Irish Conservation Box
The Irish Conservation Box (ICB) or Biologically Sensitive Area (BSA)[1] is a Marine Protected Area stretching along the southwest coast of Ireland. The ICB was defined based on advice from marine biologists,[2] and following review by European Union fisheries ministers of the Common Fisheries Policy, as a means to safeguard the "biological sensitivity and commercial importance" of the waters around Ireland.
Location
Extended from Irish territorial waters, and comprising an area of more than Script error: No such module "convert"., the ICB stretches from Waterford Harbour to Slyne Head, and follows the Script error: No such module "convert". bathymetric contour line along its western side.[3]
Fishing by certain vessels and vessel types is restricted in this area,[4] and vessels over Script error: No such module "convert". long are required to report their catch and movements to the Irish Fisheries' patrol. The Irish Naval Service is tasked with enforcing the special protection measures.[5]
Background
The Irish Conservation Box replaces a previous protection zone - known as "the Irish Box" - which was a larger rectangular 50-mile zone[2][6] around the whole coast of the island of Ireland and included waters reaching to the western coasts of Scotland, England and Wales.[3][7]
Under the (original) Irish box mandate, important spawning and nursery areas for many stocks were protected by - for example - limiting fishing in the zone to no more than 40 foreign vessels at any one time.[8]
Because of common and "free-movement" policies of the EU, certain countries expected access to the zone in the long-term. As a result, there was ongoing lobbying by Spanish and Portuguese politicians of the Committee on Fisheries to remove the limits, and it was effectively abolished in late 2002.
As part of a 2003 review of the Common Fisheries Policy, and after intense negotiations on a proposal by the then Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources,[9] the Fisheries Council accepted the position that protection of biologically sensitive areas was critical to a conservation policy.
The renewed Irish Conservation Box regulations came into force in 2004.
See also
References
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