Application 124771 - Ministry of Fisheries

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CAWTHRON INSTITUTE | REPORT NO. 2134 MAY 2012 Total Nitrogen (+ 1s.e.) Total Organic Carbon (± 1s.e.) 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 North South Reference Farms Control Sites North South Reference Farms Control Sites Site Type Figure 5. Average total nitrogen (TN, mg kg -1 dry weight, ± 1 s.e.) and total organic carbon (TOC, percentage of dry weight, ± 1 s.e.) from reference farms and control sites to the north and south of Coromandel Harbour. 5.2. Sediment biological properties Sediments sampled from the control sites contained infaunal communities representative of those commonly found in natural sediments throughout the Hauraki Gulf (Wong & O’Shea 2011), and are therefore considered indicative of background conditions. Two of the grabs at Control site 2 were characterised by low infauna taxa richness and taxa abundance (Table 1). A total of 110 macro-benthic taxa were recorded across all samples, comprised of 64 infauna species and 66 epifauna species. Average macro-benthic taxa richness (total infauna and epifauna) per sample was similar between control and farm sites, ranging from 10 to 33 at control sites, and 16 to 28 taxa at reference farm sites. Sample evenness, from Pielou’s evenness 11
MAY 2012 REPORT NO. 2134 | CAWTHRON INSTITUTE 12 index, was also similar between farm and reference sites, with the most even samples (i.e. closest to 1 in the index) being Control site 6 (0.97) and Farm site 1 (0.89). Species diversity was calculated using the Shannon Wiener diversity index, and averaged between 2.15 and 2.9 at Control sites (3 and 1 respectively) and between 1.93 and 2.89 at Farm sites (4 and 1). A complete list of biological indices can be found in Appendix 2 and a complete taxa list can be found in Appendix 3. The dominant infauna taxa across all sites were the window shell (Theora lubrica), various species of polychaetes (e.g. Heteromastus filiformis, Prionospio multicristata, Prionospio yuriel and Sphaerosyllis sp.), brittle stars, and oligochaete worms (Table 1). The dominant epifauna taxa by abundance were Phoxocephalidae amphipods, Decapoda larvae (unidentified), Cumaceans and Melitidae amphipods. Patterns in infaunal community composition were further explored using multivariate statistical techniques (Figure 6, see Appendix 1 for Simper analysis). In addition to being distinguished by the low total abundance and taxa richness, multivariate analysis showed the infaunal community at Control site 2 was different to the other stations; due mainly to a greater abundance of the nut clam, Nucula gallinacea and Phyllodocidae polychaetes, and the near absence of polychaete worms like Sigalionidae sp., Cossura consimilis and Prionospio yuriel. This group was also differentiated by lower abundances of a number of invasive bivalve (Theora lubrica), the capitellid worm (Heteromastus filiformis) and the polychaete worm (Sphaerosyllis sp). The infauna communities from the control and farm grab samples were generally separated at the 35% level of similarity (Figure 3). The majority of samples from the control sites and individual grabs from four farm sites (Li 292, 362, 379, and 396), were differentiated by greater numbers of polychaetes (Neonesidea sp., Sigalionidae, Cossura consimilis and Aglaophamus species), but also by lower abundances of most taxa found in the majority of farm samples. Grab samples from farm sites and individual grabs from Control site 1, 4 and 6, were grouped by higher abundances of polychaete worms including Prionospio multicristata, Prionospio yuriel, and the capitellid worm (Heteromastus filiformis), but also had greater numbers of the invasive marine bivalve (Theora lubrica). The differences in infauna communities found between farm and control sites are indicative of a mildly enriched benthic environment beneath farms resulting in greater abundances of opportunistic species. However, in most cases the subtle differences observed were in the abundance of species, rather than their presence or absence. This suggests that infauna communities in the wider environment are already exposed to mild enrichment through natural sedimentation processes.
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4 marine farm (which expires on 1 J
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6 2011) identified that the aquacul
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8 Goodwin E, 2012. Assessment of Be
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10 4.5.8 The capacity of the wharf
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12 in Appendix 1 and designed in ac
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7. Relevant Planning Provisions 14
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16 the applicant is a member of the
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7.18 Policy 6.1.3 - (Integrated Man
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Appendix 1: Survey plan showing loc
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REPORT NO. 2167 COROMANDEL MUSSEL F
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CAWTHRON INSTITUTE | REPORT NO. 216
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Application 124771 - Ministry of Fisheries

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