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 11.4 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 representative position for this event lies just inside the West of Scotland Marine Protected Area, but it summarises a tow of about 35 km along the site's eastern boundary. Global Fishing Watch's own effort data, clipped to the protected area's boundary, places none of the roughly 12 hours of apparent fishing on 31 July inside it; every hour lies between 0.5 and 6.2 km outside the line. The fishing cannot be placed inside on this record.
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 19(1) of the Offshore Fishing (Prohibition of Fishing Methods) (Scotland) Order 2025 (SSI 2025/240) prohibits fishing for sea fish with demersal mobile gear or demersal static gear (which includes creels, pots and traps) throughout the West of Scotland Marine Protected Area (schedule 17). The site is closed in its entirety, with no internal zoning. 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. Between about 8.3°W and 11.3°W the outline drawn on the map runs up to 18 km north of the Order's boundary; that strip is not closed by the Order.
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.