Case #92662: Dogger Bank SAC, 14 October 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: #92662
Observation: Satellite radar detection, no AIS
Closed area: Dogger Bank SAC (BTFG Byelaw 2022)
What is prohibited there: bottom-towed gear prohibited
When: 2026-10-14 11:05 UTC → 2026-10-22 11:16 UTC
Position: 54.3000°, 2.1700°
Vessel: ARM22 KLAAS ADRIANA
MMSI: 244221000
Flag: NL
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 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?
- Rule reviewed: Paragraph 3: "A person must not use bottom towed fishing gear in a specified area." Paragraph 1: "bottom towed fishing gear" means any trawls, seines, dredges, or similar gear, including trawls towed on or very close to the seabed, which are actively moved in the water by one or more fishing vessels or by any other mechanised system and in which ANY PART of the gear is designed and rigged to operate on, and be in contact with, the seabed [2023 adds: "in order to take any sea fisheries resources"]..

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.

Unidentified radar target inside Dogger Bank SAC

The case in brief

How this case was judged

Check it yourself