Main potentials and conflicts in the Polish sea space Juliusz Gajewski Maritime Institut Gdańsk

East West Window meetingEast West Window meetingKalingrad, 30th of October 2007Kalingrad, 30th of October 2007

Main potentials and conflictsMain potentials and conflictsin the Polish sea spacein the Polish sea space

Juliusz Gajewski Juliusz Gajewski Maritime Institut GdańskMaritime Institut Gdańsk

Kaliningrad, 30th of October 2007Kaliningrad, 30th of October 2007

The East West Window project is part-financed by the European Union. The contents of this presentation are the sole responsibility of the Project Partners and

can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting position of the European Union.


Main potentialsMain potentials• Renewable energyRenewable energy• TourismTourism• FisheryFishery


Renewable energyRenewable energy

• The existing sea space (under Polish supervision) suitable for The existing sea space (under Polish supervision) suitable for production of renewable energy amounts production of renewable energy amounts 1000 sq km1000 sq km (depth (depth between between 20 and 30 m20 and 30 m, the suitable distance to the shore, suitable , the suitable distance to the shore, suitable number of the windy days). The existing technical possibilities number of the windy days). The existing technical possibilities allow for installation of 5MW per sq. km. Multiplying this by 3500 allow for installation of 5MW per sq. km. Multiplying this by 3500 windy hours per year the energy produced might amount windy hours per year the energy produced might amount 15TWh15TWh per year. per year.

• The less suitable areas (but still feasible and probably even more The less suitable areas (but still feasible and probably even more feasible in the future) due to the larger depth (depth between feasible in the future) due to the larger depth (depth between 30 30 and 40 mand 40 m) amount ) amount 1500 sq km1500 sq km of Polish territorial waters and EEZ. of Polish territorial waters and EEZ. Making use of similar assumptions except larger number of windy Making use of similar assumptions except larger number of windy days one can estimate energy harvest at the level of days one can estimate energy harvest at the level of 28 TWh28 TWh per per year from this areayear from this area

East West Window meetingEast West Window meetingKalingrad, 30th of October 2007Kalingrad, 30th of October 2007Renewable energyRenewable energy


FisheryFishery

Year 2002 2003 2004 2005Number of fishing vessels 409 398 249

Number of fishing boats 991 976 723

Fish catch in tonnes 142 686,2 153 805,1 124 340,6

Number of fisherman 4 056 3 188

Number of employed in fish processing 13 500 14 100

Number of employed in fish trade (retail and wholesale)

6 200 6 100


Tourism pressureTourism pressure

Tourism pressure


SeaToursims (potential)SeaToursims (potential)

The genuine maritime tourism is in its infancy period Fine conditions for windsurfing, kite surfing yachting. The necessary infrastructure on the coast is underdeveloped. Therefore the main task here is to asses the exiting potential for maritime tourism against the limits and constraints created by the spatial features (organisation) of the coastal strip.

Underwater tourism as opportunity. But information on cultural heritage suitable for that purpose is largely missing or insufficient.

Open sea angling as opportunity. The potential for its development is incredible and no restrictions on fish catch exist so far but the demand should be developed.


Main potentialsMain potentials• NatureNature


NatureNature

Main forms of nature conservation (only national law):1.national parks (Woliński National Park, Słowiński National Park) 2. landscape parks (Seaside Landscape Park and Mierzeja Wiślana Lansdcape Park). Proposed to be the HELCOM BSPA -still not approved.

International forms of nature protection - Natura 2000 sites (Bird Directive – 6 sites and the Habitat Directive – 8 sites, and species conservation).

The main problem is lack of information on distribution range of marine habitats, distribution range and size of protected species populations, objectives and ways of conservation in protected areas in Polish waters. (both parks and Natura 2000 sites).


NatureNatureThe biocenosis investigated and described the most comprehensively: bottom and pelagic biocenosis, ichtyofauna, marine mammals and birds. Research showed no need to change limits of present bird protected areas, but proposed to establish new protected area between Krynica Morska and Kaliningrad Oblast

Lack of information on habitat characteristics due to large size of Polish water areas and high cost of habitat investigations, - on a big scale (more that 1:10 000) including bottom species as habitat forming species. Studies on deep water areas require specialistic expensive ships. Habitats examined the best are parts of large shallow inlets and bays, lagoons and estuaries.

The excessive input of nutrients and suspended matter with waters of Vistula River and Odra River the greatest threats to biocenosis.


Main potentialsMain potentials• MineralsMinerals


MineralsMinerals

The reliable inventory of the mineral deposits in the Polish part of the Baltic Sea does not exist. Therefore this potential cannot be assessed in a more accurate manner. Concession given for extraction of minerals are indicated on the Map


Main potentialsMain potentials• Sea transportSea transport


Sea TransportSea Transport

Maritime transport from Polish ports has been growing fast rate for several years. Polish sea space has demonstrated its capacity to accommodate this growth posing no limits for commercial navigation. The main factor for development of the sea transport in the future is demand growth vis a vis nature protection and recreation requirements.


