Seabed survey for a proposed extension to marine farm 8321, Wilson Bay, Pelorus Sound

The assessment comprised: Side-scan-sonar swath mapping of the site to characterise seabed topography and habitat types in the vicinity of the proposed extension. Photoquadrats of the seabed to ground-truth side-scan results and to further describe the seabed habitats in the vicinity of the proposed extension. Samples of large-bodied epifauna using a biologists sled, to aid in characterising the ecological features within the extension. Diver observations and core sampling of benthic organisms. Analysis of results and assessment of the ecological effects of the proposed extension. Consideration of the potential impact of farming new species including the molluscs blue mussel (Mytilus edulis), dredge oyster (Tiostrea chilensis), scallop (Pecten novaezelandiae), pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas) and geoduck (Panopea zelandica), and the seaweeds Macrocystis pyrifera, Ecklonia radiata, Gracilaria and Pterocladia lucida. The seabed beneath the proposed extension was mainly gently sloping mud habitat with areas of sand/shell habitat and reef inshore of the proposed site. A dense population of burrowing shrimp (Upogebia hirtifrons) was also noted adjacent to the inshore boundary of the site. Such burrow systems are a biogenic habitat of ecological value. Scallops (Pecten novaezelandiae) were noted within the offshore portion of the proposed extension at densities estimated to be between 0.1 and 5 per m2 in patches.
 
Citation proposal
Stephen Brown (NIWA). .
 

Simple

Date ( Creation )
Date ( Revision )
2016-07-19T05:21:03
Purpose
Just Mussels Ltd engaged NIWA to complete a benthic survey and assessment as part of a coastal permit application for an extension to marine farm 8321, in Wilson Bay, Pelorus Sound 
Credit
Brown, S. (2014) Seabed survey for a proposed extension to marine farm 8321, Wilson Bay. Prepared for Just Mussels Ltd. August 2014. NIWA Client Report No: NEL2014-018. NIWA Project: JML14401. 12 pp. 
Status
Completed  

  Author

Spatial representation type
Vector  
Topic category
  • Environment
Description
Marlborough Region 
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S
E
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TimePeriod
2014-08-04T00:00:002014-08-05T00:00:00 
  • Wilson Bay Pelorus Sound, mussel farm, benthic habitat, epifauna, infauna
NIWA Project Codes
  • JML14401
Other constraints
Client report 
Use limitation
Held at Nelson Office. Semi-quantitative data: Side-scan-sonar swath mapping to characterise seabed topography and habitat types, photoquadrats of the seabed, samples of large-bodied epifauna using a biologists sled, diver cores for infauna. 
Classification
Restricted  
Language
English  
OnLine resource

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mdb:MD_Metadata

Metadata identifier
74b69553-f8d6-0718-cf3f-c86bf8f09a0d

Language
English  
Character encoding
UTF8  

  Custodian

 
Resource scope
Dataset  
Date info ( Creation )
2016-07-29T16:57:01
Title
ISO 19115-3 
 
 

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