Nature Reserves in the North Sea Closed for Fisheries

Published on:
21 March 2023
Last checked on:
24 March 2023

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.

More information will follow

We understand that you may have questions. We will update the information on this page as soon as we know more.

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.

Frisian Front (Birds Directive Site)

The Frisian Front is partly protected as a Birds Directive Site. This way, we maintain the biodiversity in this area. In this part of the Frisian Front, you cannot use gillnets and entangling nets from 1 June to 30 November each year.

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.

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.

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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