NRW, SMRU Consulting issue guide on marine mammal surveying at tidal and wave sites

SMRU Consulting, Natural Resources Wales (NRW) and the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS), together with Sea Mammal Research Unit, have published a new guidance on marine mammal surveying requirements at wave and tidal energy sites in Wales.

The report provides a framework for assessing risk to marine mammals from wave and tidal stream developments.

It provides guidance on how to tailor surveys to provide better information for impact assessments, SMRU Consulting’s press release reads.

There is a growing consensus among regulators, statutory nature conservation advisors, developers and their environmental consultants that a ‘one size fits all’ approach to gathering data to inform impact assessment and consenting processes for proposed wave and tidal stream energy developments is not suitable, according to SMRU Consulting.

NRW, SMRU Consulting, SMRU and SAMS have developed an approach to tailor ‘pre-application’ surveys to:

• take into account existing information on marine mammals and the current understanding of the possible impacts of wave and tidal stream technologies,
• provide information in relation to the particular types of impacts posed by technologies,
• be proportionate to the likely degree of risk of significant impacts to marine mammals posed by the proposed development.

Carol Sparling from SMRU Consulting, who led the effort alongside the NRW team said: “This new guidance will allow developers to take a proportionate and robust approach to the gathering of data required to underpin their environmental assessments to assure the safety of local sea mammal populations. This guidance will also allow developers to focus on specific risks presented by individual projects rather than the existing ‘one size fits all’ approach.”

The step-by step guide helps provide a ‘roadmap’ for making decisions about the need for, and type of, pre-application surveys.

Ceri Morris, Marine Mammal Specialist at NRW said: “It is our duty to ensure that marine mammals such as dolphins, porpoises and seals in Wales are protected. This new guidance will give us more confidence that we have the best available information on marine mammal distribution – and help us to understand how animals may interact with wave and tidal devices to inform our advice.”

The report is broken down into a series of sections spanning various topics and delivering NRW’s guidance on each.

Image: SMRU Consulting