6                           Fisheries

6.1                     Introduction

6.1.1.1              The fisheries impact assessment conducted for this EIA concluded that impacts from the Trunk Road T2 project would be associated with the temporary loss of about 0.5ha marine area in Kwun Tong Typhoon Shelter (KTTS) due to the operation of the Trunk Road T2 barging point.  However, given that no adult fish or fry production were recorded in the existing KTTS (Port Survey 2006), the small size of the temporary barging point and the fact that the marine area would be occupied only temporarily and could be available for fishing after construction, subject to the trawling ban in place from December 2012, no significant impacts in respect to the loss of fishing grounds would occur. Therefore, the Trunk Road T2 project would not give rise to any significant impacts to fisheries during the construction and operation phase.

6.1.1.2              Indirect impacts associated with changes to water quality arising from the Trunk Road T2 project would be temporary and localised.  With the implementation of the recommended water quality control measures, no significant adverse indirect impact on fisheries resources would be expected from the Trunk Road T2 project.

6.2                     Mitigation Measures

6.2.1.1              Impacts to fisheries resources and fishing operations have largely been avoided during the construction and operation of the Trunk Road T2 project by the adoption of a subsea tunnel constructed by TBM which avoids of dredging, reclamation, filling activities and permanent above seabed structures in the marine environment.  The mitigation measures to be recommended in the water quality impact assessment (Section 6 of the EIA Report) to control water quality would serve, also, to protect fisheries resources from indirect impacts and ensure no adverse impact on fisheries resources would result from the Trunk Road T2 project.  Details of the mitigation measures are presented in Appendix A.

6.2.1.2              Hence, no fisheries specific mitigation measures are required during construction and operation of the Trunk Road T2.

6.3                     EM&A Requirements

6.3.1.1              The implementation of the water quality mitigation measures stated in the Water Quality Impact Assessment (Refer to Section 6 of the EIA Report) will be audited as part of the Environmental Monitoring and Audit (EM&A) procedures during the construction period and the details are presented in Section 4 of this Environmental Monitoring and Audit Manual.

6.3.1.2              There are no significant fisheries impacts predicted from the construction and operation of the Trunk Road T2 and therefore, no specific fisheries monitoring and auditing programme is required.