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.
Activitymoderate
Was it fishing, here, and then?
Apparent fishing recorded at a position inside the closure, over an event lasting 7.5 h — the recorded extent of this fishing event is not contained by the closure, so the share of those hours spent inside it is not measured.
Activity contested on location. The single position recorded for this 7.5-hour event lies 2.5 km inside the Second Protected Area, but it is the mean of a tow about 38 km long along the area’s eastern boundary. Global Fishing Watch’s own hourly effort grid for this vessel on 13-18 June places none of its 13 hourly 0.01-degree cells inside the area: three straddle the eastern line, and at most one hour could sit about 40 m inside, well within the length of a trawl warp. From May to September the grid records no fishing hour inside the area by any vessel. On this record the vessel cannot be placed inside the closure.
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.
Article 18(2) of the Offshore Fishing (Prohibition of Fishing Methods) (Scotland) Order 2025 (SSI 2025/240) prohibits fishing for sea fish with demersal mobile gear — a demersal seine net, a demersal trawl or a dredge — in The Barra Fan and Hebrides Terrace Seamount Second Protected Area (schedule 16, Part 2). Unlike the First Protected Area, demersal static gear is not prohibited here. The Order has no exception, season or permit route for this site. It binds Scottish fishing boats anywhere and any other fishing boat within the Scottish zone.
Not established: activity.
A case is only as strong as its weakest factor, so this one cannot read CAUGHT until that is settled.
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.
What this is, and what it isn't. A CAUGHT case is a reason to look,
not a verdict, and this page is not a finding that an offence took place. Vessel names
and identifiers come from publicly broadcast AIS data, which can be wrong or
mis-attributed. Most fishing inside UK marine protected areas is currently
legal; CAUGHT only flags places where a rule already exists.
If you own or operate this vessel and believe it has been mischaracterised, write to
contact@caught.org.uk — corrections are
welcomed and we publish them. Your right of reply is set out in our
terms.