Case #79996: West of Scotland MPA, 29 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.

Case: #79996
Observation: Apparent fishing (satellite vessel tracking)
Closed area: West of Scotland MPA (Offshore Fishing Order 2025)
What is prohibited there: demersal (seabed) fishing prohibited
When: 2026-09-29 10:07 UTC → 2026-09-29 11:57 UTC
Position: 58.2160°, -9.6368°
Vessel: JP LE ROCH
MMSI: 228066700
Flag: FRA
Gear (satellite-inferred): Trawlers
Gear (verified by hand): Demersal Trawl (Otb) — high confidence

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 strong

What gear does this boat actually use?
- Bottom-towed gear established: demersal_trawl (OTB).
Rule strong

What was prohibited there, then, for that gear?
- Article 19(1) of the Offshore Fishing (Prohibition of Fishing Methods) (Scotland) Order 2025 (SSI 2025/240) prohibits fishing for sea fish with demersal mobile gear or demersal static gear (which includes creels, pots and traps) throughout the West of Scotland Marine Protected Area (schedule 17). The site is closed in its entirety, with no internal zoning. The Order has no exception, season or permit route for this site. It binds Scottish fishing boats anywhere and any other fishing boat within the Scottish zone. Between about 8.3°W and 11.3°W the outline drawn on the map runs up to 18 km north of the Order's boundary; that strip is not closed by the Order.

Not established: activity. 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.

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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.

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 79996 — West of Scotland MPA

The case in brief

How this case was judged

Check it yourself