*For the latest Annex I habitat resource figures, please see the
link to the latest Habitats Directive Article 17 reporting in the
Assessment tab.
The acquisition of new data may result in updates to our
knowledge on feature presence and extent within this site. The most
up to date information is reflected on the map on this page and in
JNCC’s MPA mapper and the evidence
underpinning this can be viewed in the Evidence
tab.
The diagram below is a summary of the key
milestones involved in the selection and designation of Anton Dohrn
Seamount SAC. More detail can be found within the
Relevant Documentation below.
The documents referred to below and any other historical
documents relating to Anton Dohrn Seamount SAC were
produced during the selection and designation process and therefore
may be out of date. This Site Information Centre is the most
up to date source of information for this MPA, and will reflect any
additional information gathered since these documents were
produced. Information about the SAC site selection process is
available on the JNCC SAC pages.
Summary
Last updated: January 2019
The information for this site summary was adapted from documents
listed in the Relevant Documentation section and
incorporates any further information gathered since these documents
were produced.
Site overview
Anton Dohrn Seamount is located to the west of Scotland, about
200km from the Outer Hebrides in the Rockall Trough, a deep water
channel in the North-east Atlantic. The seamount is a former
volcano, roughly circular in shape, and was last active 40 – 70
million years ago. The top is fairly uniform in depth (at 1,100m)
and is surrounded by steep cliff slopes extending down towards a
moat at ~2,400m water depth. The seamount is approximately 1,800m
high from the deepest point of the moat to the crest of the
feature, and about 40km in diameter. On the lower flanks, parasitic
cones occur that were formed when volcanic material erupted from
lateral fractures rather than the central vent.
The site contains a series of bedrock, stony and biogenic reefs
– sub-types of Annex I reef. The upper regions of the seamount
flanks are bedrock reef grading to stony reef on the lower flanks.
These habitats support assemblages of sea cucumbers, brittlestars,
cup corals and sponges. At the base of the seamount flanks, bedrock
and stony reef outcrop on ridges, extending radially from the
centre of the seamount, and on parasitic cones. In places, both
these features support dense aggregations of sea whips (or sea
fans) and other corals, in communities known as ‘coral gardens’ –
an
OSPAR Threatened and/or Declining habitat. Also present is
biogenic reef formed from Lophelia
pertusa and Solenosmilia variabilis cold-water
corals. This structurally complex habitat supports a diverse and
unique range of fauna, including black corals, sea whips, soft
corals and stony corals.
Within the Rockall Trough and Bank Regional Sea, where Anton
Dohrn Seamount is situated, there are three other SACs designated
for the presence of Annex I reef: Darwin Mounds SAC, North West
Rockall Bank SAC and East Rockall Bank SAC. Anton Dohrn Seamount
SAC provides the only example of a mixture of stony, bedrock and
biogenic reef subtypes on a seamount. Recommendation of all these
sites within the same Regional Sea is justified partly because of
the differences between the reef types at each site (structure and
associated communities) to ensure the variation of types is
represented in the network of SACs, and partly to ensure sufficient
proportion of the total UK resource of reef is included within the
UK SAC network. Further detail on the evidence for this SAC can be
found on the Evidence tab.
Site location: Coordinates for
this SAC can be found in the Natura 2000 Standard Data Form listed
in the Relevant Documentation.
Site area: 1429 km2
Anton Dohrn Seamount SAC covers a similar area to the Peak
District National Park (1,437 km2).
Site depth range: From the
summit of the seamount 760m below sea level, the flanks descend to
approximately 2,400m below sea level at the base of the
seamount.
Charting Progress 2 Biogeographic Region:
Atlantic North-West Approaches, Rockall Trough and the
Faeroe/Shetland Channel.
Site boundary description
The
boundary is a relatively simple polygon enclosing the minimum area
necessary to ensure protection of the Annex I habitat. The cSAC
boundary has been drawn in a ring shape that incorporates the Annex
I habitats on the cliff edge, seamount flanks, radial ridges and
parasitic cones. It excludes the central summit of the seamount,
which comprises mostly sands and gravels, in order to reduce the
area of ‘non-Annex I’ feature within the site boundary. As bottom
trawling could threaten the Annex I reef feature, the site boundary
includes a margin to allow for the mobile gear on the seabed being
some distance from the vessel. The Annex I features at the
foot of the seamount slope are situated at a maximum of 2000m water
depth. Assuming a ration of 2:1 fishing warp length to depth on the
continental shelf, the outer extent of the boundary is defined to
include a margin of approximately 4000m from the reef features. The
Annex I features at the summit edge are located at approximately
1000m water depth. The inner extent of the boundary, therefore,
includes a margin of approximately 2000m from the reef
feature.
