceros triqueter C

Auger Shell Turritella communis O

Purple Sun Star Solaster endeca R

Sand star Astropecten irregularis R

Edible Crab Cancer pagurus R

Green Spoon Worm Bonellia viridis R

King Scallop Pecten maximus R

Great Pipefish Syngnathus acus R


Table 3: Species ID – Transect 1b

Transect 1b


Green Spoon Worm Bonellia viridis R




Cushion Star Porania pulvillus O




Seven-armed Starfish Luidia ciliaris R





Spiny Starfish Marthasterias glacialis R

Common Starfish Asterias rubens

Tube Anemones Cerianthus lloydii F


Table 4: Species ID – Transect 1c

Transect 1c


Auger Shell Turritella communis F

Common Starfish Asterias rubens R

Rugose Squat Lobster Munida rugosa O

Tube Anemone Cerianthus lloydii O


Cushion Star Porania pulvillus R



Edible Sea Urchin Echinus esculentus R




Whelk Egg Cases Buccinum undatum R


Transect 2

The biotope in transect 2 matches the main transect; circalittoral mixed sediment where the seabed

consists of a shell, cobble and pebble mix embedded in sandy mud SS.SMx.CMx. This biotope was

assessed as the likely classification based largely upon the occurrence of characterising species

Pomatoceros triqueter, Pagurus bernhardus, Liocarcinus depurator, Asterias rubens, Pecten

maximus, Crossaster papposus and Echinus esculentus and the visual assessment of substrate type.

There appears to be a higher portion of fine sediment at the start of the transect in the deeper water

as would be expected.

Table 5: Species ID – Transect 2a

Transect 2a





Table 6: Species ID – Transect 2bTransect 2b







Tube Worm Pomatoceros triqueter F


Green Spoon Worm Bonellia viridis O


Common Starfish Asterias rubens O


Sea Mouse Aphrodita aculeate R

Edible Sea Urchin Echinus esculentus R



King Scallop Pecten maximus O

Sun Star Crossaster papposus R


Transect 3

The biotope in transect 3 matches the previous transects; circalittoral mixed sediment where the

seabed consists of a shell, cobble and pebble mix embedded in sandy mud SS.SMx.CMx. This

biotope was assessed as the likely classification based upon the characterising species Pomatoceros

triqueter, Pagurus bernhardus, Buccinum undatum, Asterias rubens, Pecten maximus and Echinus

esculentus and the visual assessment of substrate type. There appears to be a higher portion of fine

sediment at the start of the transect in the deeper water as would be expected and as was also

showing in transect 2.

Table 5: Species ID – Transect 3

Transect 3


Rugose Squat Lobster Munida rugosa C


Common Starfish Asterias rubens O


Queen Scallop Aequipecten opercularis R


Tube Worm Pomatoceros triqueter F

Common Whelk Buccinum undatum R




Hermit Crab Pagurus bernhardus O

King Scallop Pecten maximus O



Green Spoon Worm Bonellia viridis O


Protected Species and Habitat

Priority Marine Features

The video analysis did not identify any priority marine feature species or habitats (JNCC, 2014)

Protected Areas

No designations within the area of the site have been identified relevant to this benthic video survey

SNH. 2017).

References

SNH. ( 2017). Sitelink [ Online]. [ Date accessed: 04/12/2017]. Available from:

http://gateway.snh.gov.uk/sitelink/ index.jsp.

JNCC. (2014). Priority Marine Features in Scotland’ s seas. [Online]. [Date accessed: 19/03/2018].

Available from:

http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/pdf/Priority%20Marine% 20Features% 20in%20Scotlands% 20seas.% 2024%20J

uly%202014.pdf.

JNCC. (2015). The Marine Habitat Classification for Britain and Ireland Version 15.03 [Online]. [Date

accessed: 19/03/2018]. Available from: jncc.defra.gov.uk/MarineHabitatClassification.

JNCC. (2015). SACFOR abundance scale used for both littoral and sublittoral taxa from 1990 onwards

Online]. [Date accessed: 19/03/2018]. Available from: http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/page-2684.

Survey assessed by: Kate Stronach - Environmental Analyst Date: 19/ 03/ 2018

Countersigned by: Ewan Gillespie – Head of Environment Date: 19/ 03/ 2018

marine farming site – north kilbrannan

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