Closed area · MMO
Bottom-towed gear prohibited
The Dogger Bank Special Area of Conservation (Specified Area) Bottom Towed Fishing Gear Byelaw 2022 · in force since 2022-06-13
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 2026-09-04.
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"].
A person must not use bottom towed fishing gear in the specified area. A vessel transiting through the specified area must have all bottom towed fishing gear inboard, lashed and stowed.
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.
Vessels are named only on cases that read CAUGHT and have been examined by a reviewer. Every other case is linked without a name: most are resolved, and naming a boat on a page about the closure would carry an accusation the assessment does not support.
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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