An area off North Shore will be closed to all fishing activities through May and June to allow blue-striped grunt fish to breed.

The area being closed off the east end is a known "fish aggregation area". It's being closed for the conservation and protection of the fish in accordance with the Fisheries Act 1972.

Environment Minister Glenn Blakeney said grunts are an important species in the food web of coral reef communities, as they eat worms and mollusks and are, in turn, eaten by larger predatory fish.

He said: "It therefore seems prudent to protect this highly vulnerable spawning aggregation. Removing a large volume of spawning biomass at an aggregation may have serious ecological consequences and can result in a significant drop in reproductive output from the population.

"A precautionary approach to managing the harvesting of this species indicates that a time/area closure at the site is the most effective means of affording protection when the grunts are most vulnerable."

The closed area is roughly rectangular in shape.

It is is enclosed by a line running in a north-easterly direction from St. Catherine's Point, St. George's to the southern channel marker #12 (32 degrees 23.6 minutes north, 64 degrees 40.1 minutes west) and then by a line running along the southern boundary of the southern channel to the southern channel marker #16 (32 degrees 23.9 minutes north, 64 degrees 40.7 minutes west).

The boundary continues in a south-westerly direction to a point 32 degrees 23.4 minutes north, 64 degrees 41.4 minutes west and then by a line running in a south-easterly direction to Fort George, St. George's.