EMODnet Human Activities, Shellfish protected areas under the WFD

The dataset on the shellfish protected areas under the Water Framework Directive (WFD) was created in 2023 by AND-International for the European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet). The Directive (Article 6, paragraphs 1 and 2) requires Member States to designate areas which require specific protection of their surface water and groundwater, or for the conservation of habitats and species directly depending on water. According to Annex IV (ii) of the WFD, these areas should include areas designated for the protection of economically significant aquatic species (shellfish in this case). This dataset compiles the designated areas as provided by national sources (The Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government of Ireland and The Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demography in Spain) and it is available for viewing and download on EMODnet web portal (Human Activities, https://emodnet.ec.europa.eu/en/human-activities). Each polygon has the following attributes: area ID (in EMODnet), country, area name, designation date, ID from the source.