Unidentified radar target inside Sound of Harris Protected Area

The case in brief

Assessed and closed: activity cannot be established on any evidence available to us, so no amount of work on the vessel could settle this case.

Case

#69580

Observation

Satellite radar detection, no AIS

Closed area

Sound of Harris Protected Area (SSI 2017 No. 48)

What is prohibited there

dredging prohibited

When

2026-08-25 11:55 UTC → 2026-09-03 11:45 UTC

Position

57.9200°, -6.8800°

Vessel

MOYUNA

MMSI

235005746

Flag

UK

Gear (satellite-inferred)

Dredge Fishing

Length

15.34 m

Home port

KILKEEL

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?

  • Radar detection attributed to this vessel by reachability. It places a hull at this position, but radar cannot show fishing behaviour, so activity cannot be established from this detection alone.
  • What would settle it: a concurrent AIS track through the same window showing a working pattern, or independent corroboration of the same vessel in the same closure.

• Vessel unknown

  What gear does this boat actually use?

  • No hand-verified gear record for this vessel. GFW's inferred label is a behavioural guess and is documented to mislabel inshore creel boats as trawlers, so it cannot carry a case.

• Rule strong

  What was prohibited there, then, for that gear?

  • dredge ban with no conditions in the rule text.

Not established: vessel. 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.

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