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 recorded at a position inside the closure, over an event lasting 7.8 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.
Activity contested on location. The single representative position recorded for this 7.8-hour event lies 0.75 km inside the Second Protected Area, but it is one point standing for a track about 49 km long. Global Fishing Watch's own hourly effort grid for this vessel on 28 August places every one of its nine 0.01-degree cells, 8.75 hours of apparent fishing, OUTSIDE all three Geikie Slide and Hebridean Slope Protected Areas, the closest 1.24 km out. The tow ran north-east along the outside of the Second Area. On this record the vessel cannot be placed inside the closure.
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.
Article 10(1) of the Offshore Fishing (Prohibition of Fishing Methods) (Scotland) Order 2025 (SSI 2025/240) prohibits fishing for sea fish with demersal mobile gear — a demersal seine net, a demersal trawl or a dredge — in each of the three Geikie Slide and Hebridean Slope Protected Areas (schedule 8, Parts 1–3). The prohibition is the same in all three. The Order has no exception, season or permit route for this site. It binds Scottish fishing boats anywhere and any other fishing boat within the Scottish zone.
Not established: activity.
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.