Closed area · Scottish Government (Marine Scotland)
Bottom-towed gear prohibited
The Loch Sunart to the Sound of Jura Marine Conservation Order 2016 - SSI 2016 No. 90 (Art 4) · in force since 2016-03-23
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 2026-09-06.
Deploying or using any "fishing gear" as defined in article 4(6) — beam trawl, demersal seine net, demersal trawl, dredge (mechanical or suction), passive gear, and any associated rope or wire — within the protected area described in schedule 1.
Article 4(2), VERBATIM: “A person must not deploy (by any means) or use any fishing gear within the protected area.” THAT SENTENCE MUST NOT BE READ IN ISOLATION — it is the first of five paragraphs and the three that follow cut it down. Article 4(4): “Subject to paragraph (5), paragraphs (2) and (3) do not apply to the deployment or use of— (a) any fishing gear within the protected area for the purpose of saving life, or for the purpose of securing the safety of a vessel, aircraft or marine structure; or (b) a mechanical dredge, or a demersal trawl (other than a beam trawl) but without the attachment and use of tickler chains, within those parts of the protected area which are described in Schedule 2.” Article 4(5): “Paragraph (4)(b) has effect with regard to those parts of the protected area which are described in Parts 3 to 6 of Schedule 2 only during the following periods— (a) 1st January to 31st March; and (b) 1st October to 31st December, each year.”
Article 4(2) of the Loch Sunart to the Sound of Jura Marine Conservation Order 2016 (SSI 2016/90) prohibits deploying or using any fishing gear in the protected area. Article 4(6) limits “fishing gear” to beam trawls, demersal seine nets, demersal trawls, dredges and passive nets and lines, and excludes creels and parlour creels. Article 4(4) allows any gear to save life or secure a vessel's safety, and a mechanical dredge or a demersal trawl (not a beam trawl, no tickler chains) in the Schedule 2 areas — year-round in Parts 1, 2 and 7–9, and in Parts 3–6 only from October to March. Article 5 provides for scientific-research permits.
A person must not deploy (by any means) or use any fishing gear within the protected area.
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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