Case #78565: Beachy Head East MCZ Zone 1, 26 September 2026

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

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: #78565
Observation: Apparent fishing (satellite vessel tracking)
Closed area: Beachy Head East MCZ Zone 1 (MPA Byelaw 2023)
What is prohibited there: bottom-towed gear prohibited
When: 2026-09-26 09:53 UTC → 2026-09-26 11:00 UTC
Position: 50.7327°, 0.4941°
Vessel: SERENITY @@@@
MMSI: 235087961
Flag: GBR
Gear (satellite-inferred): Trawlers

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 moderate

Was it fishing, here, and then?
- Movement check could not separate fishing from transiting on this track.
- 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.
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?
- bottom towed 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.

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

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.

Case 78565 — Beachy Head East MCZ Zone 1

The case in brief

How this case was judged

Check it yourself