Closed area · Scottish Government (Marine Scotland)
Demersal (seabed) fishing prohibited
Offshore Fishing (Prohibition of Fishing Methods) (Scotland) Order 2025 · in force since 2025-10-16
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 2026-11-06.
Fishing for sea fish with demersal mobile gear or demersal static gear.
Article 7(2): "Fishing for sea fish with demersal mobile gear or demersal static gear is prohibited in the— (a) East Rockall Bank Third Protected Area, (b) ... Fourth ..., (c) ... Fifth ..., (d) ... Sixth Protected Area." Article 7(3): Parts 3-6 of schedule 5. Article 2: "demersal mobile gear" means a demersal seine net, a demersal trawl (a beam trawl or a bottom trawl) or a dredge (mechanical or suction). Article 2: "demersal static gear" means "any gear or catch operation that does not require an active movement, that makes or has the potential to make contact with the sea bed", including a creel, pot or trap, a floated demersal longline and a static net.
Article 7(2) of the Offshore Fishing Order 2025 bans fishing with demersal mobile gear (trawls, dredges and demersal seines) and demersal static gear (creels, pots, set nets and demersal longlines) in the East Rockall Bank Third to Sixth Protected Areas, year-round. There is no exception, season or permit.
Demersal mobile and demersal static gear 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.
See it on the live map All closures we watch How CAUGHT works