Closed area · DAERA
Demersal (seabed) fishing prohibited
The Marine Protected Areas (Prohibited Methods of Fishing) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2022 (as amended by: The Marine Protected Areas (Prohibited Methods of Fishing) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2022) · in force since 2023-01-01
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 2026-11-05.
Regulation 3(1)(e): "Subject to regulation 4 fishing for sea-fish using demersal mobile gear is prohibited in" this area, defined by Schedule 5 as corrected by S.R. 2022/303 reg. 2(4): an open line A (55°08.440'N 006°01.492'W) - B (55°08.440'N 006°00.516'W) - C (55°05.450'N 006°00.516'W) - D (55°05.450'N 006°02.816'W) closed by the coast. Regulation 2: "demersal mobile gear" means any fishing gear that is towed along the sea bed or is otherwise moved through the water on or close to the sea bed to catch fish, and includes, for example, a dredge, demersal seine net and demersal trawl net. "static gear" means any pot, creel, receptacle or container capable of being left at sea to catch crustaceans or molluscs. Regulation 3(2)(b) also prohibits static gear "at a depth of 10 metres or more below Chart Datum as shown on the Admiralty Chart".
Rule reviewed against the instrument: S.R. 2022/292 regulation 3(1)(e) prohibits fishing for sea-fish with demersal mobile gear here, year-round. Demersal mobile gear includes dredges, demersal trawls and demersal seines, so there is no seine carve-out. The only exception is a named-person permit for scientific, stocking or fishery-improvement purposes. Pots and creels are also banned at depths of 10 m or more below Chart Datum.
Prohibits fishing for sea-fish by demersal mobile gear. Fishing using static gear is also restricted at a depth of 10 metres or more below Chart Datum (as shown on the Admiralty Chart) which is within a marine protected area designated under The Conservation (Natural Habitats, etc.) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1995 and the Marine Act (Northern Ireland) 2013.
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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