Closed areas · By nation
20 closures in Manx waters, watched from space. Together they cover 619 km².
The Isle of Man is a Crown Dependency and not part of the United Kingdom. It legislates for its own territorial sea, and its closures are made under Manx byelaws and licence conditions — notably the network of Marine Nature Reserves around the island.
Manx waters carry one of the more developed closure networks in the Irish Sea, including zones with graded restrictions where some areas are closed to all fishing and others only to towed gear. They are included here because the fishing fleet, and the scallop grounds, do not stop at the boundary.
The island sits in the middle of the Irish Sea king scallop fishery, which is the context for most of these rules: several Manx closures exist to protect scallop beds or the habitat they sit on, and dredging is the activity they are aimed at. Because the grounds are worked by vessels from Great Britain, Ireland and the island itself, the same piece of seabed can be subject to Manx rules while the boat working it is licensed somewhere else.
A case is a reason to look, not a verdict — most are examined and resolved. Every case is judged on three independent factors and nothing reads CAUGHT until all three are strong and a person has reviewed it. How a case is made.
By rule: No-take zones Bottom-towed gear Trawling Dredging All seabed fishing
By nation: Scotland England Wales Northern Ireland Jersey
The full A–Z of all closures · Download the closure dataset · See live cases on the map