ConflictsConflicts

Main expected/ potential use conflicts

wind farms, connecting cables

other cables mineral oil/ gas

extraction &

connecting

pipelines

other pipeline

s

aquaculture

sand/ gravel

extraction

shipping routes

nature protection areas

dumping areas

fishing/military training

areas

Other offshore

and onshore

uses

Wind farms & connecting cables /landside infrastructure Xx xx xx x xx xx x

Other cables (electricity, telecom) X x(?) xx x xx xx x

Mineral oil/ gas mining and connecting pipelines xx x x(?) xx xx(x) xx(x) xx xx x

Other pipelines x(?) x(?) x x

Aquaculture

Sand/ gravel extraction xx xx Xx x xx xx

Shipping routes/ anchorage areas xx x xx(x) x xx xx x

Nature protection areas x xx(x) x x x x(xx) x x

Dumping areas xx xx Xx xx xx x(xx) x x

Important fishing/ Military training areas xx xx Xx xx xx x xx x(xx)

Other offshore uses: coastal safety recreation

x x

x x

x x

x x

x x

x

x

x(xx)


Conflicts ObservedConflicts Observed

1. Wind farms & connecting cables/ landside infrastructure•Military training areas and related corridors.

•Fishing activities - compensation paid to fisherman by farms owners, farms can create suitable conditions for fish breeding (including also aquaculture).

•Nature protection. – need to respect both requirements of protecting the coast and coastal nature when planning for connecting (cable) infrastructure. For bird main problem is lack of suitable data (when birds cross given areas).

•Shipping routes especially those crossing both pipelines and cables at the same place – anchors as a threat for cables.

•Cultural heritage not been evidenced so far to the sufficient extend - high risk.

•Recreation - conflicts superficial, desirable if local municipalities could have an economic stake in wind farms on territorial waters bordering them.

•Mineral extraction - the only solution byprioritizing between different forms of economic use of the sea space at the stage of preparation of the sea use strategic plans, but the mineral deposits not sufficiently identified so far.


Conflicts ObservedConflicts Observed

2. Aquaculture and fishing•Nature protection and fishing: over-fishing and still fisherman cannot earn sufficient money for living. The spatial consequences : (a) different types of using sea space should be prioritised against fishing, (b) there is a need to plan in long term new economic functions for coastal municipalities

•Nature protection and aquaculture: aquaculture is not a solution due to negative impacts of aquaculture on sea habitats. If this could be avoided, in the future aquaculture should be developed together with wind farms for obvious synergetic effects and to avoid competition with other coastal space users.

•Climate change. Climate change may lead to far going changes of the salinity level and average temperature of the Baltic Sea in the future. This will result in changes of the sea habitats and changes in species.


Conlicts ObservedConlicts Observed

3. Sand/ gravel extraction, mineral oil/ gas mining and connecting pipelines

Conflicts so far non existing due to low intensity of the use of the Polish sea space for mining activities.

The conflicts can also be difficult to predict in reality due to lack of sufficient information of the mineral deposits located in Polish territorial and internal waters.

But all linear installations cause artificial zoning of space, thus causing also problems to spatially extensive type of uses.


Conflicts observedConflicts observed

4. Tourism

•The main conflicts concern the conventional coastal (beach based) tourism and nature protection and environment (among others, due to concentration of activities in two summer months): degradation of cultural landscapes and urban spatial order, traffic jams and congestions on roads.

•For sea tourism - need for developing marina networks along the Polish coast but might be in conflict with Natura 2000 areas, lack of acces to Vistula lagoon for foreign yachts.



5. Shipping routes/ anchorage areas•No serious conflicts so far since navigation together with nature protection prioritised against all other types of sea uses in Poland.

•But the impact of navigation on nature has not been sufficiently analysed, therefore conflicts in this field have not been sufficiently identified.

•The most possible and serious conflict might be with coastal safety as identified by Baltcoast but so far not experienced in reality in Poland.

6. Dumping areas•Conflicts mainly with coastal safety (the part of the coast near the Stilo Lighthouse is disappearing).

• The conflict with nature protection but expected insignificant in Polish conditions, due to the small amounts dumped of a clean sand.



7. Nature protection areas

Conflict with requirements of coastal safety, (apart of earlier mentioned conflicts between nature and tourism or nature and aquaculture, nature protection requirements) - the choice between natural coastal processes unchanged by human intervention and protection of human settlements e.g. Jastrzebia Góra cliffs and Hel Peninsula threatened with flooding and overflows during storm surges etc.

But these conflicts already solved in Poland through its long term coastal protection strategy, taking into account the requirements of development of the coastal zone, nature protection and climate change..


