§ Mr. Laurence RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what work her Department is doing to establish the size and distribution of offshore bird populations; and if she will make a statement. [141943]
§ Mr. BradshawThe Seabirds at Sea survey is a part Government funded national survey under the JNCC management. The survey does not cover all our seas on an annual basis, but areas of our seas have been selected each year since 1979. In the main our knowledge of the distribution of bird populations in the offshore environment comes from species surveys, many of which have been done in response to development pressures and some of which have been part funded by the country conservation agencies.
In addition to this work some information is gathered on both numbers and distribution around our coasts from the BTO/WWT/RSPB/JNCC Wetland Bird Survey, which is the part-government funded national scheme for counting waterbirds in the UK. This scheme relies on observers on land and therefore does not provide full coverage of birds that use the open sea.
The JNCC and WWT are, within their partnership, currently developing a strategy for monitoring sea ducks, divers and grebes, and JNCC will present this to government as formal advice in 2004.
§ Mr. Laurence RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what work her Department is doing to establish the size and distribution of offshore populations of the common scoter; and if she will make a statement. [141944]
§ Mr. BradshawThe Seabirds at Sea survey is a part Government funded national survey under the JNCC management. The survey does not cover all our seas on an annual basis, but areas of our seas have been selected each year since 1979. In the main our knowledge of the distribution of bird populations in the offshore environment comes from species surveys, many of which have been done in response to development pressures and some of which have been part funded by the country conservation agencies.
In addition to this work some information is gathered on both numbers and distribution around our coasts from the BTO/WWT/RSPB/JNCC Wetland Bird Survey, which is the part-government funded national scheme for counting waterbirds in the UK. This scheme relies on observers on land and therefore does not provide full coverage of birds that use the open sea.
The JNCC and WWT are, within their partnership, currently developing a strategy for monitoring sea ducks, divers and grebes, and JNCC will present this to government as formal advice in 2004.
While there is no national scheme we do know that that the UK wintering population of common scoter is estimated to be 50,000 individuals (Kershaw and Cranswick. 2003. Biological Conservation 111: 91–104) and those of other species can be found on the WWTs website at: http://www.wwt.org.uk/publications/default. asp?PubID = 14
532WThe distributions of these birds can be found in the JNCC publication "An Atlas of seabird distribution in north-west European waters" (Stone et al. 1995).
§ Mr. Laurence RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress her Department is making in designating Shell Flat, Liverpool Bay as a special protection area; and if she will make a statement. [141942]
§ Mr. BradshawThe Statutory Nature Conservation Agencies are currently verifying survey data for the common scoter population in the Liverpool Bay area, including Shell Flat. Once the data has been scientifically verified a site proposal will be submitted to this Department. English Nature would then undertake a full public consultation exercise before any Special Protection Area is classified.