Evidence
Last updated: January 2019
There is a range of data that underpin this SAC. The full
overview of the data used to support site identification along with
information on confidence in feature presence and extent is
available in the Anton Dohrn Seamount SAC Selection Assessment
Document. JNCC will be adding relevant survey data for this MPA to
the JNCC MPA
mapper. Some of the data for this SAC has been collected
through JNCC funded or collaborative surveys and some through other
means. Data from these surveys provide direct evidence
confirming the presence of the protected features within the
site.
Survey and data gathering
- Deep Links
Project (2016) - A collaborative project between Plymouth
University's Deep Sea CRU and University of Oxford, in partnership
with JNCC and British Geological Survey, funded by NERC. During May
and June 2016 the team undertook a 6 week research cruise in the
North East Atlantic, including Anton Dohrn Seamount, on board the
RRS James Cook collecting data. This project aims to investigate
the theory that populations at bathyal depths are more isolated
because the currents that transport larvae decrease with
depth.
- JNCC/British Geological Survey/University of
Plymouth surveys of Anton Dohrn and East Rockall Bank (2009)
- Commissioned by JNCC and undertaken by the
British Geological Survey, University of Plymouth and Marin
Mättenik AB, this survey took place between the 1st and 29th of
July 2009. The survey collected high quality acoustic and
photographic ‘ground-truthing’ data to enable the distribution,
extent and biological characterisation of the Annex I reef. For
further information, see the cruise report (Stewart
et al., 2009):
- Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Strategic
Environmental Assessment (SEA) Surveys off North of Scotland
(2005) - The SEA surveys were commissioned by the Department
of Trade and Industry (now Department for Energy and Climate
Change). These surveys, in which JNCC collaborated, collected
multibeam and underwater imagery data from areas off the north and
west coasts of Scotland.
Data analysis reports
Analyses of data gathered as part of the
surveys listed above, as well as other relevant data analysis
products, are available via the following reports:
Additional relevant literature
References for further supporting scientific literature
consulted during the identification of this site can be found in
the Selection
Assessment. Please be aware that although these sources
contain information in relation to this MPA, they do not
necessarily represent the views of JNCC.
- Davies J.S., Stewart H.A., Narayanaswamy B.E., Jacobs C.,
Spicer J., Golding N. and Howell K.L. (2015) Benthic Assemblages of
the Anton Dohrn Seamount (NE Atlantic): Defining Deep-Sea Biotopes
to Support Habitat Mapping and Management Efforts with a Focus on
Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems. PLoS ONE 10
(5): e0124815. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0124815 - Analysis of still
images and video ground truthing identified 13 biological
communities (biotopes) on the flanks of Anton Dohrn Seamount that
can be applied in habitat mapping.
Knowledge gaps
If you are aware of
any additional information not referred to in the Relevant
Documentation or here, please contact
JNCC
Conservation Advice
Last updated: March 2018
Updated formal conservation advice is now available for this
MPA. Further information on the approach used to develop this
advice is available on the Conservation Advice
webpage along with a Glossary of
Terms used in JNCC conservation advice and a short
video explaining how to use the conservation advice
packages.
You must refer to this advice if you:
- undertake a Habitats
Regulation Assessment (HRA) for a plan or project that could impact
the site;
- provide information for
a HRA;
- respond to specific
measures to support delivery of the conservation objectives for the
site; and
- consider the need to put new
or additional management measures in place.
You may also find it useful to refer to this
advice if you:
- carry out any other activity that
could impact the site.
We will engage with stakeholders to identify
any lessons which JNCC can learn from customers who have used the
advice, with a view to continuing to ensure it is
fit-for-purpose.
