Closed area · Southern IFCA
Bottom-towed gear prohibited
Bottom Towed Fishing Gear Byelaw 2023 · in force since 2025-07-07
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 2026-09-04.
Paragraph (3): "A person must not, subject to paragraph (5), use bottom towed fishing gear within a prohibited area." Paragraph (4) adds a second offence: "A person must not, subject to paragraph (5), use a vessel carrying bottom towed fishing gear within a prohibited area unless all parts of that gear are inboard and above the sea." Interpretation paragraph (2)(c): "bottom towed fishing gear" means ANY FISHING GEAR WHICH IS CAPABLE OF BEING PULLED OR PUSHED ALONG THE SEABED. Paragraph (2)(e): "prohibited area" means the area enclosed by the co-ordinates listed in Schedule 1 UNDER EACH NUMBERED AREA — the numbered area is the unit the byelaw itself defines.
A person must not use bottom towed fishing gear within a prohibited 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.
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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