Our aim is to do everything in our power to prevent the collapse of the Irish sprat species by:

Raising Awareness

We are informing and educating the public of the gravity of the threat to our local marine environment through a series of open meetings, education workshops and social media platforms.

   - Speaking at events, Dolf D'hondt, our Chairman

   - Visit to Elphin School, Roscommon

   - Further information on Social Media: Instagram and Facebook

    • We are collaborating with similar action groups along the coast of Ireland to amplify the voices of concern, halt these damaging practises and demand proper protective marine stewardship for future generations.

    Reporting

    twin trawling in Glengarriff SAC in Oct 2026

     One of our aims is to collect evidence regarding the trawling activity in Bantry Bay.

    Part of the Bay is designated as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and yet the trawlers operate in these areas with no regard to the SAC and often fail to activate their AIS location transponders to avoid public scrutiny of their activities in the Bay.

    Therefore, we must take note of when these infractions are occurring so that they may be provided as evidence for the infringements of current Laws & By - laws.

    What you can do to help

    Please text 083 116 5916  immediately when you see trawlers in the bay

    Please send pictures or videos of any trawling in Bantry Bay to info@saveoursprat.ie or post on our Facebook page (or by clicking on the Facebook icon at the bottom of this page).

    Lobbying

    To have our voice heard we need to gather support to increase the strength of our Lobbying power.

    Read our statement in response to the Government ban in 2024

    We are working with some politicians to seek change

    We have attended Oireachtas meetings in the Dáil

    We are attending conferences, such as the Fair Seas Conference in Cork to create greater awareness of the issues among officials in attendance and to work on solutions with like-minded people.

    What you can do to help

    Write or email your local government representatives. Here is a template and instructions

    Sign our petition. We are aiming for 10,000 signatures. Please click on this link and sign our petition to Call for a moratorium on industrial sprat fishing.

    We will also be coordinating public events to assist in our lobbying.

    Since the year 2019, the Irish government has unsuccessfully tried to ban large fishing vessels from the six - mile zone and from the country’s bays. The directives were successfully challenged in court by two fishermen from Castletownbere and Dingle.

    The judges acknowledged the need for the ban but declared the law invalid due to formal errors. Since the year 2023, the government has promised new legislation but has been delaying its decisions to this day.

    A further consultation on reinstating this ban was completed in April 2024. Any follow up regarding progress by TDs to the minister concerned, Holly Cairns on 24th July 2024 and Danny Healy-Rae 5th November 2024 have been met by a stock written answer, as can be seen by following the links below:

    Fishing industry Q&A July 2024

    Fishing Industry Q&A November 2024

    Our Objectives

    • To urge government to halt all sprat fishing in Bantry Bay and undertake an immediate audit of the actual biomass of sprat that exist to ascertain the full extent of the situation.
    • To engage with the local fishing industry to encourage species protection through a variety of measures including stopping harvesting in spawning season particularly with sand eel nets and the use of large scale / volume pair trawling.
    • To record and report this indiscriminate fishing practise and it’s bycatch damage by trawlers sprat fishing in Bantry Bay, it’s harbours, Special Areas of Conservation (SAC’s) and Special Protection Areas (SPA’s).
    • To enlist local, regional and national political & public servants and Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to action the enforcement of current legislation including the Marine Protection 

    Bill which would designate Bantry Bay sprat spawning grounds as a Marine Protected Area (MPA) during their spawning season from September to January each year.

    • To call for action of an immediate moratorium on all commercial fishing in Bantry Bay to prevent the irretrievable collapse of this vital species and our native marine ecosystem in general.

    • To inform and educate the public of the gravity of the threat to our local marine environment through a series of open meetings, education workshops and social media platforms.

    • To collaborate effectively with the multitude of similar action groups along the coast of Ireland to amplify the voices of concern, halt these damaging practises and demand proper protective marine stewardship for future generations.