Nature Reserves in the North Sea Closed for Fisheries
There are several nature reserves in the North Sea. They exist to protect nature. Some of these reserves closed (partly) for fisheries on 8 March 2023. The European Union announced this on 16 February 2023. They do this to let nature restore itself.
Which nature reserves are closed?
The nature reserves that are (partly) closed in the Dutch territorial waters are the:
- Frisian Front (Friese Front)
- Central Oyster Grounds (Centrale Oestergronden)
- Cleaver Bank (Klaverbank)
The nature reserves that are closed in the German territorial waters are the:
- Sylt Outer Reef (Sylter Aussenriff)
- Borkum Reef Ground (Borkum-Riffgrund)
- Eastern German Bight (Östliche Deutsche Bucht)
You cannot use certain bottom contacting gear (like bottom trawls, beam trawls, seines and dredges), gillnets and entangling nets in these areas.
You can find an overview of the closed nature reserves in Dutch territorial waters on the website of Informatiehuis Marien. On this map, you will only find the Frisian Front, the Central Oyster Grounds and the Cleaver Bank. It does not show the German nature reserves. You can find the coordinates of all the Dutch and German areas in the Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/340.
Frisian Front (MSFD)
The Frisian Front is partly protected by the European Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). With this framework, we protect this area and let nature restore itself. You cannot use bottom contacting gear.
| Fishing gear | Fishing gear code |
|---|---|
| Beam trawl | TBB |
| Bottom otter trawl | OTB |
| Otter twin trawl | OTT |
| Bottom pair trawl | PTB |
| Nephrops trawl | TBN |
| Shrimp trawl | TBS |
| Bottom trawl | TB |
| Boat dredge | DRB |
| Mechanised dredge | HMD |
| Scottisch pair seine | SPR |
|
Danish anchor seine |
SDN |
| Scottisch seine | SSC |
| Seine | SX |
| Boat or vessel seine | SV |
Frisian Front (Birds Directive Site)
A part of the Frisian Front has been designated a Birds Directive Site to protect the murre. In this part of the Frisian Front, you cannot use gillnets and entangling nets from 1 June to 30 November each year. You may only use these if you apply for a fishing day.
| Fishing gear | Fishing gear code |
|---|---|
| Gillnet | GN |
| Set (anchored) gillnet | GNS |
| Driftnet | GND |
| Encircling gillnet | GNC |
| Trammel net | GTR |
| Combined trammel and gillnet | GTN |
Do you want to fish in the Frisian Front with the above fishing gear during this period? And do you fish under the Dutch, German, Danish or British flag? These flag states were given a total of 8 fishing days:
- The Netherlands: 3 fishing days
- Germany: 2 fishing days
- Denmark: 2 fishing days
- United Kingdom: 1 fishing day
One fishing day is one individual fishing trip. This lasts a maximum of 24 hours.
We will publish on this page when a flag state’s fishing days have been used. No one from that flag state may fish in the Frisian Front for the rest of this period.
How to apply
Fishing days are from 1 June to 30 November. You can apply for a fishing day by reporting to the Fisheries Monitoring Center (FMC). Send an e-mail to FMC@nvwa.nl. Do this between 72 and 24 hours before placing your fishing gear.
Do you want to apply for multiple fishing days? Submit a separate application for each day.
Send the FMC the following information:
- Your name, address and place of residence.
- The flag state and port letters and numbers.
- Which fishing gear you want to use.
- The date and time you want to place your gear.
- The date and time you want to remove your gear. Do this a maximum of 24 hours after placing the gear. Before removing, report this to the FMC by sending an e-mail to FMC@nvwa.nl. Do this at least 4 hours in advance.
You may only fish in the Frisian Front if you have received a confirmation from the FMC.
Central Oyster Grounds
The Central Oyster Grounds are protected by the European Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). With this framework, we protect this area and let nature restore itself. You cannot use bottom contacting gear.
| Fishing gear | Fishing gear code |
|---|---|
| Beam trawl | TBB |
| Bottom otter trawl | OTB |
| Otter twin trawl | OTT |
| Bottom pair trawl | PTB |
| Nephrops trawl | TBN |
| Shrimp trawl | TBS |
| Bottom trawl | TB |
| Boat dredge | DRB |
| Mechanised dredge | HMD |
| Scottisch pair seine | SPR |
|
Danish anchor seine |
SDN |
| Scottisch seine | SSC |
| Seine | SX |
| Boat or vessel seine | SV |
Cleaver Bank
The Cleaver Bank is protected by the Habitats Directive. This way, we maintain the biodiversity in this area. You cannot use bottom contacting gear.
| Fishing gear | Fishing gear code |
|---|---|
| Beam trawl | TBB |
| Bottom otter trawl | OTB |
| Otter twin trawl | OTT |
| Bottom pair trawl | PTB |
| Nephrops trawl | TBN |
| Shrimp trawl | TBS |
| Bottom trawl | TB |
| Boat dredge | DRB |
| Mechanised dredge | HMD |
| Scottisch pair seine | SPR |
|
Danish anchor seine |
SDN |
| Scottisch seine | SSC |
| Seine | SX |
| Boat or vessel seine | SV |
German nature reserves
You cannot use certain fishing gear in these German nature reserves:
- Sylt Outer Reef, Borkum Reef Ground and Eastern German Bight: you cannot use bottom contacting gear.
- Sylter Outer Reef and the Eastern German Bight: you cannot use gillnets and entangling nets.
- Amrum Bank: you cannot fish in this area.
You can find more details on the Bundesanstalt für Landwirtschaft und Ernährung (BLE) website. On this website, you will find maps of these areas and forbidden fishing gear. This page is only available in German.
Laws and regulations
Read all about the laws and regulations in the Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/340. This is an amendment of the Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/118.
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