Case #6468: Towed Gear Restriction for Bivalve Molluscs, 23 June 2026

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

The case in brief

This vessel's gear (creel (parlour pots — crab and lobster)) does not work the seabed, so a seabed closure does not reach it.

Case: #6468
Observation: Apparent fishing (satellite vessel tracking)
Closed area: Towed Gear Restriction for Bivalve Molluscs (Byelaw 15)
What is prohibited there: bottom-towed gear prohibited
When: 2026-06-23 03:25 UTC → 2026-06-23 07:10 UTC
Position: 52.9493°, 1.2345°
Vessel: LEESON LADY
MMSI: 235108519
Flag: GBR
Gear (satellite-inferred): Dredge Fishing
Gear (verified by hand): Creel (Parlour Pots — Crab And Lobster) — high confidence
Length: 8.42 m
Home port: CROMER

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?
- Gear established as creel (parlour pots — crab and lobster), which does not work the seabed.
- Holds a creel/pot licence (MMO) and no scallop licence.
Rule moderate

What was prohibited there, then, for that gear?
- Reaches only: dredge, scallop dredge, mussel dredge, cockle dredge, suction dredge, scallop, bivalve. Other fisheries are not within this measure.
- SPECIES-SCOPED. The prohibition bites only on towed gear used in fishing for BIVALVE MOLLUSCS, so a demersal finfish or prawn trawl is not within it. Kingfisher’s paraphrase of the measure — “All vessels (regardless of length) are prohibited from using towed gear between Mundesley Church and Blakeney Church on the North Norfolk Coast out to 3 nautical miles” — claims more than the byelaw bans, because it drops the species limb. The same pattern runs through NEIFCA Byelaw XXIV (the cockle fishery) and SWSFC Byelaw 40.
- This measure has been read only from a secondary source, so it is not relied on to support an escalation.

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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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.

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Case 6468 — Towed Gear Restriction for Bivalve Molluscs

The case in brief

How this case was judged

Check it yourself