10 Benefits of Marine Protected Areas for fishing and coastal communities
With collaboration throughout Ireland’s Marine Protected Area process, Ireland’s waters continue to support coastal communities and wildlife.
With collaboration throughout Ireland’s Marine Protected Area process, Ireland’s waters continue to support coastal communities and wildlife.
Ocean literacy is the understanding of our individual and collective impact on the ocean and its impact on our lives and wellbeing
Ireland's current MPA network lacks monitoring and management, rendering the areas ineffective. New legislation must address this.
Ireland’s east coast is an extremely rich area for seabirds. The waters directly off Dublin’s fair city host the most important roseate tern colony in all of Europe. One of only two cod spawning grounds in Irish waters occurs along our east coast covering 65% of this ‘Area of Interest’.
The area is very important for several elasmobranch species. It has high densities of bottlenose dolphins and harbour porpoises year-round. This is one of the most important coastal AOIs for seabirds in terms of diversity and volume, with roughly 65,000 birds breeding here.
Tralee and Dingle Bays are breeding areas for several threatened species of shark, ray and skate. High number of bottlenose dolphins in Brandon Bay. Bridges of Ross, not far from Loop Head in Clare, which is an important migration bottleneck, with almost 60,000 birds recorded during a three-year survey period.
South East Coast Area of Interest for Marine Protected Area Designation Size of the area: 7,124km² The east coast of Ireland was identified as a high biodiversity ‘Area of Interest’ for potential Marine Protected Area designation, in our recent report ‘Revitalising Our Seas’. For the full site synopsis and references please find the relevant pages […]
Fair Seas campaign manager Aoife O'Mahony recently joined the Irish Whale and Dolphin on a sunny whale-watching trip out of Baltimore in county Cork.
Whales, whales and more whales. Our analysis has shown the waters off West Cork to be a real hotspot for the largest whales that visit our coast with the highest numbers of fin whales and Risso’s dolphins seen here.
Home to many breeding seabirds as well as endangered sharks, skates and rays. Some areas potentially act as nursery grounds for bottlenose dolphins and their calves, while Minke whales seem to favour the waters around St. Johns Point.
The climate and biodiversity crises are inextricably linked, one can't and shouldn’t be resolved at the expense of the other. Fair Seas has responded to the European Commission’s REPowerEU plan.
Tommy recounts his early days fishing on the west coast of Ireland. He tells us that there are no more fish coming into the bays as there used to be. Is it overfishing? Maybe, he says.
The north Donegal coast was identified as a high biodiversity ‘Area of Interest’ for potential Marine Protected Area designation.
You never forget the first time you see a basking shark. A gigantic shark, seemingly out of nowhere, appeared right alongside our boat.
An introduction to 'Revitalising Our Seas, Identifying Areas of Interest for Marine Protected Areas Designation in Irish Waters.'