English Channel (Eastern) - Geographic Area

The English Channel is a shallow epicontinental sea bordered by the United Kingdom (north) and France (south). It is influenced by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and is connected to the North Sea through the Dover Strait (eastern limits), the narrow bottle-neck between France and the UK. The English Channel can be divided into western and eastern sub-areas relative to the Cherbourg Peninsula, where the intense tidal currents constitute a “barrier” between western and eastern English Channel. Stretching over 250 km, with a bathymetry reaching 70m in the West (off Cherbourg Peninsula) and becoming progressively shallow towards the east (40m in the centre of the Dover Strait), the eastern English Channel spans an area of about 33000 km².

FAO Fishing Areas:  [ 27.VII.d ]