Oyster fishing was once an important industry in Swansea Bay, employing 600 people at its height in the 1860s. However, overfishing, disease and pollution had all but wiped out the oyster population by 1920. In 2005, plans were announced to reintroduce the Oyster farming industry.[1]
For the last two decades of the 20th century, the bay was blighted by pollution, partly from the surrounding heavy industry and partly from sewerage outlets being sited at inappropriate locations including the main one that was located just seaward of Mumbles Lighthouse. A pumping station inside the cliff adjacent to Knab Rock brought all of Swansea city's effluent in a raw form to this point. Adding to the problem was the natural current flow of the waters in the Bay which often did not move the polluted waters further out to sea. Ironically, the outgoing tide did not carry the raw sewage down the adjacent Bristol Channel, but instead cause it to be sucked in around the circumference of the Bay and only then out down the Channel. If not fully discharged on that tide, the incoming tide would then push the same effluent up the Channel, and once again circulate around the Bay. Efforts were made by the local authority to reduce the pollution in the Bay but care had to be taken to ensure the pollution did not move to the popular beach resorts in south Gower instead.
This original sewer outlet was finally made inactive in around 1996 following the construction of a brand new pipeline which ran all the way back around the Bay following the line of the old Mumbles Railway as far as Beach Street, along the sea-side of the Maritime Quarter and through Swansea Docks to a new £90 million sewage treatment plant at Crymlyn Burrows near Port Tennant from which a new outlet was made, extending further out to sea. As a consequence of the huge improvement these works have made, it is hoped that Swansea Bay will achieve Blue Flag Beach status. Aberavon beach was awarded Blue Flag status in December 2007.[2]
Swansea Bay (along with the rest of the Bristol Channel) has one of the highest tidal ranges in the world. This offers a potential for electricity generation using tidal lagoons. A proposal has been put forward by Tidal Lagoon Swansea Bay Ltd. for a tidal lagoon to be constructed.[5] The tidal lagoon would be sited just south of the Queen's Dock between River Tawe and River Neath estuaries. This project is controversial, partly due to the amount of subsidy required to make the project viable and also because of the potential damage to an AONB and MCZ in Cornwall where Tidal Lagoon Swansea Bay seek to re-open a disused quarry at Dean Point from which to source the rock for the lagoon.[6][7][8]
Wind plansedit
In addition to tidal power, construction of an offshore windfarm in the Bay has been approved,[9] but construction has now been deferred owing to the costs involved. The windfarm was to have been sited at Scarweather Sands, about 5 km (3 mi) off the coast and visible from Porthcawl.
Referencesedit
^"Bay plans oyster trade revival". BBC. 22 February 2005. Retrieved 24 May 2010.
swansea, also, disambiguation, welsh, abertawe, southern, coast, wales, river, neath, river, tawe, river, afan, river, kenfig, clyne, river, flow, into, upper, reaches, bristol, channel, experience, large, tidal, range, shipping, ports, swansea, docks, port, t. See also Swansea Bay disambiguation Swansea Bay Welsh Bae Abertawe is a bay on the southern coast of Wales The River Neath River Tawe River Afan River Kenfig and Clyne River flow into the bay Swansea Bay and the upper reaches of the Bristol Channel experience a large tidal range The shipping ports in Swansea Bay are Swansea Docks Port Talbot Docks and Briton Ferry wharfs Swansea Bay as seen from TownhillSwansea Bay 1840 Each stretch of beach within the bay has its own individual name Aberavon Beach Baglan Bay Jersey Marine Beach Swansea Beach Mumbles BeachContents 1 Oyster trade 2 Pollution 3 Power generation 3 1 Fossil 3 2 Biomass plans 3 3 Tidal plans 3 4 Wind plans 4 References 5 External linksOyster trade editOyster fishing was once an important industry in Swansea Bay employing 600 people at its height in the 1860s However overfishing disease and pollution had all but wiped out the oyster population by 1920 In 2005 plans were announced to reintroduce the Oyster farming industry 1 nbsp Bracelet bay Mumbles and Swansea bay seen from the Mumbles LighthousePollution editFor the last two decades of the 20th