Save Our Sprat West Cork official statement
Save our Sprat West Cork: Kinsale to Mizen Head welcomes the recent announcement by the Irish Government on measures to protect Sprat in Ireland’s inshore waters.
While it falls short of the moratorium on Sprat called for by our campaign, we are cautiously optimistic that, if implemented effectively, the measures outlined represent a significant step in safeguarding the remaining Sprat stocks off the West Cork coast. In practical terms, almost all Sprat fishing off the West Cork coast is carried out by large industrial pair trawlers greater than 18m in length. With a quota of 2,000 tonnes of Sprat for vessels over 18m in the 2025/26 season, and a complete ban on all trawling by vessels over 18m within six nautical miles of our coast from October 2026 onwards, this effectively protects not just Sprat, but other species and sensitive marine habitats from destructive industrial fishing practices into the future.
We would like to acknowledge the effort put in by local Cork South West TD, and Minister for Nature, Heritage and Biodiversity, Christopher O’Sullivan, working with his colleagues in Government, to establish these new measures and get them approved by Cabinet in a timely manner.
It is important to point out that, while this is a very positive step to protect our inshore waters, for Sprat and other species, we must remain vigilant and ensure the measures are implemented and enforced effectively. Our principal concern here is that, as happened in 2019, large trawler operators will challenge this ban through the courts. We understand that should such a legal challenge arise, as these measures are now in force, they will remain in effect during any such legal action. We would ask the Government to confirm that position.
Enforcement and monitoring are also a concern. We would call on the Government to provide clarity in terms of how these measures will be implemented, what checks and measures the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) and/or other relevant agencies will have in place to ensure these new measures are adhered to, and that such agencies will be suitably resourced to carry out their work efficiently and effectively.
We are disappointed at the lack of quota restrictions, regulation and monitoring for the Sprat fishery relating to vessels below the 18m threshold. While smaller inshore vessels traditionally do less damage than large industrial trawlers, and account for a small proportion of the Sprat caught here in West Cork, nationally smaller boats catch a sizable proportion of total Sprat landed. In 2024 that accounted for some 46% of Sprat… or around 7,800 tonnes, several times the recommended ICES precautionary limit of 2,240 tonnes. The potential for overfishing by vessels under 18m is evidently real.
While we can hope for restraint from inshore fishers, with no quota restrictions or regulation in place, and in the absence of competition from larger vessels, we must be mindful that smaller boats could succumb to the temptation to increase their fishing effort for Sprat. We would ask the Government to clarify how they propose to monitor and manage such a scenario, and reiterate the imperative to commission rigorous independent scientific assessment of Sprat populations in Irish waters immediately, so that appropriate quotas, regulation and monitoring can be established for sub 18m vessels as soon as possible.
Finally, we would also like to take this opportunity to thank our many supporters for getting behind the Save Our Sprat campaign and advocating for the protection of Sprat. These measures are, in no small part, down to you. We look forward to getting clarity from the Government on the concerns raised in this statement, and to seeing the measures they have outlined implemented. We will continue monitoring this evolving situation closely, ensuring the Government delivers on its commitment, and lobbying for more robust protection for Sprat and other forage fish into the future.
Save Our Sprat West Cork: Kinsale to Mizen Head.