Co-Financed Under European Integrated Maritime Policy PLAN BOTHNIA MSP 2/2011 MSP Assessment Add 1 PLAN BOTHNIA MSP 2 Uppsala, Sweden June 14-15 2011 Agenda Item 3 PLAN BOTHNIA MSP Assessment Document code: 3/1 Add 1 Date: 10.6.2011 Submitted by: Lead Partner (HELCOM Secretariat) Additional information (material for interactions and analysis chapter) to document 3/1, the PLAN BOTHNIA MSP Assessment This document includes additional material to document 3/1 of the PLAN BOTHNIA MSP meeting 2 (draft 1 25.5.2011 of the PLAN BOTHNIA MSP Assessment). The meeting is invited to: - use the material in discussions on PLAN BOTHNIA and Bothnian Sea scale strategic MSP Page 1 of 6
Interactions in, and around, the Bothnian Sea [DRAFT 8.6.2011] The first PLAN BOTHNIA MSP meeting (Pori, Finland March 2011) brainstormed a number of potential conflicts between different uses of the Bothnian Sea area (Box 1). In addition, the meeting identified a number of potential issues for planning: i.a. energy (including wind farming), shipping, fisheries, gravel extraction, aquaculture, tourism and recreation, ecosystem functions, nature conservation and military activities. 1. Windmills and shallow areas (conflict between windmills in areas with spawning, nature conservation interests). 2. Transboundary interactions e.g. windmills on Finnish side might be affect Swedish fisheries and vice versa. 3. Bottom trawling in sensitive areas (to a lesser degree but exists). 4. Competition between industrial offshore fisheries and small scale coastal fisheries. 5. In coastal areas, conflict between small scale fishing and windmill parks (local fishermen not allowed to set nets within windmill parks). 6. Conflicts between preserving water quality and fish farming. 7. General conflicts between fishery and nature conservation. Box 1: Potential conflicts in the Bothnian Sea area brainstormed by the First PLAN BOTHNIA MSP meeting (Pori, Finland March 2011). The main mobile uses of the planning area include shipping and fisheries, while windmill farms and protected areas represent common more stationary kinds of features. Even if also many other activities and features are present, and can in many ways be very important, one can use these four as starting points when starting the work to identify potential planning hotspots. Map I depicts a snapshot of a GIS overlay with these four topics (marine traffic, commercial fisheries activities, windpower developments and protected areas) presented in the same map. By transforming these four layers into the same 5km grid and reducing the information to mere presence/absence values, one can i.a. calculate the number of activities occurring in each 5kmx5km gridcell as shown in Map II. The main two overlapping uses overall are fisheries and shipping a result of the fact that these activities are by their nature mobile and take place in wide areas. In few areas, five grid cells, three of the four features overlap. These include one pixel in the northern Quark with marine traffic, fisheries and a protected area (HELCOM BSPA) (Map III) and three grid cells with traffic, fisheries and windpower interests in the south-western part, close to the Finngrundet banks (Map IV and V). Please see also Annex I to this document which includes a larger (A3) map with the main interactions presented. Note that the map in Annex I separates between bottom and midwater trawling and includes only areas with high intensity of fisheries- the Maps I-V below include all areas with fishing catches (also low-intensity areas). Annex II include a reference base map with bottom features and placenames. Page 2 of 6
Map I: Snapshot of a GIS overlay with marine traffic, commercial fisheries activities, windpower developments and protected areas presented in the same map Page 3 of 6
Map II: The number of activities from the group of four selected topics occurring in each 5kmx5km gridcell (covering marine traffic, commercial fisheries activities, windpower developments and protected areas) Page 4 of 6
Map III: Close up of northern area depicting a part of the Quark where fisheries, marine traffic and a protected area (BSPA) overlap. The fishing activity seems to take place outside the UNESCO biosphere reserve but inside the BSPA. Page 5 of 6
Map IV: Close up of southern area depicting three areas where fisheries, marine traffic and windpower interests overlap. Map V: Close up of southern area depicting three areas where fisheries, marine traffic and windpower interests overlap. [Alternative version] Page 6 of 6