Sea-Fisheries & Conservation

The Sea-Fisheries and Maritime Jurisdiction Act 2006 places primary responsibility for the regulation of sea fisheries conservation law with the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA).

In order to carry out its remit, the SFPA produces an annual Fisheries Control Plan. This plan is used for the management of monitoring, surveillance and control of sea fisheries at sea by the naval service, through aerial surveillance by the Air Corps and at landing ports in Ireland by SFPA staff.

This plan outlines the benchmark requirements for inspections both at sea by the naval service and ashore by the SFPA. The annual plan uses agreed risk management strategies to develop these benchmarks which produce baseline inspection benchmarks for all vessels operating in our Exclusive Economic Zone. SFPA staff at headquarters and at our port offices will be happy to provide advice and guidance on any sea fisheries queries, or alternatively you can email us at SFPAfood&fisheriessupport@sfpa.ie