The following table provides an overview of the components of
the conservation advice, and provides hyperlinks to each of the
products for this MPA. These elements together form JNCC’s
formal conservation advice for this site and should be read in
conjunction with each other. This updated advice replaces the
previous Regulation 18 package for the site. This advice
reflects the most up-to-date evidence held by JNCC (correct as of
March 2018). A zipped folder enabling these documents to be
downloaded together is available at the bottom of this page.
Document
|
Overview
|
Background Information
|
Explains the purpose of the advice and when it
must be referred to.
|
Conservation
Objectives
Supplementary Advice on
the Conservation
Objectives (SACO)
|
The Conservation Objectives set out the broad
ecological aims for the site. JNCC provide supplementary advice in
the SACO which is essential reading to support interpretation of
these conservation objectives.
You can use these documents to assess the
impacts of your planned activity on the important attributes of the
site.
|
Conservation
advice statements
|
These statements provide a summary of the Supplementary Advice
on the Conservation Objectives (SACO).
- Site condition presents our up to date understanding of the
condition of features within the site;
- Conservation benefits which the site can provide, these help
you understand what is important about the site and why it needs
protecting; and
- Conservation measures which JNCC consider are needed to support
achievement of the conservation objectives. These provide clarity
around measures needed to support restoration or maintenance of the
feature(s) within the site.
|
Advice on
operations
|
Provides information on the activities capable
of affecting site integrity and therefore achievement of the site’s
conservation objectives.
This is a starting point for determining
potential management requirements. It does not take into account
the intensity, frequency or cumulative impacts from activities
taking place. It is simply to advise you of the possible adverse
impacts that your activity can have on a MPA’s features.
Use the advice on operations to determine
those pressures your activity causes that could harm the habitat
and/or species features of the site.
|
Download
You will need the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to view this
document.
Activities and Management
Last updated: June 2017
Management
status: Progressing
towards being well managed
Progress is ongoing with the recommendation of
fisheries management proposals to the European Commission and
ongoing site condition monitoring work will be required in order to
conclude with confidence as to the degree to which the site is
moving towards or achieving its conservation objectives.
|
This site forms part of the UK's contribution to the
OSPAR
commissions network of MPAs, Europe’s
Natura 2000 network and
the Emerald network established under the Bern Convention. As the
UK is a signatory to the
OSPAR
commission, JNCC are committed to ensuring that the OSPAR MPA
network is ‘
well-managed’ by 2020.
JNCC consider ‘well-managed’ to mean the timely progress of an
MPA around the ‘MPA management cycle’. This involves:
- The documentation of appropriate management information -
conservation objectives, advice on activities capable of affecting
the protected features of a site, and spatial information on the
presence and extent of the protected features of a site.
- The implementation of management measures - management actions
considered necessary to achieve the conservation objectives of a
site.
- Site condition monitoring programmes – collecting the
information necessary to determine progress towards a sites
conservation objectives.
- Assessment of progress towards conservation objectives – using
available information to infer whether or not a site is moving
towards or has achieved its conservation objectives.
The sub-sections that follow provide an account of the progress
of Anton Dohrn Seamount SAC around each of the four stages in the
MPA management cycle.
The documentation of appropriate management information
- The conservation objectives and advice on activities capable of
affecting the conservation status of the protected feature of this
site are available under the conservation advice tab.
- JNCC are in the process of improving our MPA conservation
advice packages. Further information is available on our conservation
advice pages.
- Spatial information on the presence and extent of the protected
feature of this MPA is available via JNCC's MPA mapper.
- JNCC are in the process of developing downloadable MPA data
packages where appropriate permissions to share datasets are in
place.
The implementation of management measures
This section details progress towards the implementation of
management measures for activities considered capable of affecting
the conservation status of the protected feature of the site. The
protected feature of the site is considered to be sensitive to
pressures associated with fishing and ‘licensable’ activities.
Fisheries
- There is evidence of mobile demersal and pelagic fishing
activity within the MPA and UK and non-UK registered vessels have
been active in the area.
- The site falls outside the UK’s 12 nautical mile limit and is
to be exclusively managed under the EU Common Fisheries Policy
(CFP). In accordance with
Article 18 of the revised CFP, requests for management will be
developed jointly between the UK Government and any Member States
with a direct management interest in the area affected.
- Marine Scotland are the lead authority regarding the
implementation of, and compliance with, any measures to managing
fishing activity. Further information on progress is available via
Marine Scotland’s web pages.
