Case 5691 — Foreland MCZ

The case in brief

This is not a fishing vessel, so no fishing offence arises — the apparent-fishing score is a behavioural false positive.

Case

#5691

Observation

Apparent fishing (satellite vessel tracking)

Closed area

Foreland MCZ (BTFG Byelaw 2023)

What is prohibited there

bottom-towed gear prohibited

When

2026-06-21 01:43 UTC → 2026-06-21 14:40 UTC

Position

51.0397°, 1.5161°

Vessel

HIGH HOPES

MMSI

235069206

Flag

GBR

Gear (satellite-inferred)

Trawlers

How this case was judged

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.

• Activity weak

  Was it fishing, here, and then?

  • No movement analysis on this case — it predates the transit check, so fishing and transiting cannot be separated.

• Vessel strong

  What gear does this boat actually use?

  • This is not a fishing vessel. It is on the hand-verified non-fishing list, established by identification of the hull rather than inferred from behaviour.
  • See data/known-non-fishing.json for the identification and its citation.
  • GFW's behavioural model reads a slow, tortuous, long-dwell track as trawling, which is what a yacht, a tug on station or a swim-escort boat produces.

• Rule strong

  What was prohibited there, then, for that gear?

  • bottom towed ban with no conditions in the rule text.

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.

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