Case 58414 — Beachy Head East MCZ Zone 1

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

#58414

Observation

Apparent fishing (satellite vessel tracking)

Closed area

Beachy Head East MCZ Zone 1 (MPA Byelaw 2023)

What is prohibited there

bottom-towed gear prohibited

When

2026-08-15 10:45 UTC → 2026-08-15 16:19 UTC

Position

50.7472°, 0.2824°

Vessel

MIRA

MMSI

235054365

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 strong

  Was it fishing, here, and then?

  • 2 separate fishing bouts inside the closure — a vessel on passage makes one.

• 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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