Download Irish Sea Conservation Zone Project The Irish Sea

Irish Sea Conservation Zone Project
The Irish Sea Conservation Zone project area covers roughly 40% of the Irish Sea, or around
18,000km2. This includes the inshore waters of England, plus the offshore waters of Wales, Northern
Ireland and the Isle of Man up to the territorial line with Ireland.
The Third Progress Report produced by ISCZ was submitted to the Science Advisory Panel (SAP) at
the end of February 2011. The report was intended to provide a snapshot of the progress made by
the project and the stakeholder group between October 2010 and March 2011. The Regional
Stakeholder Group (RSG) has managed to identify 13 potential MCZs (pMCZs), the boundaries for
which are considered to have general support amongst the different stakeholders. There remains
one outstanding BAI (on the Cumbrian coast between Workington and Ravensglass) which is the
subject of further discussion.
Recreational vessels are active in all the pMCZs and the RYA has ensured that the importance of the
coastal areas in this region is considered. We have also provided a number of specific comments on
particular pMCZs, as follows:
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Workington, Whitehaven and Barrow – significant marina investment has taken place in
recent years with associated recreational boating activity.
Little Eye, Middle Eye and Hilbre Island (located at the mouth of the River Dee estuary) Racing routes traverse the waters surrounding these islands.
Allanby Bay – important location for windsurfing.
pMCZ13 – maintaining access across Blundellsands for local yacht club.
pMCZ14 – popular anchorages around the Wirral islands.
You can find out more about the Irish Sea Conservation Zone project and download a copy of the
Third
Progress
Report
(along
with
location
maps)
from
their
website
www.irishseaconservation.org.uk
You can download the RYA’s position paper on MCZs here
The ‘draft final report’ is due at the end of May 2011 and we will provide an update on this site once
the report is published. If you wish to provide comments on the areas covered by the Irish Sea
Conservation Zone project please contact [email protected]