Closed area · Scottish Government (Marine Scotland)
Dredging prohibited
SSMO Regulations (Reg 7) · in force since 2022-01-19
A CAUGHT review has read the instrument behind this closure, rather than relying on the summary published with the boundary. Where the two differ, the instrument governs; this reading was made on 2026-11-01.
Regulation 7: "There are Closed Areas around the Coast of Shetland. Please see SSMO Spatial Management Plan SSMO P5. Within these areas all scallop fishing (including queen scallop fishing) is prohibited."
Closed to all scallop fishing, including queen scallops, under regulation 7 of the SSMO Regulations. The regulation does not reach other fisheries.
Closed to scallop dredging for protection of mussels and maerl.
Summary as published in the source dataset, shown for comparison. A dataset paraphrase can be narrower or wider than the instrument it summarises, and finding out which is the work above.
No cases have been recorded in this closure. That is not a finding that nothing happens here — it means our sweeps have not flagged anything inside these boundaries, and coverage depends on satellite passes and on vessels being tracked at all.
What a case here means. A CAUGHT case is a reason to look, not a verdict. Each one is judged on three independent factors — was it fishing, here and then; what gear does the vessel actually use; and what was prohibited there at that time — and the weakest of the three decides. Most cases are resolved.
Boundaries and rule summaries come from the published datasets named at the foot of this page and can contain errors; the legislation is the authority. If you believe this closure is described wrongly, tell us at contact@caught.org.uk.
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