Celtic Sea
1.2 Ecological Environment
1.2.2 Habitats
1.2.2.4 Deep-Sea habitats
The Irish Conservation Box was established as part of the Common Fisheries Policy review in 2003 and replaces the former “Irish Box” (Source: Coastal Marine Resource Centre, MIDA).
Fishing by non-Irish registered vessels is restricted in this area. All of the Irish Conservation Box lies within the MEFEPO Study Area.
Figure 1.2.43: Conservation zones within MEFEPO Study Area.
Figure 1.2.44 shows the locations of candidate Special Areas of Conservation (cSAC) within the MEFEPO Study Area. This data was compiled from NPWS, JNCC and L’Agence des aires marines protégées. Most of these cSAC’s are associated with coastal structures and some extend offshore, e.g. Pen Llyn a’r Sarnau (Site Code: UK0013117) designated for the following Annex I Habitats: sandbanks, estuaries, coastal lagoons, large shallow inlets and bays and reefs and Cardigan Bay (Site Code: UK0012712) designated for sea caves, sandbanks and reefs, all Annex I Habitats. A number are not connected to the coast e.g. Wicklow Reefs (Site code: 002274), Long Bank (Site Code: 002161) and Belgica Mound province (Site Code: 002327). Wicklow reefs are of high conservation value as they are the only documented example in Ireland of a biogenic Sabellaria alveolata subtidal reef, which are listed in Annex I of the EU Habitats Directive. The Long Bank is protected because it is a submerged sandbank a habitat listed on Annex I of the EU
Habitats Directive. The Belgica Mound Province is protected because it is a biogenic reef, with Madrepora oculata and Lophelia pertusa being the main reef forming coral species.
Figure 1.2.44: cSAC’s within the MEFEPO Study Area (Source: NPWS, JNCC & L’Agence des aires marines protégées).
Figure 1.2.45 shows the locations of Special Protection Areas and Ramsar Sites within the MEFEPO Study Area. This data was compiled from NPWS, JNCC, L’Agence des aires marines protégées and ramsar.org. Table 1.2.5 shows a list of all marine species identified in the Habitats Directive which may be found in the MEFEPO Study Area.
Table 1.2.5: Marine species identified in the Habitats Directive which may be found in the MEFEPO Study Area.
Common Name Latin Name
Grey Seal Halichoerus grypus
Harbour Seal Phoca vitulina
Harbour porpoise Phocoena phocoena Bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus Loggerhead turtle
(occasional vagrant)
Caretta caretta
Green turtle (very rare) Chelonia mydas
Sea lamprey Petromyzon marinus
Shad Alosa spp
Sturgeon Acipenser sturio
Annex II (Animal and plant species whose conservation requires the designation of SACs)
Otter Lutra lutra
Whales and dolphins (all species)
Cetacea
Loggerhead turtle Caretta caretta Green turtle (very rare) Chelonia mydas Kemp’s ridley turtle (less
frequent)
Lepidochelys kempii
Hawksbill turtle Eretmochelys imbricata Leatherback turtle Dermochelys coriacea Annex IV (animal and plant
species in need of strict protection)
Sturgeon Acipenser sturio
Figure 1.2.45: SPA and Ramsar Sites within the MEFEPO Study Area (Source: NPWS, JNCC, L’Agence des aires marines protégées & ramsar.org)
In addition to these conservation sites in the MEFEPO Study Area, there are a number of habitats listed by OSPAR as being threatened or in decline in OSPAR Regions II, III and V (See Figure 1.2 for MEFEPO Study Area coverage of the OSPAR Regions). Figure 1.2.46 and 22 show the locations of these listed habitats within the MEFEPO Study Area (Source:
http://data.nbn.org.uk/hosted/ospar/ospar/html). Additional data on the distribution of maerl beds in Irish waters (excluding Northern Ireland) has been taken from De Grave et al. (2000).
Table 1.2.6 shows the habitats and the OSPAR regions they occur in. Geographical data was not available for Carbonate Mounds and Ostrea edulis beds and therefore these are not mapped in Figures 31 and 32. In addition, any habitat listed in Table 3 that is not located within the MEFEPO Study Area is not mapped.
Table 1.2.6: OSPAR habitats within the MEFEPO Study Area.