century the bay was blighted by pollution partly from the surrounding heavy industry and partly from sewerage outlets being sited at inappropriate locations including the main one that was located just seaward of Mumbles Lighthouse A pumping station inside the cliff adjacent to Knab Rock brought all of Swansea city s effluent in a raw form to this point Adding to the problem was the natural current flow of the waters in the Bay which often did not move the polluted waters further out to sea Ironically the outgoing tide did not carry the raw sewage down the adjacent Bristol Channel but instead cause it to be sucked in around the circumference of the Bay and only then out down the Channel If not fully discharged on that tide the incoming tide would then push the same effluent up the Channel and once again circulate around the Bay Efforts were made by the local authority to reduce the pollution in the Bay but care had to be taken to ensure the pollution did not move to the popular beach resorts in south Gower instead This original sewer outlet was finally made inactive in around 1996 following the construction of a brand new pipeline which ran all the way back around the Bay following the line of the old Mumbles Railway as far as Beach Street along the sea side of the Maritime Quarter and through Swansea Docks to a new 90 million sewage treatment plant at Crymlyn Burrows near Port Tennant from which a new outlet was made extending further out to sea As a consequence of the huge improvement these works have made it is hoped that Swansea Bay will achieve Blue Flag Beach status Aberavon beach was awarded Blue Flag status in December 2007 2 Power generation editFossil edit There is one existing GE built gas fired power station located just inland at Baglan Bay A second gas fired power station the Abernedd Power Station has been approved for construction 3 Biomass plans edit A new biomass power station has been approved for construction near the coast at Port Talbot 4 Tidal plans edit Main article Tidal Lagoon Swansea Bay Swansea Bay along with the rest of the Bristol Channel has one of the highest tidal ranges in the world This offers a potential for electricity generation using tidal lagoons A proposal has been put forward by Tidal Lagoon Swansea Bay Ltd for a tidal lagoon to be constructed 5 The tidal lagoon would be sited just south of the Queen s Dock between River Tawe and River Neath estuaries This project is controversial partly due to the amount of subsidy required to make the project viable and also because of the potential damage to an AONB and MCZ in Cornwall where Tidal Lagoon Swansea Bay seek to re open a disused quarry at Dean Point from which to source the rock for the lagoon 6 7 8 Wind plans edit In addition to tidal power construction of an offshore windfarm in the Bay has been approved 9 but construction has now been deferred owing to the costs involved The windfarm was to have been sited at Scarweather Sands about 5 km 3 mi off the coast and visible from Porthcawl References edit Bay plans oyster trade revival BBC 22 February 2005 Retrieved 24 May 2010 http www newswales co uk section Environment amp F 1 amp id 12706 newswales co uk Multi million pound Baglan power station still on hold South Wales Evening Post Retrieved 26 July 2015 Biomass plant s 11m injection brings new jobs South Wales Evening Post Retrieved 26 July 2015 Project Planner Tidal Lagoon Swansea Bay tidallagoonswanseabay com Retrieved 26 July 2015 Will Welsh eels scupper the craziest green project ever Telegraph co uk 18 April 2015 Retrieved 26 July 2015 Swansea Bay tidal lagoon appalling value for money says Citizens Advice Telegraph co uk 21 February 2015 Retrieved 26 July 2015 Robin Turner 17 February 2015 Row over quarry plan for 850m Swansea Bay tidal lagoon Wales Online walesonline Retrieved 26 July 2015 Environmental Issues GM Food Nuclear Power GREENPEACE UK Archived from the original on 20 March 2005 Retrieved 16 July 2006 External links edit nbsp Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Swansea Bay Swansea Bay permanent dead link Official site from South West Wales Tourist Board An interactive social networking and tourism web site based on the Gower Peninsula www geograph co uk photos of Swansea Bay and surrounding area51 35 N 3 54 W 51 583 N 3 900 W 51 583 3 900 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Swansea Bay amp oldid 1146867398, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
