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.
Activitystrong
Was it fishing, here, and then?
Apparent fishing recorded at a position inside the closure, over an event lasting 17.2 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.
Vesselunknown
What gear does this boat actually use?
The gear research on this vessel is closed: it was not established, and the case was resolved rather than left pending.
SUCCESS III — Researched and not established, 2026-09-07 (cycle 67). Activity STRONG and rule STRONG on its one live case (24622, North Norfolk Sandbank and Saturn Reef SAC), so gear is the only blocker and closing it spends real recall. Identity is corroborated and MMSI-anchored - MMSI 235008670, callsign MMKR7, UK flag, ~21 m, North Shields, which agrees with our own MMO row (20.9 m, admin and home port NORTH SHIELDS, RSS B11731). NO SOURCE FOUND STATES THE GEAR. The searches return the vessel's 2016 tow to safety by Tynemouth RNLI and its tracking pages, and nothing on how she fishes. SEARCHED: marinetraffic.com (MMSI 235008670, callsign MMKR7 - identity confirmed, no gear); vesseltracker.com; web search "SUCCESS III" North Shields trawler gear; web search "Success III" North Shields prawn/nephrops trawler skipper. WHAT WOULD REOPEN IT: Any source stating this vessel's gear against this MMSI or its PLN.
This is not a finding that the vessel did nothing. It withdraws a pending accusation, which is the safe direction — and it reverses the moment a source states the gear, because every verdict is re-derived from the data files on each request.
Rulestrong
What was prohibited there, then, for that gear?
Rule reviewed: Paragraph 3: "A person must not use bottom towed fishing gear in a specified area." Paragraph 1: "bottom towed fishing gear" means any trawls, seines, dredges, or similar gear, including trawls towed on or very close to the seabed, which are actively moved in the water by one or more fishing vessels or by any other mechanised system and in which ANY PART of the gear is designed and rigged to operate on, and be in contact with, the seabed [2023 adds: "in order to take any sea fisheries resources"]..
Not established: vessel.
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.