The Irish Conservation Box (ICB) or Biologically Sensitive Area (BSA) is a

Marine Protected Area Marine protected areas (MPA) are protected areas of seas, oceans, estuaries or in the US, the Great Lakes. These marine areas can come in many forms ranging from wildlife refuges to research facilities. MPAs restrict human activity for a conse ...

stretching along the southwest coast of

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. The ICB was defined based on advice from

marine biologist Marine biology is the scientific study of the biology of marine life, organisms in the sea. Given that in biology many phyla, families and genera have some species that live in the sea and others that live on land, marine biology classifi ...

s, and following review by European Union fisheries ministers of the Common Fisheries Policy, as a means to safeguard the " biological sensitivity and

commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

importance" of the waters around Ireland. IrishConservationBoxOverviewMap

Location

Extended from Irish

territorial waters The term territorial waters is sometimes used informally to refer to any area of water over which a sovereign state has jurisdiction, including internal waters, the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone, and potent ...

, and comprising an area of more than 100,000 km², the ICB stretches from

Waterford Harbour Waterford Harbour ( gle, Loch Dá Chaoch / Cuan Phort Láirge) is a natural harbour at the mouth of the Three Sisters; the River Nore, the River Suir and the River Barrow in Ireland. It is navigable for shipping to both Waterford and New Ross ...

to Slyne Head, and follows the 200 metre

bathymetric Bathymetry (; ) is the study of underwater depth of ocean floors (''seabed topography''), lake floors, or river floors. In other words, bathymetry is the underwater equivalent to hypsometry or topography. The first recorded evidence of water d ...

contour line A contour line (also isoline, isopleth, or isarithm) of a function of two variables is a curve along which the function has a constant value, so that the curve joins points of equal value. It is a plane section of the three-dimensional grap ...

along its western side.

Fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

by certain vessels and vessel types is restricted in this area, and vessels over 10 metres 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.

Background

The Irish Conservation Box replaces a previous protection zone - known as "the Irish Box" - which was a larger rectangular 50-mile zone around the whole

coast The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in ...

of the island of Ireland and included waters reaching to the western coasts of Scotland, England and Wales. Under the (original) Irish box mandate, important

spawning Spawn is the eggs and sperm released or deposited into water by aquatic animals. As a verb, ''to spawn'' refers to the process of releasing the eggs and sperm, and the act of both sexes is called spawning. Most aquatic animals, except for aquat ...

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. 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 In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying, which ...

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

and

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

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, 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.

References

{{reflist, 2 Environmental treaties Fishing in Ireland Celtic Sea Environment of Ireland 2004 in Ireland

Location

Background

See also

References