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) and deals with the shellfish resources and their commercial fisheries within SEA7. Exploited species of shellfish are found in the SEA7 zone occupying all types of habitat and distributed over a considerable range of depths, from the littoral zone down to 1000m. These species provide important fisheries and make vital contributions to the economy of remote communities on the west coast of Scotland. The main species reviewed in this report are: Norway lobster; European Lobster; Crawfish; Edible crab; Velvet swimming crab; Shore crab; Red crabs; Giant scallop; Queen scallop; Cockle; Common mussel; Razor shells; Whelks; Periwinkle

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 SEA7 area includes the west coast of mainland Scotland with its numerous sea lochs, the continental shelf with the Hebridean Islands, the continental slope of the northern Rockall Trough, the Rockall Trough and its seamounts, the Rockall and Hatton Banks and the abyssal depths to the west of Hatton Bank. All these areas, except the abyssal depths support a diverse variety of fisheries using demersal, pelagic and static gears. SEA7 lies within ICES Sub areas VI and XII. Relevant aspects of the biology of 39 species or species groups have been described. Brief descriptions are given of the fishery for each species, including the method of fishing and the long term trends in the landings from each of the management areas are described.

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). Cephalopods are short-lived molluscs, characterised by rapid growth rates, and are important predators and prey in oceanic and neritic environments. They are active predators at all stages of their life-cycle and generally regarded as opportunistic, taking a wide variety of prey. Cannibalism has been frequently recorded in cephalopod species. Cephalopods also sustain a number of marine top predators such as fish, birds and marine mammals, especially whales. Many species are powerful swimmers and carry out vast feeding and spawning migrations, thus influencing prey and predator communities strongly on a seasonal and regional basis. As cephalopods are important elements in food webs they interact with commercial fisheries of finfish. Evidence exists that fishing pressure has changed ecological conditions and shifts in community structures have occurred with cephalopod stocks slowly replacing predatory fish stocks. Their commercial significance to world fisheries is of relatively recent, but growing, importance. From a commercial point of view, the most important cephalopod species in the SEA6 area is Loligo forbesi, which is landed as a by-catch of the demersal trawl fishery (82 tonnes in 2002). But the species Alloteuthis subulata, although of no commercial value, has an important ecological role in the coastal food webs, since it is the most commonly recorded cephalopod species in the stomach contents of demersal fish in UK waters.

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). The SEA5 review differs from previous assessments in that the zone includes a large coastal fringe, along the whole east coast of Scotland and the Northern Isles, and contains a diverse range of habitats, from inter-tidal rocky shores and sandy beaches, to the shallow sub-littoral and deepwater mud basins offshore. These habitats support a wide range of invertebrate resources, of which six species of crustacean, four species of bivalve mollusc and two species of gastropod mollusc form the basis of a thriving shellfish fishing industry in Scotland. The landings are dominated by the Norway lobster, Nephrops norvegicus which occurs in four main areas, one of which, the Fladen ground, is in close proximity to mature oil fields. The fishery for this species in the North Sea is likely to increase, with diversion of effort from the demersal fisheries for cod and other whitefish. Much of this expansion should take place at Fladen where the stock is at present under-exploited. It is likely, however, that trawl gear used in the Norway lobster (and pink shrimp) fisheries will be required to be more selective in order to reduce the by-catch of demersal fish, especially cod, and the wastage through discarding of under-sized fish. Relevant aspects of the biology of each species are described, including habitat preference, distribution, feeding, life-cycle, reproduction and spawning. Details are given about the fishing methods used, assessments of the state of stocks, and the management regime and legislation currently used to control each fishery.

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). The report assesses the socio-economic implications of further oil and gas licensing the SEA 6 area. The Department of Trade and Industry provided scenarios of possible exploration and development activity in the area and these scenarios were converted into optimistic and pessimistic scenarios. They were then used to produce forecasts of: oil and gas production; oil and gas reserves; expenditure; employment; and tax revenues. The implications for existing facilities in the area are discussed and the potential social impacts. An underpinning report, Economic and Social Baseline Study, is also available.

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 provides a synthesis of current knowledge of the benthic communities and seabed habitats in the Clyde Sea, which abuts the northern end of the SEA6 area. The Clyde Sea is a fjordic system consisting of drowned, glacially over-deepened, valleys separated by sills. The southern limit of the area, and the ultimate sill for the Clyde Sea lochs, is formed by a broad sill termed the Great Plateau. The Great Plateau is predominantly less than 50 m deep and is overlooked by the volcanic plug of Ailsa Craig. The report is presented in the context of the hydrography and sedimentology of the area. The focus is on dominant species and broad descriptions of community types (biotopes). It also reviews existing major human activities in the area that are currently affecting the benthos.