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, but below the bar for a strong call (5.0 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.
Vesselstrong
What gear does this boat actually use?
Gear established as pelagic (water-column) gear, which does not work the seabed.
The gear record is keyed on the MMSI and carries no vessel name, so it cannot be checked against a port registration.
This record EXONERATES rather than accuses, and this closure is a seabed ban, so the caveat above is recorded but does not degrade the grade: the check exists to stop a weak record ACCUSING a boat, and applying it here would keep a vessel under review that our own reviewed data clears.
Rulestrong
What was prohibited there, then, for that gear?
Article 4(1) of the Offshore Fishing (Prohibition of Fishing Methods) (Scotland) Order 2025 (SSI 2025/240) prohibits fishing for sea fish with demersal mobile gear in the Central Fladen First and Second Protected Areas. Article 2 defines that gear as a demersal seine net, a demersal trawl (beam or bottom) or a dredge, so seine netting is prohibited here as well as trawling and dredging. There is no exception, season, permit or tonnage limit. The boundary is the Order's own (schedule 2, Part 1), which extends 1.3 km² beyond the designated MPA outline.
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.