Closed area · Eastern IFCA
Bottom-towed gear prohibited
Marine Protected Areas Byelaw 2018 · in force since 2020-03-02
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 2026-11-08.
fishing with bottom towed gear (any gear designed to be towed, dragged or pushed through the water in contact with the seabed), year-round, in Restricted Areas 1 to 35 of the Wash and North Norfolk Coast SAC; in Areas 1 to 13 only unless under a Wash Fishery Order 1992 Article 8 licence
Eastern IFCA Marine Protected Areas Byelaw 2018 bans bottom towed gear in all 35 restricted areas of this closure year-round, but in Areas 1 to 13 inside the Wash only for vessels without a Wash Fishery Order 1992 licence. The rule cannot be applied without knowing which area a case falls in and, in Areas 1 to 13, whether the vessel was licensed.
Closed to bottom towed gear. Gear must be secured and stowed when transiting through these restricted areas or suspended clear of the water if you are fishing with a beam trawl up to the boundary of the area or will resume fishing immediately upon leaving the area. Spatial description: Specified areas within the Wash and North Norfolk Coast Special Area of Conservation.
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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