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.
Activitystrong
Was it fishing, here, and then?
Apparent fishing recorded at a position inside the closure, over an event lasting 12.7 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.
Vesselunknown
What gear does this boat actually use?
The gear research on this vessel is closed: it was not established, and the case was resolved rather than left pending.
ATLAS WY170 — Closed on the SARAH LOUISE test (gear not researched), 2026-09-07 (cycle 67). CLOSED ON THE SARAH LOUISE TEST. The one live case (35572, Towed Gear Restriction for Bivalve Molluscs) grades the rule `moderate`, so gear cannot promote it. Worth knowing for whoever picks this up: a towed:true record for this MMSI was REVERTED on 2026-09-04 because its only citation named TrawlerPictures, a publication that no longer resolves and of which the Internet Archive holds no relevant capture - so the gear here is not merely unresearched, it is a known dead citation. CAPPED BY: rule: moderate on the one live case. WHAT WOULD REOPEN IT: Adjudicating the bivalve-mollusc towed-gear restriction, then a LIVE citable source for WY170's gear - not the dead TrawlerPictures reference.
This is not a finding that the vessel did nothing. It withdraws a pending accusation, which is the safe direction — and it reverses the moment a source states the gear, because every verdict is re-derived from the data files on each request.
Rulemoderate
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.
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.
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.