Closed area · Eastern IFCA
Bottom-towed gear prohibited
Byelaw 15: Towed Gear Restriction for Bivalve Molluscs · in force since 1970-01-01
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 2026-09-05.
Using any kind of towed fishing gear WHEN FISHING FOR BIVALVE MOLLUSCS in the Eastern IFCA District.
Byelaw 15 paragraph 1, VERBATIM: "No person shall in fishing for bivalve molluscs in the Committee’s District use any kind of towed fishing gear."
SPECIES-SCOPED. The prohibition bites only on towed gear used in fishing for BIVALVE MOLLUSCS, so a demersal finfish or prawn trawl is not within it. Kingfisher’s paraphrase of the measure — “All vessels (regardless of length) are prohibited from using towed gear between Mundesley Church and Blakeney Church on the North Norfolk Coast out to 3 nautical miles” — claims more than the byelaw bans, because it drops the species limb. The same pattern runs through NEIFCA Byelaw XXIV (the cockle fishery) and SWSFC Byelaw 40.
All vessels (regardless of length) are prohibited from using towed gear between Mundesley Church and Blakeney Church on the North Norfolk Coast out to 3 nautical miles. Spatial description: Within 3 nautical miles from the 1983 baselines
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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