Cromarty Rising

To end this series on EPS, here’s the full list of Marine EPS occurring in Scottish Waters: Resident cetaceans or those regularly seen in Scottish inshore waters in significant numbers:   Bottlenose dolphin, Tursiops truncatus   Harbour porpoise, Phocoena phocoena   White-beaked dolphin, Lagenorhynchus albirostris   Short-beaked common dolphin, Delphinus delphis   White-sided dolphin, Lagenorhynchus […]

EPS licensing, test 3: The action authorised must not be detrimental to the maintenance of the population of the species concerned at a favourable conservation status in their natural range (Regulation 44(3)(b)) Licences can only be granted where the authorised activity will not be detrimental to the maintenance of the population of the species concerned […]

EPS licensing – test number 2 that must be met: There must be no satisfactory alternative (Regulation 44(3)(a)) Licences can only be granted if Marine Scotland is satisfied that there is no satisfactory alternative. The applicant will have to show, based on best available information, that alternatives were sought that would not impact on EPS and […]

When applying for an EPS licence, there are 3 test that must be fulfilled – with regard to Test 1 the guidance states: The licence application must relate to one of the purposes referred to in Regulation 44(2) Only activities carried out for certain ‘purposes’ can be licensed so that regulations 39 (1) and (2) […]

Here’s a useful article on Marine Insight website that gives some more information about the legalities of the STS process. http://www.marineinsight.com/maritime-law/what-is-ship-to-ship-transfer-sts-and-requirements-to-carry-out-the-same/ Interestingly it states: “A ship to ship transfer becomes very economical as ship does not have to berth at the jetty, especially for huge oil tankers, which removes the port berthing charges and also cut […]

So, you’ve worked out you need an EPS licence, for say, transferring crude oil in the middle of a dolphin SAC. What next? Well, According to Marine Scotland The licence assessment will comprise three tests to ascertain: 1) whether the licence is to be granted for one of the purposes specified in the Regulations; 2) […]

So, here we are in the aftermath of the general election – 2 local SNP MP’s are unemployed – we now have Liberal, Jamie Stone in Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross and Conservative, Douglas Ross in Moray. Ian Blackford is re-elected as is Drew Hendry. Ian Blackford has given an unreserved commitment to do whatever […]

A little information on Cetaceans and underwater noise courtesy of Marine Scotland, with some top tips for the Port Authority on conducting a noise assessment: Many forms of marine life, particularly cetaceans, use sound as their primary sense, for navigation, finding food and communication. Therefore they could be affected by the noise and vibration resulting from […]

What about consideration of alternatives and mitigation – this is a key part of the appropriate assessment process also – here’s what Marine Scotland say – first alternatives: Where there is evidence that an activity will result in disturbance or injury of marine EPS, lower risk alternatives to the proposal should be considered. These could […]

In case you were in any doubt as to the potential impact of cetacean disturbance by the activities listed last night (including shipping), here’s what Marine Scotland say: Potential impacts associated with these marine activities The types of impacts that may occur include the following:   Direct injury (e.g., collision, entanglement, hearing damage)   Disturbance […]