SEA USE PLANNING SYSTEM – POLANDSEA USE PLANNING SYSTEM – POLAND

General informationPolish marine waters include (Fig. 1) the marine internal waters and the territorial sea (12-nm zone), which together are the national sea territory, and the Exclusive Economic Zone. In the name of the State, sea areas are managed by the Minister responsible for matters of maritime economy (nowadays it is separate Ministry in the past it was part of Ministry of Transport or Infrastructure) and by his regional administration, i.e. the Directors of Maritime Offices

At present, the intensity of Polish sea space use is rather low, especially when compared with some other sea areas (e.g. German, Danish, Dutch, Belgian or some UK areas).



The total area of the internal marine waters is about 1 991 km2 and includes the Vistula Lagoon, the Szczecin Lagoon, the Gulf of Gdańsk and port waters.

The 12-nm zone’s area is 8682 km2

EEZ is 22 634 km2.



2.Administrative organisation for sea use planning

Responsibility for planning is uniform over all sea areas (i.e. internal sea waters, 12-nm zone and EEZ).

The plans should cover sea areas only – no extension into coastal land.

Draft spatial plans are to be prepared by the territorially competent Director of Maritime Office (i.e. maritime administration).

Costs of preparing the spatial plan of the sea area and of preparing the forecast of environmental impact are covered by the State budget, or by an investor – if determinations of the plan are a direct consequence of the realisation of his investment.


SEA USE PLANNING SYSTEM – POLANDSEA USE PLANNING SYSTEM – POLAND 2. Administrative organisation for sea use planning

At the national level a Concept (outline) of Spatial Development of the Country (Koncepcja Przestrzennego Zagospodarowania Kraju) is elaborated and approved by the government and presented to the Parliament.

This is a strategic document of non-binding character. However, the main conclusions from this document should be taken into consideration in voivodship and municipality spatial management documents, and also in central voivodship and municipality level policies and strategies.

So far, the sea space is not covered in this document.

Work on a new Concept has been started in 2006. This Concept shall contain also indications and guidelines concerning the use of, and development in, Polish sea areas, including the EEZ.



3. Sea Use Planning Legislation•the Act on Maritime Areas of Poland and Maritime Administration of March 21st 1991. sea use planning have been added to the Act in 2003 and slightly amended in 2005.•Act “On Spatial Planning and Management” of 17 March 2003 (with several later amendments) •Act “Construction Law” of 7th July 1994 (with later amendments),



3. Sea Use Planning Legislation

Drawbacks of the existing law on sea use spatial planning.

•No objectives and principles of such planning described

•No hierarchy of the sea use plans envisaged.

•No role of spatial plans prescribed (law or guidance?)

The scale(s) and other matters of planning procedure should be regulated by ministerial ordnance. A draft of this ordnance was prepared and sent to a first round of consultation, but after that work on the ordnance stopped.



3. Sea Use Planning Legislation

•Act “On Spatial Planning and Management” of 2003 has only a minor provision for sea use planning ensuring participation of the Maritime Administration as far as planning of the technical belt, protective belt and space of harbours and ports is concerned. The relations between sea use plans and terrestrial plans are not covered in this document.•Some “planning” of the sea space might be by ordinance of the sectoral ministers and authorities i.e. closed military areas are enforced by the Navy, and Natura 2000 areas are enforced by the Minister of Environment outside the planning system/regime.



4. Plans – description of the content of the existing plans

The sea use plans decide about:•the destined use of the sea areas;•prohibitions or limitations in the use of the sea areas, taking into account the requirements of nature protection;•distribution of public investment;•directions of development of transport and technical infrastructure;•areas and conditions of protection of environment and cultural heritage.



4. Plans – description of the content of the existing plans

Only pilots so far

It is assumed that the basic objectives of the pilot plan are:

Ensuring sustainable development of coastal communities;

Ensuring good state of marine and land/sea ecosystems;

Ensuring safe and sustainable use of the sea;

Economic use of space, leaving as much room as possible for future, in that yet unknown, ways of using the sea;

Maintenance and protection of historical heritage;

Where possible, using solutions concerning not only space but also time.


SEA USE PLANNING SYSTEM – POLANDSEA USE PLANNING SYSTEM – POLAND5. Main rules of co-ordination and public participation and cross-sectoral co-ordination of the plan•Regulations on sea use planning do not provide for a broad public participation. •Cross-sectoral co-ordination is required only at central, inter-ministerial level because a spatial management plan for a sea area is accepted in agreement with the specified Ministers. •If the plan concerns the 12-nm zone and/or an internal sea area, agreement (i.e. co-ordination) is required with the neighbouring coastal municipality.

6. Trans-national co-ordination of the sea use plans with neighbours

No specific procedure for trans-national co-ordination of sea use plans.


