Closed areas · By nation
98 closures in Scottish waters, watched from space. Together they cover 193 thousand km².
Sea fisheries are devolved, so Scotland’s closures are made by the Scottish Government under Scottish instruments — Marine Conservation Orders, Scottish Statutory Instruments and the inshore fishing orders — and the rules differ from those a few miles south.
Scotland has very few no-take zones. Almost every Scottish closure bans gear towed across the seabed while leaving static gear lawful, and Scotland’s inshore fleet is heavily weighted towards small creel boats. A sub-12-metre boat fishing inside a Scottish closure is therefore more likely to be a creeler fishing legally than a trawler fishing illegally — the single most important fact in reading any case on this site, and the reason CAUGHT will clear a real trawler rather than risk accusing a creel fisherman.
Many of these closures sit in sea lochs and other sheltered inshore water, which is also where yachts and small craft move slowly on winding tracks. That looks identical to fishing in vessel-tracking data, and is another reason a flagged case is a reason to look rather than a verdict.
A case is a reason to look, not a verdict — most are examined and resolved. Every case is judged on three independent factors and nothing reads CAUGHT until all three are strong and a person has reviewed it. How a case is made.
By rule: No-take zones Bottom-towed gear Trawling Dredging All seabed fishing
By nation: England Wales Northern Ireland Isle of Man Jersey
The full A–Z of all closures · Download the closure dataset · See live cases on the map