CAUGHT

Closed area · Scottish Government (Marine Scotland)

BUTEC Outer Sea Area (BUTEC Byelaws)

Bottom-towed gear prohibited

The British Underwater Test and Evaluation Centre Byelaws 2016 - SI 2016 No. 654 (Art 4) · in force since 2016-06-29

The closure boundary as published in the source dataset, simplified for display. Basemap © Esri, HERE, Garmin, OpenStreetMap contributors.

What the rule says

A person commits an offence if that person while within the outer sea areas fishes, otherwise than by line, creel or diving.

Summary as published in the source dataset. The instrument itself is the authority — follow the link below and read it.

What is prohibited
Bottom-towed gear prohibited
Authority
Scottish Government (Marine Scotland)
Instrument
The British Underwater Test and Evaluation Centre Byelaws 2016 - SI 2016 No. 654 (Art 4)
Type
Byelaw/ Regulation
In force since
2016-06-29
Area
51 km²

What satellites have recorded here

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.