Guidance

Irish Sea marine area site packages

Get conservation advice on the impact of activity on a marine site and find out the status of advice using the interactive map.

• From: Natural England
• Published: 30 March 2017
• Last updated: 19 March 2026
  Show all updates

  1. 19 March 2026

     Change of status from 'draft' to 'formal' for Wyre-Lune MCZ and Ribble Estuary MCZ.

  2. 18 September 2025

     Added a new site with draft status - Ribble Estuary MCZ. Updated the interactive map URL.

  3. 21 March 2024

     Added new site with draft status - Wyre-Lune Marine Conservation Zone (UKMCZ0074).

  4. 5 July 2023

     Added new site with draft status - Allonby Bay Highly Protected Marine Area Marine Conservation Zone (UKEHPMA001)

  5. 9 May 2023

     Added new site with formal status - Liverpool Bay / Bae Lerpwl SPA

  6. 29 March 2022

     Added new site with draft status - Solway Firth Marine Conservation Zone.

  7. 28 September 2021

     One new site added with 'draft' status: Allonby Bay MCZ.

  8. 25 September 2019

     Change of status from 'draft' to 'formal' for: Fylde MCZ; Morecambe Bay and Duddon Estuary SPA; Shell Flat and Lune Deep SAC. Removed PDF map and replaced it with a link to the ArcGIS interactive map.

  9. 27 March 2019

     Map updated. New draft site added: Fylde MCZ.

  10. 26 September 2018

      Morecambe Bay and Duddon Estuary SPA added. West of Walney MCZ now at formal stage.

  11. 28 March 2018

      Morecambe Bay status changed from 'draft' to 'formal'. Designation for Shell Flat and Lune Deep changed from SCI to SAC. Updated map.

  12. 27 September 2017

      Map updated; 2 new sites added.

  13. 30 March 2017

      First published.

Applies to England

Documents

Marine conservation advice: package status interactive map

https://defra.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/basic/index.html?appid=6b59f9b1391443ee85f04f603bdde396

Details

Use the interactive map attached to this page to find out the status of each marine advice package.

Packages marked ‘not yet available’ on the map have not been updated on the Designated Sites System but advice may still exist. These sites are not listed on this page.

You can search for all sites on the Designated Sites View site search. This will include links to any existing advice.

Advice packages are listed alphabetically.

Advice packages in the Irish Sea

Allonby Bay Highly Protected Marine Area Marine Conservation Zone (UKEHPMA001) Draft

Allonby Bay Marine Conservation Zone (UKMCZ0028) Draft

Cumbria Coast Marine Conservation Zone (UKMCZ0005) Formal

Drigg Coast Special Area of Conservation Formal

Fylde Marine Conservation Zone (UKMCZ0007) Formal

Liverpool Bay / Bae Lerpwl Special Protection Area (UK9020294) Formal

Mersey Estuary Special Protection Area (UK9005131) Formal

Mersey Narrows and North Wirral Foreshore Special Protection Area (UK9020287) Formal

Morecambe Bay Special Area of Conservation (UK0013027) Formal

Morecambe Bay and Duddon Estuary Special Protection Area (UK9020326) Formal

Ribble Estuary Marine Conservation Zone (UKMCZ0067) Formal

Ribble and Alt Estuaries Special Protection Area (UK9005103) Formal

Shell Flat and Lune Deep Special Area of Conservation (UK0030376) Formal

Solway Firth Marine Conservation Zone (UKMCZ0069) Draft

West of Walney Marine Conservation Zone (UKMCZ0045) Formal

Wyre-Lune Marine Conservation Zone (UKMCZ0074) Formal