Ireland's coastal communities would benefit from the establishment of marine parks to protect nursery areas for fish and shellfish, according to a Spanish marine biologist.
Spain already has 30 such marine protected areas (MPAs), along with most other EU coastal states, Prof José Luis Sánchez Lizaso of Alicante University has said.
The marine biologist, who is due to address a Coastwatch Ireland seminar on the issue in Dublin today, said Ireland's inshore fishing fleet would benefit by the move as catches tended to be higher outside such closed areas.
"The protection allows stocks to recover in a way that they couldn't otherwise, but it involves constant monitoring," Prof Sánchez Lizaso told The Irish Times. "So we don't compensate fishermen, because they are already benefiting from it."
Marine parks or MPAs tend to differ from other designations under the EU habitats directive, in that they can involve a blanket prohibition on certain activities.
Ireland has no specific MPAs, but has 423 marine special areas of conservation (SACs), some 413 of which have been approved formally by the European Commission.
Four of the offshore marine SACs which protect cold-water coral reefs may be subject to restricted fishing activity, under proposals before the commission. A preliminary ban on fishing in the zones may be agreed by the end of this year, with the support of the Irish fishing industry, in a sea area of 2,500sq km (965sq miles) on the Porcupine Bank and Porcupine Sea Bight.
Karin Dubsky of Coastwatch Ireland said MPAs in inshore areas would have to be supported by and managed by local fishing fleets and others involved in marine activities if they were to succeed. Pilot sites which Coastwatch has been examining include Scotsman's Bay in south Co Dublin; the Boyne Estuary in Co Louth; Bannow Bay and Tramore backstrand in Co Waterford; Sligo Bay; and Lough Foyle as a cross-Border location with rich shellfish grounds.
Areas which are already designated as SACs or special protection areas (SPAs), covering both marine and saltwater marsh/terrestrial areas, should also be looked at, Ms Dubsky said.
Coastwatch's seminar, which takes place in the European Parliament offices in Dublin today, will also be addressed by representatives from Bord Iascaigh Mhara; Birdwatch Ireland; Trinity College Dublin's zoology department; Boyne Estuary fishermen from Co Louth; and the Dunmore East lobster co-operative in Co Waterford.