Designated Shellfish Areas

In Ireland, 64 areas have been designated as shellfish waters in accordance with S.I. No. 268 of 2006, S.I. No. 55 of 2009, and S.I. 464 of 2009.  There are two designated shellfish areas in County Sligo, Sligo Bay and Drumcliff Bay.  Ballisodare Bay may be designated at some point in the future.  The Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government published Pollution Reduction Programmes for both designated shellfish waters, which establish a programme of actions to protect and improve water quality in the designated shellfish growing areas. The principal aim of the Pollution Reduction Programmes is;

  • To protect and improve water quality in Sligo Bay and Drumcliff Bay designated shellfish areas.
  • To achieve compliance with water quality parameter values outlined in Annex I of the Shellfish Waters Directive (2006/113/EC) and schedules 2 and 4 of the Quality of Shellfish Waters Regulations (S.I. No. 268 of 2006).
  • Determine the factors responsible for any non-compliances with the water quality parameter values; and

As part of the strategy going forward, local authorities are the responsible authorities for implementation of the pollution reduction programmes within their functional areas.

Drumcliff Bay - Map (PDF) - 458 kbs  PDF
Drumcliff Bay - Pollution Reduction Programme (PDF) - 249 kbs  PDF
Sligo Bay - Map (PDF) - 551 kbs  PDF
Sligo Bay - Pollution Reduction Programme (PDF) - 4,845 kbs  PDF