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ISRA FACTSHEETS

EUROPEAN ATLANTIC

ISRA FACTSHEETS

EUROPEAN ATLANTIC

Barra-Donegal Fan Complex ISRA

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Barra-Donegal Fan Complex ISRA

Barra-Donegal Fan Complex

Summary

Barra-Donegal Fan Complex is located on the northwestern European continental margin west of Scotland in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and north of Ireland. This shelf-slope area is characterised by a variety of substrates, ranging from rock and coarse sediment to sand and mud. It is influenced by the warm North Atlantic Current, the European Slope Current, and along-slope bottom currents. Within this area there are: threatened species (e.g., Rabbitfish Chimaera monstrosa) and the area sustains a high diversity of sharks (14 species).

Barra-Donegal Fan Complex

Barra-Donegal Fan Complex

DESCRIPTION OF HABITAT

Barra-Donegal Fan Complex is located on the northwestern European continental margin west of Scotland in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and north of Ireland. This area lies on the shelf edge and upper slope and includes canyons and escarpments. Similar to other fans on the regional continental margin, the Donegal and Barra Fans were deposited in front of fast-flowing ice streams during the Pliocene–Pleistocene (Owen 2013; Owen & Long 2016). The habitat comprises mostly soft substrate, with deep circalittoral coarse sediment, muddy, and sandy substrates on the shelf edge (JNCC 2014). On the continental slope there are also rocky substrates in addition to gravel, sand, and mud (JNCC 2014).

The area is influenced by the North Atlantic Current, which brings warm, salty water from the Gulf Stream to western Europe, and the European Slope Current that drives the exchange of slope and shelf waters (Fraser et al. 2022). Strong along-slope bottom currents (up to 50 cm s-1) under the influence of the Eastern North Atlantic Water at 500–1,500 m water depths control sediment transport across the fan complex (Wang et al. 2025).

This Important Shark and Ray Area is benthic and pelagic and is delineated from surface waters (0 m) to 1,100 m based on the bathymetry of the area.

CRITERION A

VULNERABILITY

Fourteen Qualifying Species considered threatened with extinction according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species regularly occur in the area. Threatened sharks comprise one Critically Endangered species, two Endangered species, and four Vulnerable species; threatened rays comprise two Critically Endangered species, two Endangered species, and two Vulnerable species; threatened chimaeras comprise one Vulnerable species (IUCN 2025).

CRITERION D

SUB-CRITERION D2 – DIVERSITY

Barra-Donegal Fan Complex sustains a high diversity of Qualifying Species (14 species). This exceeds the regional diversity threshold (13 species) for the European Atlantic region.

Data between 2010–2021 from the French on-board observer program (ObsMer; IFREMER SIH 2022) and International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) Database of Trawl Surveys (DATRAS; IE-IAMS, IE-IGFS, and SCOWCGFS campaigns) (ICES 2025) confirm the regular occurrence of these species in the area. The compilation of all DATRAS campaigns over the period 2010–2021 (i.e., 20 campaigns) also highlight that Barra-Donegal Fan Complex represents the diversity hotspot of threatened species occurrence within the survey region spanning from Portugal via the British Isles to the North Sea. The Atlas des chondrichtyens de France métropolitaine was used to further support inclusion of some of the species (Bisch et al. 2024). Additional data from observers on Irish commercial fisheries vessels collected between 2003–2021 (EU data collection framework unpubl. data 2025) also support the regular occurrence of some of these species.

Two threatened species are most common (i.e., more than 100 occurrences in total and captured in 11 of the 12 years analysed) in this area: Leafscale Gulper Shark (n = 157 occurrences, captured in 11 years) and Rabbitfish (n = 234, 11 years; additional 235 records from Irish surveys). An additional six threatened species were regularly captured in at least 8 of the 12 years analysed, but have fewer than 100 occurrences in total: Common Blue Skate (n = 56 occurrences, 9 years; additional 212 individuals in 12 years in Irish surveys), Flapper Skate (n = 37, 9 years), Longnosed Skate (n = 58, 8 years; additional 3 records in 1 year), Velvet Belly Lanternshark (n = 40, 9 years; additional 14 records), Shagreen Skate (n = 83, 11 years; additional 12 records), and Spiny Dogfish (n = 59, 11 years; additional 226 records). The Common Smoothhound was regularly captured in Irish surveys (n = 78, 8 years). Three species were captured regularly in low numbers and are generally rare in the surveys: Kitefin Shark (n = 17, 7 years), Tope (n = 8, 5 years; additional 1 record), and Sandy Skate (n = 9, 5 years; additional 1 record). The remaining two species with the lowest captures are particularly rare in the surveys throughout the region but had a hotspot of captures in this area: Sailfin Roughshark (n = 5, 4 years) and Norwegian Skate (n = 7, 3 years; additional 2 records).

Barra-Donegal Fan Complex

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