Case 18949 — Purbeck Coast Area 38

The case in brief

This is not a fishing vessel, so no fishing offence arises — the apparent-fishing score is a behavioural false positive.

Case

#18949

Observation

Apparent fishing (satellite vessel tracking)

Closed area

Purbeck Coast Area 38 (Southern IFCA BTFG Byelaw 2023)

What is prohibited there

bottom-towed gear prohibited

When

2026-07-17 14:11 UTC → 2026-07-17 16:29 UTC

Position

50.5841°, -1.9884°

Vessel

LINNET

MMSI

235008327

Flag

GBR

Gear (satellite-inferred)

Trawlers

How this case was judged

Every CAUGHT case is assessed on three independent questions, and the weakest of the three decides. A case reads CAUGHT only when all three are established and a person has reviewed it.

• Activity moderate

  Was it fishing, here, and then?

  • Apparent fishing, but below the bar for a strong call (2.3 h, 1 bout(s), 0 AIS fix(es)).
  • We hold no AIS track for this vessel over this event (0 fixes), so the only measures available are GFW's own dwell and bout counts, which are fixed and do not improve on re-examination.
  • What would settle it: AIS coverage of this vessel during the event, or independent corroboration. Neither is obtainable by research — both need a data source we do not yet have.

• Vessel strong

  What gear does this boat actually use?

  • This is not a fishing vessel. It is on the hand-verified non-fishing list, established by identification of the hull rather than inferred from behaviour.
  • See data/known-non-fishing.json for the identification and its citation.
  • GFW's behavioural model reads a slow, tortuous, long-dwell track as trawling, which is what a yacht, a tug on station or a swim-escort boat produces.

• Rule strong

  What was prohibited there, then, for that gear?

  • Rule reviewed: Paragraph (3): "A person must not, subject to paragraph (5), use bottom towed fishing gear within a prohibited area." Paragraph (4) adds a second offence: "A person must not, subject to paragraph (5), use a vessel carrying bottom towed fishing gear within a prohibited area unless all parts of that gear are inboard and above the sea." Interpretation paragraph (2)(c): "bottom towed fishing gear" means ANY FISHING GEAR WHICH IS CAPABLE OF BEING PULLED OR PUSHED ALONG THE SEABED. Paragraph (2)(e): "prohibited area" means the area enclosed by the co-ordinates listed in Schedule 1 UNDER EACH NUMBERED AREA — the numbered area is the unit the byelaw itself defines..

Check it yourself

Nothing here asks to be taken on trust. The full report sets out every source, every measurement and everything we could not establish.

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