Belfast Lough is a large sea inlet situated at the mouths of the Lagan, Farset and Blackstaff Rivers on the eastern coast of Northern Ireland. Outer Belfast Lough MCZ is an exposed area and is located within Northern Ireland’s busiest sea-lough.
Home to a variety of species, the Outer Lough encompasses a wide range of habitats such as subtidal sand and subtidal mixed sediments, sediment dominated bays and rocky shores. The MCZ has been designated due to the presence of a well established population of ocean quahog that lives buried in the subtidal (sublittoral) sand habitat. Although distributed throughout Northern Ireland, ocean quahog is present in a dense aggregation in Outer Belfast Lough; it is thought that the species is well conserved here due to continuous recruitment and high population numbers.
Area: 2.507km2
Location (centroid): 54° 42.368' N 5° 35.795' W
Date Classified: 12/12/2016
Related articles
- Appointment of Deputy Chair and up to 16 Board Members to the Council for Nature Conservation and the Countryside (CNCC)
- ASSI Guidance for Public Bodies/Competent Authorities
- Coastal Areas of Special Scientific Interest
- Conservation and protection enforcement programme
- Conservation Management Plans (CMPs)
- Ecological Surveys
- European Marine Sites - Marine Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas
- Financial administrative penalties
- Fishing licence points system for serious infringements of the enforcement programme
- Introduction to Conservation Management Plans (CMPs) for Northern Ireland’s Special Areas of Conservation
- Mandatory recording of marine mammal bycatch
- Marine Conservation Zones
- Marine historic environment
- Marine Protected Areas
- Marine Ramsar sites
- Monitoring marine habitats and species
- NI CHART Bluefin Tuna
- Outline Construction Environmental Management Plan (CEMP)
- Protected Areas – Protected Areas Monitoring Results
- Protected Areas – What are the features of Protected Areas, and how are they monitored?
- Shipwrecks
- Special Areas of Conservation
- Special Areas of Conservation for Harbour porpoise
- Special Protection Areas