Following advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), the EU Commission closed 87 sensitive marine areas in EU waters to bottom fishing. The closed areas amount to 16,000 km²of EU waters, of which nearly 9,000 km² are within the Irish Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

Thanks to the Deep-Sea Access Regulation, waters below 800 metres depth have been protected from bottom-contacting gear since 2016. Another key provision of the Regulation is the protection of Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VMEs) below 400 metres depth, which has now been implemented four years after the deadline.

VMEs include sensitive ecosystems such as cold water coral reefs, deep sea sponge reefs and sea-pen fields which are easily damaged by bottom-contacting fishing gear.

Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems in Irish Waters

The locations of VMEs in Irish waters were mapped as part of a recent study by Fair Seas Ireland. In the report ‘Revitalising Our Seas’, areas of interest for marine protected area (MPA) designation were identified based on the distribution of marine species such as whales, seabirds, commercial fish, sharks and sensitive organisms living on the seabed. The areas of interest for MPA designation identified by Fair Seas in Ireland’s offshore waters heavily overlap with the new closures.

The new bottom fishing closures apply to 1.8% of Irish waters. The Irish government has committed to protecting 30% of Irish waters by 2030 in a network of Marine Protected Areas. Significant work is required to achieve this ambitious goal over the next 8 years, but thanks to the Deep-Sea Access Regulation, some progress has now been made toward protecting some of the most vulnerable ecosystems within our waters.

Aoife O’ Mahony, Campaign Manager for Fair Seas highlights the need for legislation to be implemented in Ireland “The Irish government has committed to protect 30% of our waters before 2030. We need to ensure that MPA legislation is ambitious and timely to conserve, restore and protect our ocean.” To read the full un-edited piece from Fair Seas on VMEs in Ireland click here.

Basking Shark protection

New regulations giving the basking shark ‘protected wild animal’ status in Ireland under the Wildlife Act have come into effect, RTE reported. The order was signed by Minister of State for Heritage Malcolm Noonan, and Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue.

Where an animal like the basking shark is protected under the act, it is an offence to hunt or injure it, unless done so under permission or licence granted by the department. It is also an offence to willfully interfere with, or destroy, the breeding or resting places of such species.

The basking shark is a globally threatened species, with the International Union for Conservation of Nature classifying it as “endangered” on its Red List of globally threatened species.

Mr Noonan said that the strengthening of the protections show Ireland will “play its part in offering improved protection to an endangered species that depends on our territorial waters to survive and flourish”. We are living in an age of mass extinction. There is an urgent responsibility on all of us to do everything we can to reverse that trend.”

Dr Donal Griffin, Fair Seas marine policy officer and Irish Basking Shark Group (IBSG) co-coordinator said “Given that basking sharks are classified as ‘endangered’, this is a huge step forward in ensuring Ireland remains a place worth visiting for these animals in the future.”