Abstract
There is growing concern about the effect of noise pollution from Offshore Operations on whales, dolphins, porpoises and other marine fauna both in the scientific and political communities. The general public, media and key decision makers are becoming more aware of the potential impact of such operations and this is increasing the pressure on organisations to manage their acoustic impact on the marine environment.
The Environmental Risk Management Capability (ERMC - a software package developed by BAE Systems in collaboration with the Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU) and the Centre for Research into Ecological and Environmental Modelling (CREEM) at the University of St Andrews) is the first system to provide a quantitative, robust and repeatable risk assessment method of the potential impact of sonar on both human divers and marine fauna. To assist in the effective management of this impact, ERMC can provide the user with recommendations of potential mitigation measures, and more importantly supports a basis from which the user can continue to use active sonar whilst complying with their operating policies and legislative obligations to protect the environment.
This paper will discuss how ERMC can be employed to provide a risk assessment for both sonar and seismic offshore operations which introduce sound into the marine environment. It will also discuss whether such an approach would provide a more flexible and reliable outcome to methods commonly in use today.
