The Irish Wildlife Trust welcomes this week’s announcement on initiating a six-nautical-mile trawling ban on a phased basis from October.
Earlier this week, Minister for Agriculture, Food and Marine Martin Heydon and his junior minister Timmy Dooley announced that trawling by vessels over 18m in the six nautical mile zone around Ireland’s coasts will be prohibited from October 2026.
From October 1st 2025, vessels over 18m fishing for sprat in the six nautical mile zone will require authorisation to do so, and there will be a limited total allowable catch (TAC) of 2,000 tonnes of sprat for vessels over 18m in length.
Grace Carr, Marine Advocacy Officer for The Irish Wildlife Trust said that “it is vital that there are effective resources available to record catches of sprat”.
“Unfortunately, current monitoring of landings falls below what is needed to ensure sustainable fisheries, and if the Government is serious about listening to the public and putting in effective measures around the sprat fishery, they need to have more people on the ground monitoring the situation,”she said.
“ We are happy to see that there is movement in the right direction on this issue and hope that this ban will not be overturned again. Aside from the ban, there needs to be effective management plans put in place for inshore fisheries, including sprat, to ensure a thriving marine environment and a sustainable livelihood for fishing communities” she said.
The Irish Wildlife Trust said it believes that there needs to be further clarity on how these measures will be implemented, specifically the total allowable catch limit proposed for larger boats from October this year.
Greater monitoring of landings needs to occur as sprat could potentially be landed and declared as other species, such as anchovy or sandeel, it said.
“Observers from the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) should be there physically to record what is being landed. This will require greater resources to be given to the SFPA to achieve this, as without sufficient monitoring, there will be no way of ensuring that the 2,000 tonne limit is adhered to,”it said.
“The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea has said that no more than 2,000 tonnes of sprat should be taken from Irish waters, but for many years over 14,000 tonnes has been taken (aside from 2022 when just under 8,000 tonnes was taken when the previous ban was in place),” the trust said.
“Having a TAC of 2,000 tonnes for vessels over 18m means that Ireland will still be exceeding the recommended 2,000 limit, as vessels under 18m will also be fishing for sprat,” it said.
The Irish Wildlife Trust says it has advocated on this issue for many years.
