The harbour seal population around Orkney and the north coast of Scotland has been in sharp decline for around 20 years. This is generally thought to be due to natural causes, such as competition for food with other species, predation by killer whales, or emigration to other regions in Scotland where the population remains healthy or increasing.

Xodus was integral to establishing a cross-developer working group to address the apparent challenge posed by the status of harbour seals in the Pentland Firth and Orkney region; that expansion of the tidal stream energy industry could be constrained by conservation concerns around the declining harbour seal population. The project, named the Tidal Industry Seal Project (TISP) and funded by Crown Estate Scotland, Scottish Enterprise and Highlands & Islands Enterprise, produced a report that has motivated further discussion around not only seal conservation, but also sectoral planning and assessment methods used in EIA/HRA.

The TISP report, led by Xodus together with partners at EMEC, MeyGen, Nova Innovation and Orbital Marine Power, advised that the weight of evidence suggests that collisions between harbour seals (or any other marine mammal) and tidal turbines are likely to be incredibly rare, and the risk of collision is largely a hypothetical one, rather than a realistic threat. TISP also highlighted that the absence of a sectoral plan for tidal stream energy meant that there were no overarching framework to provide context to major consenting risks, and that concerns around harbour seal impacts are better addressed via a regional, strategic, and collaborative approach, rather than by individual projects.

TISP has fostered an ongoing closer relationship between tidal stream developers and has led to further action, such as a ministerial round-table event leading to a commitment to develop a Scottish Government tidal industry policy statement as a priority.

The report is available here: https://www.emec.org.uk/projects/ocean-energy-projects/environmental-monitoring/tidal-industry-seal-project/