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 144.0 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.
35 of our own AIS fixes during the event — the strongest basis available.
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.
OCEAN TRUST FR152 — Researched and not established, 2026-09-07 (cycle 67). THE LARGEST RECALL COST IN THIS CYCLE, AND IT IS RECORDED AS SUCH. Activity STRONG and rule STRONG on all six cases in the Firth of Forth Banks Complex - gear is the only thing between this vessel and six CAUGHT accusations, and it was the single most consequential record in the database before it was withdrawn. A towed:true entry citing 'Fraserburgh prawn twin-rig trawler' - a fleet characterisation with no source - was withdrawn on 2026-09-03 (see _reverted_2026-09-03 in vessel-gear.json), the same failure mode as REAPER. Identity is NOT in doubt: FR152, MMSI 234167000, Fraserburgh admin and home port, 21.31 m LOA on our own MMO row, corroborated by an MMSI-anchored GFW registry record at 21.3 m / 164 GT from three sources. It is the GEAR that no source states. Re-checked 2026-09-07 against the cycle-18 sweep: no new source has appeared. SEARCHED: EU Union Fleet Register (returns 0 for GBR - UK vessels left the register with Brexit); Fishing News; The Fishing Daily; FiskerForum; IntraFish; Parkol Marine Engineering and Macduff Shipyards builder pages; TrawlerPictures and shipsnostalgia by domain-restricted search; general web search. WHAT WOULD REOPEN IT: Any source stating FR152's gear against MMSI 234167000 or PLN FR152 - a builder page, a Fishing News feature, an MMO or Marine Directorate record. This is the first vessel to re-research if any new source appears: it is worth six cases and they are otherwise complete.
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?
Carve-out recorded: demersal seine permitted here.
Demersal mobile gear is prohibited, with an explicit carve-out for demersal seines. The carve-out matters in practice rather than academically: pair-seiners and dual-purpose seiner/trawlers work this ground, and their activity here may be entirely lawful. It is also why this closure cannot be adjudicated from its gear class alone — the instrument has to be read.
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.