Case 69965 — Jersey MPA network

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

#69965

Observation

Apparent fishing (satellite vessel tracking)

Closed area

Jersey MPA network (Sea Fisheries Regulations 2001)

What is prohibited there

bottom-towed gear prohibited

When

2026-09-04 07:36 UTC → 2026-09-04 11:37 UTC

Position

49.1758°, -2.1334°

Vessel

JAX

MMSI

235006679

Flag

GBR

Gear (satellite-inferred)

Dredge Fishing

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?

  • Regulation 3(1) of the Sea Fisheries (Trawling, Netting and Dredging) (Jersey) Regulations 2001 prohibits towing or using MOBILE GEAR in the seven Schedule 1A marine protected areas, in force in its present form since 1 September 2026. The prohibition is absolute: the Regulations attach no exemption, permit or derogation to it. “Mobile gear” is defined by active movement of the gear rather than by contact with the seabed, so it reaches trawls, seines, dredges, draw nets and encircling gear alike; passive gear (creels, gillnets, trammel nets) is outside regulation 3(1) and is not prohibited here. The boundaries shown here match the Schedule’s own coordinates on all seven areas.

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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