Closed area · DAERA
Trawling prohibited
Inshore Fishing (Prohibition of Fishing & Fishing Methods) Regulations (NI) 1993 [SR 1993 No. 155] as amended · in force since 1993-03-31
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 2026-11-07.
Regulation 3(3): "In Dundrum Bay the use of any trawl net or any seine net for the capture of sea fish is prohibited." Regulation 2: "Dundrum Bay" means the sea area to the landward side of an imaginary straight line drawn from the Chapel (near Miner's Town, County Down) at Rossglass Bay to Roaring Rock (and thence to the nearest point of mainland). Regulation 2: "trawl net" means a fishing gear assembly incorporating a conical shaped net, ropes and hardware to hold open the mouth of the net, constructed to capture sea fish whilst being towed by a fishing boat; "seine net" means a fishing gear assembly incorporating a conical shaped net and ropes, constructed to capture sea fish by a method of encirclement. Regulation 4 as amended by the Fisheries Act 2020 (which omitted the exception for "any person who is not a British citizen"): the prohibitions do not apply to a person operating under a fish culture licence (s. 11) or a permit (s. 14) of the Fisheries Act (Northern Ireland) 1966.
Rule reviewed against the instrument: S.R. 1993/155 regulation 3(3) bans the use of any trawl net or seine net in Dundrum Bay, year-round. Dredges are not within this regulation, so a dredger is not in breach of it. The only exceptions are a fish culture licence or a named-person permit under the Fisheries Act (Northern Ireland) 1966.
In Dundrum Bay the use of any trawl net or any seine net for the capture of sea fish is prohibited.
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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