Habitat OSPAR Region where
the habitat occurs
OSPAR regions where the habitats are under threat and/or in decline
Carbonate mounds V V
Coral gardens II, III, V All where it occurs
Deep-sea sponge aggregrations III, V All where it occurs Intertidal Mytilus edulis beds on
mixed and sandy sediments
II, III All where it occurs
Intertidal mudflats II, III All where it occurs
Littoral chalk communities II All where it occurs
Lophelia pertusa reefs All All where it occurs
Maerl beds All III
Modiolus modiolus beds All All where it occurs
Oceanic ridges with hydrothermal vents/fields
V V
Ostrea edulis beds II, III All where it occurs
Sabellaria spinulosa reefs All II, III
Seamounts V All where it occurs
Seapen and burrowing megafauna communities
II, III II, III
Zostera beds II, III All where it occurs
Figure 1.2.46: OSPAR listed habitats within the MEFEPO Study Area (Source:
http://data.nbn.org.uk; De Grave et al., 2000).
Figure 1.2.47: OSPAR listed habitats within the MEFEPO Study Area (Source:
http://data.nbn.org.uk).
In addition, the OSPAR List of Threatened and/or Declining Species lists the following species (See Table 1.2.7) found within OSPAR Regions II, III and V.
Table 1.2.7: Species identified by OSPAR which may be found in the MEFEPO Study Area.
Group Common Name Latin Name OSPAR Regions where
they occur
OSPAR Regions where they are in threat and/or in decline
Ocean quahog Arctica islandica II, III II
Azorean barnacle Megabalanus azoricus V All where it occurs
Dog whelk Nucella lapillus II, III, V II, III
Flat oyster Ostrea edulis II, III II
Invertebrates
Azorean limpet Patella ulyssiponensis aspera V All where it occurs Little shearwater Puffinus assimilis baroli (auct.
incert.)
V All where it occurs
Balearic shearwater Puffinus mauretanicus II, III, V All where it occurs Black-legged kittiwake Rissa tridactyla II, III, V II
Birds
Roseate tern Sterna dougallii II, III, V All where it occurs
Sturgeon* Acipenser sturio II All where it occurs
Allis shad* Alosa alosa II, III All where it occurs
Fish
Gulper shark* Centrophorus granulosus V All where it occurs Leafscale gulper shark* Centrophorus squamosus All All where it occurs
Basking shark* Cetorhinus maximus All All where it occurs
Group Common Name Latin Name OSPAR Regions where
they occur
OSPAR Regions where they are in threat and/or in decline
Houting Coregonus kavaretus oxyrinchus II All where it occurs
Common skate* Dipterus (Raja) batis All All where it occurs
Spotted ray* Raja montagui II, III, V All where it occurs
Cod* Gadus morhua All II, III
Long-snouted seahorse Hippocampus guttulatus II, III, V All where it occurs Short-snouted seahorse Hippocampus hippocampus II, III, V All where it occurs
Orange roughy* Hoplostethus atlanticus V All where it occurs
Porbeagle* Lamna nasus All All where it occurs
Sea lamprey Petromyzon marinus II, III All where it occurs
Thornback skate/ray* Raja clavata II, III, V II
White skate* Rostroraja alba II, III All where it occurs
Fish
Atlantic salmon* Salmo salar II, III All where it occurs
Northeast Atlantic spurdog*
Squalus acanthias All All where it occurs
Angel shark* Squatina aquatina II, III All where it occurs
Bluefin tuna Thunnus thynnus V All where it occurs
Group Common Name Latin Name OSPAR Regions where
they occur
OSPAR Regions where they are in threat and/or in decline
Loggerhead turtle Caretta caretta V All where it occurs
Marine turtles
Leatherback turtle Dermochelys coriacea All All where it occurs
Blue whale Balaenoptera musculus All All where it occurs
Northern right whale Eubalaena glacialis All All where it occurs Marine
mammals
Harbour porpoise Phocoena phocoena All II, III
* Fish species affected by fishing
There are a number of OSPAR Marine Protected Areas (MPA’s) located within the MEFEPO Study Area (See Figure 1.2.48). Ireland does not at present have any designated MPA’s. The UK MPA’s correspond to their SAC sites. The French MPA’s were accessed through the OSPAR MPA Database
(http://www.ospar.org/content/content.asp?menu=00180302000011_000000_000000).
Figure 1.2.48: OSPAR Marine Protected Areas within the MEFEPO Study Area (Source: JNCC &
OSPAR MPA Database).