If you wish to donate to this cause, PLEASE DONATE VIA OUR WEBSITE www.saveoursprat.ie ONLY.  Any donations made through the petition site goes to the change.org organisation and not to the Save Our Sprat cause.

Sprat are  small but important fish at the very bottom of the marine food chain. All marine life depends on there being a plentiful supply to survive. 

Sprat stocks across Ireland are being heavily targeted by large-scale, indiscriminate trawling during spawning season which has gotten worse  since other forage fish like herring and mackerel have been overfished to critical levels.

Most of the sprat catch is not for human consumption but is processed into fishmeal for salmon farming which is plagued with animal welfare issues. It takes 3–5 kg of sprat to produce 1 kg of salmon. 

Trawling with dense nets in inner harbours and special areas of conservations (SAC’s) result in significant by-catch (including seals and dolphins) and damages the seabed, disrupting vital marine habitats.

The depletion of sprat is causing starvation among marine predators, altering whale migration routes, and harming local tourism and small-scale fishing industries. 

The lack of quotas means there is no data on sprat biomass, making management impossible. Without intervention, Ireland’s  unique sprat population could be completely eradicated and with it, local economies and marine environments. 

We demand an immediate ban on the fishing of  sprat in all Irish coastal waters before the next spawning season that starts in September this year.This means an immediate moratorium on Sprat trawling to be implemented by the Government  to allow sprat stock time to recover.  This must be combined with urgent research to assess Sprat levels and development of a sustainable management plan to future proof this critical species.  There’s no time to lose! 

www.saveoursprat.ie