Closed area · DAERA
Bottom-towed gear prohibited
The Scallop Enhancement Sites (Prohibited Methods of Fishing) 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 2026-11-07.
Regulation 3(1) as amended by S.R. 2025/102: "Subject to paragraph (2) fishing for sea-fish using demersal mobile gear and fishing for scallops by any means is prohibited in" the four scallop enhancement sites. 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; "scallop" means king scallop (Pecten maximus) or queen scallop (Aequipecten opercularis). Regulation 3(2): the prohibition does not apply to a person operating under a section 14 permit (Fisheries Act (Northern Ireland) 1966).
Rule read from the instrument: S.R. 2022/272 regulation 3(1)(d), as amended in 2025, bans demersal mobile gear and fishing for scallops by any means here, year-round. The mapped area is larger than the site the Regulations define, so a position near its edge cannot be shown to be inside the closure.
Prohibits fishing for sea-fish by demersal mobile gear and diving for scallops in this 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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