Closed area · Scottish Government (Marine Scotland)
Bottom-towed gear prohibited
SSI 2015 No. 435 (Art 9) · in force since 2016-02-08
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 2026-11-03.
fishing for sea fish with a dredge, beam trawl, demersal trawl or demersal seine net
Rule reviewed against the instrument: SSI 2015/435 article 9(1) prohibits fishing for sea fish with a dredge, beam trawl, demersal trawl or demersal seine net here, year-round. The article carries no exception, season, tonnage limit or permit route.
Fishing for sea fish with a dredge, beam trawl, demersal trawl or demersal seine net is prohibited in the Noss Head and Sinclair Bay Protected Area. Fishing for horse mussels 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.
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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