Closed area · Scottish Government (Marine Scotland)
Bottom-towed gear prohibited
The Inshore Fishing (Prohibition of Fishing and Fishing Methods) (Scotland) Order 2004 - SSI 2004 No. 276 (Art 3/4) · in force since 2004-07-05
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 2026-11-02.
fishing for sea fish with a trawl, Danish seine or similar net, purse seine, ring net or dredge (including a suction dredge), year-round, throughout Dornoch Firth, except dredging (but not suction dredging) for mussels, which is permitted year-round
Fishing for sea fish with mobile or active gear prohibited. Dredging (but not suction dredging) for cockles and mussels permitted.
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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