Closed area · Kent & Essex IFCA
Trawling prohibited
Essex Estuary Bottom Trawling Byelaw 2016 · in force since 2016-09-12
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 2026-10-30.
Paragraph 2: "A person must not use a bottom trawl from a vessel within the prohibited areas." Paragraph 1(b): "bottom trawl" means "any beam trawl, otter trawl, multi-rig trawl, pair trawl or other similar fishing instrument designed to take sea fisheries resources from the sea bed"; 1(d): "use", in relation to a trawl, means "moving, towing or dragging it on the seabed or above the seabed or on the surface of the sea or anchoring or leaving it on the seabed with or without the intention to take sea fisheries resources".
A person must not use a bottom trawl from a vessel within the prohibited areas.
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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