- In 2011, the International Council for the Exploration of the
Sea (ICES) advised the EU that indicator species for Vulnerable
Marine Ecosystems (VMEs) are present on the seamount, and
recommended an area that should be closed to all bottom contacting
fishing gears to protect these VMEs. At present, the EU has not
implemented this
advice.
Licensable activities
- Whilst ‘licensable’ activities such as oil and gas exploration
and production do not take place within Anton Dohrn Seamount SAC at
present, any future proposals would have to comply with Article
6(3) of the EU
Habitats Directive 1992, which is transposed into UK law by the
Conservation of
Offshore Marine Habitats and Species Regulations 2017.
- Our conservation advice supports the consents process by
setting out the conservation objectives for the protected feature
of this MPA and advice on activities that may result in pressures
to which the protected feature is considered sensitive.
- Further information on JNCC's role in the provision of advice
for licensed activities in the UK offshore area is available on
JNCCs offshore
industries advice webpage.
Shipping
- There is a radio calling in point present in the site boundary
and parts of the site may be crossed by ships.
- Under international law, ships have a right of passage at sea
including in areas designated as MPAs (unless management specifies
the restriction of ship transiting as outlined through
international maritime organisational measure). The pressures
associated with shipping activity within Anton Dohrn Seamount SAC
are not considered likely to impact the protected features of the
site.
Site condition monitoring
Fishing vessel monitoring data is used to monitor compliance with
the management measure in place.
Site condition monitoring surveys are yet to take place within this
MPA.
Further information will be made available under the monitoring tab
in due course.
Assessment of progress towards conservation
objectives
No long-term condition monitoring data is available to determine
whether the MPA is moving towards or has reached its conservation
objectives. The site has a ‘restore’ conservation objective based
on the findings of a vulnerability assessment which suggests the
site is unlikely to be moving towards its conservation objectives.
Further information will be provided under the assessment tab as it
becomes available.
Monitoring
Last updated: June 2017
JNCC is currently leading on the development of a strategy for
biodiversity monitoring across all UK waters, to include MPA
monitoring. Data and evidence collected from MPA monitoring
activities will aim to:
- Enable assessment of condition of the features within
sites;
- Enable assessment of the degree to which management measures
are effective in achieving the conservation objectives for the
protected features;
- Support the identification of priorities for future protection
and/or management; and,
- Enable Government to fulfil its national and international
assessment and reporting commitments in relation to MPAs and help
identify where further action may be required.
Information on monitoring of this MPA will be provided when it
becomes available.
Assessment
Last updated: January 2019
Assessments of the condition of designated features in offshore
MPAs are required to report against our legal obligations. Ideally
these assessments should be based on observed data, and then
measured against targets for predefined indicators. However, for
MPAs in offshore waters we do not always have the appropriate
information to be able to do so. This is particularly true for
seabed habitats, which are the main type of feature designated for
protection in offshore MPAs.
To address these challenges, JNCC has been an active partner in
the development of new approaches and tools for the assessment of
habitats and species for a variety of national and international
status reports. They include the second cycle of the Conservation Status Assessment reports under the
EU Habitats Directive, Charting Progress 2
(CP2), the OSPAR Quality Status
Report (QSR) and the most recent
OSPAR Intermediate Assessment 2017. JNCC continues to develop
and pilot tools for the assessment of marine habitats and species
in offshore waters to improve the quality and transparency of our
offshore MPA assessments, and contribute to the monitoring of
marine biodiversity in UK waters. These tools cover methods for
producing interim assessments of site features and their responses
to pressures, as well as developing more robust indicators for
determining condition of the features.
Every six years, Member States are required under Article 17
of the EU Habitats Directive to report on the Conservation
Status of Annex I habitats and Annex II species on the Habitats
Directive. The assessments should consider the habitat or
species both within the Natura 2000 network and in the wider
sea. The latest report was submitted by the UK in 2013
and provided a second assessment of the conservation status of
relevant habitats and species within UK marine waters during
2007-2012. The next report is for the period 2013-2018 and is due
in 2019; information on the condition of features within SACs will
make a contribution to this report.
The assessments of features within MPAs will also feed into six
yearly reports on the state of the marine environment under the
Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD),
which aims to achieve Good Environmental Status (GES) by
2020.