ADMIRAL BLAKE — fishing inside East of Haig Fras MCZ

The closed area is outlined; the marker is where the activity was recorded. Basemap © Esri, HERE, Garmin, OpenStreetMap contributors.

The case in brief

Fishing established, gear established, and the prohibition established as in force.

Case: #57328
Observation: Apparent fishing (satellite vessel tracking)
Closed area: East of Haig Fras MCZ (BTFG Byelaw 2023)
What is prohibited there: bottom-towed gear prohibited
When: 2026-08-12 03:55 UTC → 2026-08-14 23:59 UTC
Position: 50.4189°, -6.7886°
Vessel: ADMIRAL BLAKE
MMSI: 232054132
Flag: GBR
Gear (satellite-inferred): Trawlers
Gear (verified by hand): Beam Trawl (10 M Beams) — high confidence
Length: 27.3 m
Home port: PLYMOUTH

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 strong

Was it fishing, here, and then?
- Apparent fishing recorded at a position inside the closure, over an event lasting 68.1 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.
Vessel strong

What gear does this boat actually use?
- Bottom-towed gear established: beam_trawl (10 m beams).
Rule strong

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"]..

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.

Full evidence pack Open on the live map About this closure How CAUGHT works

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.