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 on underwater noise is a contribution to the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA7) conducted by the Department of Trade and Industry (now Department of Energy and Climate Change). This report initially gives a general introduction to underwater ambient noise and the underlying mechanisms that generate sound. The report then identifies a number of sources of underwater acoustic noise, describes the characteristics of the noise including frequency content, levels and variability, and also identifies the current state of knowledge on each source. In all cases the sources are considered in the context of the SEA 7 area. Mechanisms that can modify the ambient sound levels are described. The dominant noise sources in the SEA 7 area are identified. Recommendations are then made for the methodology to be used to obtain meaningful characterisation of noise levels in order to establish baseline levels. The report then goes on to present an analysis of measured ambient noise data in the SEA 7 area, model predictions of spectrum levels, and compares the measured and modelled data.

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 report concentrates on reviewing existing data and published sources, rather than attempt a quantitative baseline of wrecks and casualties. There is a comprehensive corpus of legislation, plans and polices concerned with the protection of the submerged maritime archaeological resource within the SEA 7 study area. The study outlines the known history of maritime activity within the SEA 7 area. Despite being an extremely large body of water that at times can produce dangerous sea and weather conditions, and encompasses the rugged coastlines of western Scotland and Northern Ireland, the area has been used extensively by seafarers from at least the Mesolithic (from 9000 BC) up to present times. During each time period there has been evidence of human activity within the SEA 7 area, often demonstrated by the discovery of maritime archaeological remains. The waters between the north east of Ireland and Scotland have been used as a means of communication throughout the centuries. Previous investigations of maritime archaeological remains within the SEA 7 area are discussed in the report. The spatial distribution of submerged archaeological remains is discussed, and comments are made on the limitations of any mapped baseline of data. The study concludes with a comment on the potential impacts of oil and gas activities on the submerged maritime archaeological resource and suggests possible monitoring methodologies.

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 reviews the many different sources of underwater noise, both natural and anthropogenic, that combine to provide the background noise levels in which marine organisms need to survive throughout the SEA6 region. The sources of sound combine together in a complex manner resulting in significant spatial and temporal variations in the noise field. A map of the dominant noise sources in the Irish Sea is shown, indicating that man-made noise is the dominant source of noise over about 70% of the area. Shipping noise is likely to be dominant across large parts of the SEA6 area. To fully characterise the ambient noise field in the SEA6 area would require multiple measurements at a large number of locations over a period of a year. However, a considerably lower cost approach would be to characterise each sound source and to use this with occurrence statistics for each source to model the ambient noise field across the region. The advantages and disadvantages of the acoustic modelling approach are discussed.

As part of Strategic Environmental Assessment SEA1, sediment samples were collected at the request of the Department of Trade and Industry (now Department of Energy and Climate Change) a survey programme was conducted from the NERC Royal Research Ship (RRS) Charles Darwin between July and September 2000, with samples for a number of chemical and biological analyses being collected. An Excel file containing details of heavy metal analysis is available.

This report is a contribution to the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA4) conducted by the Department of Trade and Industry (now Department of Energy and Climate Change). This report summarises the geological history of the SEA4 area from Pre-Cambrian times to the present day, sets the framework in which oil and gas fields have been discovered to the west of Shetland, and discusses the seismicity of the area. A generalised geological map of the area is presented and three approximately NW-SE trending sections across the southern part of the SEA4 area are shown. The petroleum geology of the area is reviewed and the geological settings in which oil has been found at the Clair, Foinaven, Schiehallion and Loyal oilfields is described. Other hydrocarbon fields to the west of Shetland, for which there are no immediate development plans, are briefly touched on. The seismicity of the SEA4 area, which is very low, is discussed.

As part of Strategic Environmental Assessment SEA1, sediment samples were collected from the area designated as the White Zone at the request of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) as part of its sea-going research activities during summer 2000. The objective of the cruise was to provide a description of the current state of the seabed in the survey area, while providing baseline environmental data and identifying larger-scale environmental patterns and processes. The survey programme was conducted from Charles Darwin between July and September 2000, with samples for a number of chemical and biological analyses being collected. An Excel file containing detail of species abundance is available.

As part of the Department of Trade and Industry's (now Department of Energy and Climate Change) Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA7) a geophysical survey was undertaken from SeaTrax Xplorer in the vicinity of Portland Bill. Multibeam and sidescan sonar data were collected.

This report is a contribution to the Department of Trade and Industry's (now Department of Energy and Climate Change) Strategic Environmental Assessment SEA2. This review presents a summary of published data and their interpretation from areas in the mature oil and gas areas of the UK North Sea. The basis for this review is the premise that the modern environment is a synthesis of past environmental conditions. The purpose is to review: the evolution of the deeply buried sediments with reference to the petroleum geology and production-related seabed subsidence; the evolution of the shallow seabed sediments with reference to present sediment distributions and seabed features; the evidence for possible hydrogeological exchange across selected onshore/offshore areas; and the history of earthquakes and the hazard that they may pose. It is intended that the review will provide a basis for a better understanding of the impacts of possible future changes in the natural environment.