SEA USE PLANNING SYSTEM – POLANDSEA USE PLANNING SYSTEM – POLAND7. Instruments for co-ordination of sea use plans and terrestrial spatial plans

No legal provision that Concept (outline) of Spatial Development of the Country or regional spatial management plans should be taken into consideration when developing sea use plans.

Legal provisions for co-ordination between land ->sea are only at the local level. - an agreement is required, not just an opinion.

The same procedure vice versa (sea->land) but only for the technical and protective belt and space of the harbours and ports (predicted sea level rise due to climate change, coastal protection, sea flood safety, safety of navigation, proper location and parameters of structures and infrastructure crossing the coastline).



8. Main policies taken into consideration when preparing sea-use plans

At present, except (i) the long term strategy for coastal protection, and (ii) guidelines towards an ICZM strategy, Poland has no policy or strategy, which would seriously consider the sea area and/or the economical, social and environmental sea↔land interactions.

Also Natura 2000 must be observed when developing sea use plans.

Some other policies are also relevant but there is no legal provision requiring that they should be taken into consideration when developing sea use plans. Among those polices one can mention: national policies for energy, transportation, environment, climate change, which should provide guidelines for sea area management. Some of these policies still have to be developed or improved to contain the sea element.



9. Approval/concordance of sea use-plans

The plans should be accepted by ministerial ordnance by the Minister responsible for matters of building, spatial management and housing, in agreement with the Ministers responsible for matters of maritime economy, agriculture, environment, internal affairs and the Minister of Defence.

When accepting the plan the Minister should take into account EIA and valid permissions issued prior to the acceptance of the plan



10 and 11. Enforcement and validity of the sea-use plans, legal impact

No time limit for plan’s validity.

Possible disputes can be settled in the Central Administrative Court (Naczelny Sąd Administracyjny) in accordance with the Code of Administrative Procedures (Kodeks Postepowania Administracyjnego) and in the Constitution Tribunal (Trybunał Konstytucyjny).

Disputes on specific decisions on sea area use can be settled in accordance with the Code of Administrative Procedures.

Actions or decisions in conflict with the plan would be illegal. Director of Maritime Office can, by administrative decision, fine the offender up to an amount of 1,000,000 SDR .



12. Obligation to monitor and review enforced plans

Polish law does not provide any regulations on monitoring and review of sea-use plans. This is one of many weaknesses of existing law on sea-use planning.


SEA USE PLANNING SYSTEM – POLANDSEA USE PLANNING SYSTEM – POLAND13. Procedures of issuing use permits and some proposals on improvement •for cables and pipelines in the territorial sea and internal sea waters: Spatial Plan (if it exists) → Erecting and Use Permit (Director of Maritime Office) → Contract for Use (Minister) → Permit for Construction (Voivod);•for most of the projects located in the EEZ: Spatial Plan (if it exists) → Erecting and Use Permit (Director of Maritime Office when plan exists, Minister when there is no plan) → Contract for Use (Minister) → Permit for Construction(Voivod);•for projects located in the territorial sea and internal sea waters: Spatial Plan (if it exists) → Erecting and Use Permit (Director of Maritime Office when plan exists, Minister when there is no plan) → Contract for Use (Minister) → Permit for Construction (Voivod).



14. Current situation and main problems in sea use planning

Cornerstones for the future :•keeping Maritime Administration responsible for sea use planning•maintaining relation between terrestrial and sea use plans at all administrative levels starting from Concept (outline) of Spatial Development of the country and ending at local land use plans .

A need for better fitting of the Polish planning system to the existing situation in which

•there is a lack of proper information allowing for accurate spatial planning, •sea use plans are simply missing.


SEA USE PLANNING SYSTEM – POLANDSEA USE PLANNING SYSTEM – POLAND14. Current situation and main problemsKey issues to be discussed and decided are following:

•main objectives and principles of sea use planning,

•the structure and hierarchy of the sea use plans (do we need only legally binding sea use plans or also strategic plans of indicative character),

•need of differentiation between plans for EEZ and internal and territorial waters (different types of the plans may be required),

•the legal status of the sea use plans and their enforcement,

•public participation of sea stakeholders beyond the public administration level (here private sector is important), and also of land stakeholders,

•time of validity of the Erecting and Use Permit – 5 years is not sufficient

Necessity to develop clear criteria and transparent procedures for the selection of the successful applicant for an Erecting and Use Permit and Contract for Use when there are more than one applications for the same location or partly overlapping locations, or even neighbouring locations


Thank you for attentionThank you for attention

Main potentials and conflicts in the Polish sea space Juliusz Gajewski Maritime Institut Gdańsk

Documents

east west window project

suitable number

polish supervision suitable

larger number of windy

suitable distance

number of fisherman4

suitable areas

larger depth depth