RESTORING SEAGRASS IN DALE -

PROPOSED LOCATIONS FOR FEEDBACK

BackgroundIn July 2019 Swansea University received a marine licence from NaturalResources Wales to plant 2 hectares of the seagrass Zostera marina inDale Bay. This licence was based on an area as shown (Figure 1) withinwhich the 2 hectare planting area was to be planned following discussionwith users and the local community in order for it to be acceptable to localinterests. The area was chosen by Swansea University as it fulfilled the ecologicalneeds of seagrass, but also because Swansea University researchers hadnoted it to be an area without active moorings and with little fishing gearthroughout their science visits from 2017-2019.

Figure 1 - original plan

Liaison with local fishers May-August 2019 revealed that the area originally proposed was used more extensivelythan anticipated. Mindful of the project objective to avoid negatively impacting on livelihoods, and with furtherdiscussion and site visits with fishers, it was agreed to move away from this area and to seek other options. Swansea University has therefore agreed to seek a revision to their marine licence based around finding alocation acceptable to all stakeholders without impacting local livelihoods and activities. As a result of existing discussions with the Dale Yacht Club and local fishers, together with additional fieldsurveys, Swansea University has created a series of six proposed options for seagrass planting in Dale.

Note alongside mooring options proposed:

According to Port-held records, there are currently 172 moorings registered in the area. Some registered mooringshave been inactive for some years (e.g. within the original option area), but this may not be the case in the future.For the purposes of the seagrass project ALL moorings are treated the same whether they be currently inuse or not.

All proposed options work on the premise of being at least 10m distance away from the location of themoorings (according to the Yacht Club records of latitudes and longitudes) and are within a maximum depth of2.5m below chart datum. They are all located on the southern half of the bay as this receives much higher stormprotection than the northern half and is less subject to the nutrient enrichment coming from the river.

The new proposed locations (options 1 – 5) (see Figure 2) have been moved in a northerly direction away from allfishing and fish storage activity and have included one revised option (option 6) that sits within the previouslyproposed footprint of the marine licence awarded by NRW in July 2019. Option 6 has a greater potential than otheroptions to interact with fishing activity as it sits on the edge of the area used by local fishers to store their catch.

No storage pots currently exist within the new areas (options 1 – 5) proposed although we do anticipate fishingactivity (gill netting and shrimp potting) to occur, but do not see this to be of cause for concern.

All locations are subtidal so as not to conflict with intertidal razor clam fishing at low tide.

Method statement details are available.

Figure 2: Six proposed options for seagrass planting in Dale Bay

Any variations upon these arealso invited as the project teamare open to alternatives withinDale Bay that satisfy everyone’srequirements.

Option 1 – North to south bands in the middle of the mooring area

Option 1 is split into six parallel sections that allsit parallel to the Dale beach. They vary inlength from 260 to 330m and all run in betweenthe moorings in a south to north direction. All areas are 10m away from any moorings. The four most easterly sections areapproximately 0.4ha in area while the twoclosest to the shore are 0.2ha in size. The total seagrass proposed within option 1comes within 10m of 77 moorings locations. The placement of these areas parallel to theDale shoreline places them at a higher level ofrisk to boaters towing their mooring along theseabed. All of this area is within the mooringarea.

Option 2 – Northern edge of the mooring areaOption 2 is split into three separate sections and sits at thenorthern edge of the mooring area. The biggest section (a)at 1.5 hectares is outside of the moorings and isapproximately 255 metres x 55 metres in size. Its morenortherly location means it is more exposed to stormdamage. This area may be subject to low-intensity anchoring. Wewould not wish to stop this activity in any way as we don’tsee it as a major concern due to its low intensity, howevershould the community opt for this option we would considerthe potential for the project to source funding for theinstallation of a number of freely available visitor mooringsto reduce anchoring. Within the moorings area are two separate smaller sectionsof this option that cover 0.2 and 0.3 hectares respectively.These two sections are both long and thin running in aneast to west direction. The placement of these areasperpendicular to the Dale shoreline and running east towest places them at a lower level of risk to boaters towingtheir mooring along the seabed. The total seagrassproposed comes within 10m of 27 moorings locations,some of these mooring locations don’t currently havebuoys. 75% of this area is outside of the mooring area.

Option 3 – East to west bands in southerly mooring areaOption 3 is split into four parallel sections of similarshape covering 0.5ha each. They are approximately 325metres in length and 15 metres wide and all run inbetween the moorings (with a dog leg half way along) inan east to west direction perpendicular to the Dale shoreline. The total seagrass proposed within option 3 comeswithin 10m of 50 moorings locations, some of thesemooring locations don’t currently have a buoy. Due to the more southerly location of this option webelieve it has greater shelter from storms and is moreaffable for seagrass. The placement of these areas perpendicular to the Daleshoreline and running east to west places them at alower level of risk to boaters towing their mooring alongthe seabed. All of this area is within the mooring area.

Option 4 – Southern MooringsOption 4 creates a ‘window style’ pattern around allmoorings with all the seagrass planted a minimum of 10metres away from all moorings. This complete area covers exactly 2 ha. All of this area is within the mooring area. The total seagrass proposed comes within 10m of 48moorings locations, some of these locations don’tcurrently contain a buoy. This area is at the more southerly end of the bayproviding increased shelter for the seagrass.

Option 5 - Northern edge outside mooring areaOption 5 is similar to option 2, however unlike option 2,this area would be one continuous meadow covering 2 hectares. This area sits at the northern edge of the mooring areaand is approximately 286 metres x 74 metres in size. Itsmore northerly location means it is more exposed tostorm damage. This area may be subject to low-intensity anchoring. Theproject would not wish to stop this activity in any way asit is not seen it as a major concern, however should thecommunity opt for this option we would consider thepotential for the project to source funding for theinstallation of a number of freely available visitormoorings to reduce anchoring. The total seagrass proposed comes within 10m of 10moorings locations, some of these mooring locationsdon’t currently have buoys. 100% of this area is outside of the mooring area.

Option 6 - Southerly edge of moorings and in existing marine licence footprint

The red box shown in the image marks out the area of 4 hectares in which the original marine licenceapplication proposes 2 hectares of seagrass could beplanted. Here is a proposed option of how that couldwork whilst minimising interactions with fishing activity. The total seagrass proposed within option 6 comeswithin 10m of 30 moorings locations some of which donot currently have a mooring buoy. In addition, thesoutherly edge of this area overlaps with some of thekeep pots used by local fishermen. Due to the more southerly location of this option webelieve it has greater shelter from storms and is moreaffable for seagrass. It should be noted that fishing keep pots, and stringsof actively fishing pots, are not seen to be damagingto seagrass in the same way as moorings oranchoring, especially if dragging of gear is minimised. The project does not intend to exclude fishing potsfrom seagrass areas..