SEA-FISHERIES PROTECTION AUTHORITY PUBLISHES REFERENCE MAP

Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority publishes Reference Map. Dundalk Bay Specified Zone from Fisheries Natura Declaration.

The Minister for Agriculture, Food & the Marine, Charlie McConalogue TD, recently published  Fisheries Natura Declaration No. 1 of 2023 (Dundalk Bay Protected Area) and Fisheries Natura Declaration No. 2 of 2023 (Dundalk Bay). Following publication of the Declarations, the Sea -Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) has, on its website, provided a guidance reference map showing a ‘specified zone’ within Dundalk Bay, where Fisheries Natura Declaration No. 1 of 2023 (Dundalk Bay Protected Area) establishes a prohibition on the use of certain fishing gears  – this includes any types of dredges, beam trawls or bottom otter trawls.  This map can be viewed on www.sfpa.ie here: Dundalk Bay Specified Zone from Fisheries Natura Declaration No. 1 of 2023.

Fisheries and aquaculture activities have the potential to impact on the features protected within designated Natura sites on Ireland’s coast. To protect these features within a Natura designated area, certain fishing and aquaculture activities may need to be controlled and regulated through Fisheries Natura Permits, Declarations and Notices. A Fisheries Natura Declaration, enacted by the Minister for Agriculture, Food & the Marine, is the legal instrument which prescribes the measures for managing the risks posed by specific sea-fishing activities.

In order to allow for the continuing activity of fisheries and aquaculture in Natura sites, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine enacted Statutory Instruments that regulate by means of Declarations and Permits for fishing and aquaculture activities in these areas. *

For further details on this map, please contact: sfpafood&fisheriessupport@sfpa.ie

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