2002 Strategic Environmental Assessment SEA3 Technical report - Other designated areas (North Sea)

This report is a contribution to the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA3) conducted by the Department of Trade and Industry (now Department of Energy and Climate Change). This report summarises sites which are protected for reasons other than nature conservation in the SEA3 area of the North Sea. They include sites of geological importance, archaeological importance, sites of designated water quality for bathing, and areas of bivalve shellfish production. Sites of geological importance include Geological Conservation Review sites (GCRs), geological Special Sites of Scientific Interest (SSSI) and Regionally Important Geological and Geomorphological sites (RIGS). Sites of archaeological importance include wrecks and scheduled monuments. A large number of wrecks exist in the SEA3 area, most uncharted. The majority of wrecks are found in coastal waters. Important historic wrecks in UK waters are protected under the Protection of Wrecks Act 1973. Water samples are regularly taken from numerous beaches along the east coast for physical, chemical and microbiological analysis. Bathing beaches are classified according to national and European standards for quality. In the UK, shellfish for human consumption must be harvested from designated production areas.本报告是对贸易和工业部（现更名为能源与气候变化部）开展的战略环境评价（Strategic Environmental Assessment，SEA3）的相关贡献。本报告梳理了北海SEA3区域内，因非自然保护目的而受保护的各类场所，涵盖具有地质重要性的地点、考古重要性地点、指定游泳水质区域以及双壳贝类养殖区。其中，具有地质重要性的场所包括地质保护审查场地（Geological Conservation Review，GCR）、地质类具特殊科学价值地点（Special Sites of Scientific Interest，SSSI）以及区域重要地质与地貌场地（Regionally Important Geological and Geomorphological sites，RIGS）。具有考古重要性的场所包括沉船遗址与法定纪念物。SEA3区域内分布有大量沉船遗址，其中多数未被绘入海图；绝大多数沉船遗址位于近岸海域。英国海域内的重要历史沉船遗址受《1973年沉船保护法》保护。研究人员定期从东海岸多处海滩采集水样，开展物理、化学与微生物学分析。游泳海滩依据本国及欧盟的水质标准进行分级评定。在英国，供人类食用的贝类必须从指定养殖区域采收。