Closed areas · By rule
15 closures where fishing on or near the seabed is prohibited, towed and static alike, watched from space. Together they cover 115.9 thousand km².
Demersal fishing is fishing on or near the seabed, as opposed to in the water column above it. These closures are stricter than a bottom-towed gear ban and less strict than a no-take zone: they reach both towed seabed gear — trawls, dredges — and static seabed gear such as creels, pots and set nets.
The distinction is the one that decides cases. In a bottom-towed gear ban a creel boat is normally fishing lawfully; in one of these areas it is not. So the same vessel, doing the same thing, is inside the rule in one closure and outside it in another a few miles away — which is exactly why CAUGHT reads the instrument behind each closure rather than relying on a category label.
Fishing in the water column above a demersal closure may still be permitted, so a large pelagic vessel inside one is not necessarily doing anything prohibited.
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
By nation: Scotland 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