ESTUARINE AND MARINE SURVEYS
Estuaries, Harbours and Lagoons
Aquatonics Ltd have surveyed most of the major estuaries in England, including the Humber, Thames, Southampton Water and Severn estuary. In addition we have surveyed a wide range of smaller estuaries (Axe, Dart, Exe, Fal, Hayle, Helford, Medina, Kingsbridge, Otter, Plym, Taw-Torridge) ports, harbours and some lagoons. The full list is below:
Axe estuary
Beauly Firth
Bembridge
Blackpool beach
Burry Port
Chesil Beach
Clacton beach
Clyde estuary
Dart estuary (Dartmouth, Kingswear, Old Mill Creek, Noss on Dart)
Eastbourne (assessment of disposal of sediments dredged from Sovereign Harbour to an offshore site)
Exe estuary
Fal estuary
Folkestone Harbour
Great Ouse estuary
Hayle esuary (Harbour, Penpol, Lelant Water, Carnsew & Copperhouse Pool)
Helford
Humber estuary
Kingsbridge estuary
Lulworth Cove
Medina estuary |
Medway
Moray Firth
Orwell estuary
Otter
Plym
Plymouth Harbour
Portland Harbour
Portsmouth Harbour
Salcombe estuary
Taw-Torridge
Tees estuary
Thames estuary inner (Brentford, Wandsworth, Battersea, Greenwich)
Thames estuary middle and outer (Erith, Southend-Maplin)
The Fleet
Truro river estuary
Severn estuary
Southampton Water
Ventnor beach
Wash
West Bay beach
|
Offshore
Aquatonics have worked in several offshore areas, mainly in the UK, but with some international experience. The regions we have worked in include:
English Channel
Bristol Channel
North Cornwall
Lyme Bay
North Sea
Irish Sea
|
Liverpool Bay
Channel Islands
Oman
Trinidad & Tobago
Qatar
Hong Kong |
PROTECTED SPECIES
Aquatonics Ltd are familiar with the legislation protecting rare or threatened estuarine and marine species. We have held a Licence from Natural England under the Wildlife and Countryside Act for surveying the tentacled lagoon worm (Alkmaria romijni) in the Dart estuary. Aquatonics Ltd can advise on whether it is necessary to undertake special surveys for the following:
Alosa fallax Twaite shad
Alosa alosa Allis shad
Cetorhinus maximus Basking shark
Gobius cobitis Giant goby
Gobius couchii Couch's goby
Atrina fragilis Fan mussel
Clavopsella navis Marine hydroid
Alkmaria romijni Tentacled lagoon worm
INTRODUCED SPECIES
Many of the common estuarine invertebrates are relatively recent additions to the UK fauna. Some have been brought in deliberately:
Soft-shelled clam, Mya arenaria
American hard-shelled clam, Mercenaria mercenaria
Pacific oyster, Crassostrea gigas
Others may have come in ballast water (eg American jack-knife clam, Ensis americanus) or unintentionally with other species (eg American oyster drill, Urosalpinx cinerea). Some species (eg slipper limpet, Crepidula fornicata) can form dense populations, competing with native fauna and out-competing some native species. The Joint Nature Conservation Committee has produced a report on introduced marine species in the UK:
Non-native marine species in British waters: a review and directory. Eno, NC, Clark, RA and Sanderson, WG (editors). JNCC, Peterborough. 1997.
In our surveys of Southampton Water (a hot spot for introduced species) for ABP Southampton, Aquatonics has found two species new to the UK. One is a small sabellid polychaete worm called Desdemona ornata and the other is an amphipod crustacean called Grandidierella japonica. Details of these new records can be found in:
Smith, P R J, Perrett, J, Garwood, P and Moore, G (1999). Two additions to the UK marine fauna: Desdemona ornata Banse, 1957 (Polychaeta, Sabellidae) and Grandidierella japonica Stephensen, 1938 (Amphipoda, Gammaridea). Newsletter of the Porcupine Natural History Society, p 8-11, Number 2, July 1999. Available here as a pdf.
REVIEWS OF DATA ON MARINE INVERTEBRATE FISHERIES
Three of the most important invertebrate fisheries in UK estuaries are cockles (Cerastoderma edule), mussels (Mytilus edulis) and brown shrimps (Crangon crangon). Aquatonics has reviewed the available ecological and fishery data for all three species as part of the studies of the Wash (client Essex and Suffolk Water). These reports are available from Aquatonics for £20 each (to cover printing and postage):
Cockle Ecology and Fisheries
Mussel Ecology and Fisheries
Brown Shrimp Ecology and Fisheries