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 & 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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Notes to Editor
* https://www.sfpa.ie/What-We-Do/Sea-Fisheries-Information/Natura/Natura-2000