Detailed guide: Understand your fishing vessel licence

Updated: Annexes updated

Understanding your vessel licence

Your fishing vessel licence is in several parts. You must read each part carefully to make sure you understand the terms attached to it and that they are correct for your fishing activity.

Contact your local Marine Management Organisation (MMO) office with any questions and notify them immediately if any of the details are incorrect.

An incorrect licence is invalid and you could be liable to penalties.

It is your responsibility to check your licence documents before going to sea as licences can be changed at any time. MMO publishes variations online and notifies those who have provided their contact information.

You can provide MMO with up to 2 emails, mobile phone numbers, or both, as a way of getting direct alerts about changes. You can receive notifications yourself, but it may make sense to nominate someone based onshore who can contact you on your vessel quickly.

Variations are considered to have been received when they are published online. You are required, as part of your licence conditions, to check each week for any changes.

Part 1: Vessel details

This part includes:

  • category of licence
  • official licence number
  • characteristics of your vessel
  • registered owners
  • specific authorities for scallop dredging, beam trawl fishing, fish for shellfish with pots, fixed nets or both
  • membership of a fish producer organisation

Part 2: Conditions

This specifies how your vessel will fish. You may be directed to make landings at certain ports and times.

Part 3: Schedule

This sets out the authority under which you are allowed to fish.

Part 4: Annex

This lists species that you are not permitted to fish and any catch limits for stocks that you are able to fish and land.

Fishing vessel licences: 10 metre and under vessels – non-sector

These are vessels 10-metres-and-under that don’t belong to a producer organisation.

Uncapped licences for the non-sector and Isle of Man have the same conditions and schedules, and their own specific annexes.

Capped licences for the non-sector have the same conditions, schedule and annex.

Fishing vessel licences: 10 metre and under vessels – sector

All vessels that are members of a producer organisation have the same conditions and schedule.

They each have their own specific annexes.

Fishing vessel licences: over 10 metre vessels – Category A

All Category A vessels have the same conditions and schedule.

There are specific annexes for vessels in the non-sector, Isle of Man, and each producer organisation.

Fishing vessel licences: over 10 metre vessels – Category A (Islands)

There are no producer organisation vessels that are Category A (Islands) vessels. All Category A (Islands) vessels are in the non-sector and have the same conditions, schedule and annex.

Fishing vessel licences: over 10 metre vessels – Category A (Pelagic)

All Category A vessels have the same conditions and schedule.

There are specific annexes for vessels in each producer organisation. There are no Category A (Pelagic) non-sector vessels.

Fishing vessel licences: over 10 metre vessels – Category B

All Category B vessels have the same conditions and schedule.

There are specific annexes for vessels in the non-sector, Isle of Man, and each producer organisation.

Fishing vessel licences: over 10 metre vessels – Category C

All Category C vessels have the same conditions and schedule.

There are specific annexes for vessels in the non-sector, Isle of Man, and each producer organisation.

Fishing vessel licences: over 10 metre vessels – Deep sea species

All deep sea species vessels have the same conditions and schedule.

There are specific annexes for vessels in the non-sector and each producer organisation.

Fishing vessel licences: over 10 metre vessels – Handline mackerel

There are no producer organisation vessels with handline mackerel conditions and schedules. There is no annex.

Fishing vessel licences: over 10 metre vessels – Thames and Blackwater

There are no producer organisation vessels with these conditions and schedules. There is no annex.

Single licence category for the over ten metre fleet segment in Scotland.

Marine Scotland have created a single licence category for the over ten metre fleet segment in Scotland.

Different licence categories will remain in existence in England after 30 June 2017. Category B or C licence entitlements transferring from Scotland will be received as a Category B or C as they were prior to 1 July 2017.

Scottish licences created through disaggregation or aggregation in Scotland after 30 June 2017 will be tracked back to the lowest common denominator and received accordingly on transfer to England. For example a licence aggregation between an ex-Category B and an ex-Category A licence in Scotland will be received in England as a Category B licence.

Application to change UK fisheries administration

This
application to change UK fisheries administration
(ODT, 40.1KB)

form must be completed by the vessel owner(s) who wish to request the change of administration from England to Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.

Latent capacity licence monitoring

In 2015 Defra carried out an exercise to address latent capacity in the English under 10m fleet. A number of licences had their finfish licence capped at 350kgs and/or had their shellfish permit temporarily suspended. This exercise included an appeals process. Some appeals were successful but subject to a monitoring period of 2 years.

This period drew to an end in most cases on 31 December 2017. Defra officials will be seeking to review this policy in 2018. In the interim all licences subject to monitoring will continue to be able to fish to the limits as set out in their current licence until further notice.

If you have any queries please contact the Defra Helpline on 0345 933 5577 or email fisheriesreform@defra.gsi.gov.uk.

Further information

More information on:



Statutory guidance: Quota management rules

Updated: Link updated

The UK fisheries administrations discussed these rules and produced the final rules based on the agreements reached and comments received.



Guidance: Marine licensing: fees

Updated: Fees updated

Fees are payable for different types of project based on the time it takes the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) and the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science to process the application.

An MMO case manager will notify you of the suitable fee band for your application. This can be changed if new information about your project makes a different band more suitable. If your application is moved to a different band, MMO will seek your agreement before doing any further work.

Where an application is to carry out more than 1 licensable activity and they fall in different fee bands, the higher fee band is payable.

For example, an application to dredge material and dispose of it at sea includes a band 3 project (dredging) and a band 2 project (disposal – if fewer than 1 million cubic metres), so the fees applied to the application will be band 3.

From 1 October 2014 you will also be charged a fee for any new licence variation or post-consent work, even if the licence was issued before this date.

Further information

See how to get a licence for a burial at sea.

Contact information

Marine Licensing Team

0300 123 1032

marine.consents@marinemanagement.org.uk



Detailed guide: Apply for a scientific research dispensation

Updated: Text added

Please complete the dispensation request form and submit it to the Marine Management Organisation (MMO). We aim to make a decision on most applications within 20 working days, however, each application is different and some applications will take longer than this if we are required to consult with other regulatory bodies.

Dispensation request form

PDF, 152KB, 4 pages

You must notify the MMO if your research is not being carried out on a licensed fishing vessel. An email stating the vessel name, dates of the survey, type of survey and equipment used should be sent to dispensationrequests@marinemanagement.org.uk

Examples of activities that require a dispensation include:

  • using undersized nets or modified trawls
  • catching and keeping on board undersized fish species
  • fishing beyond set effort management limits (days at sea)
  • catching and landing fish over a vessel’s catch limits – MMO may be able to provide extra quota to licensed fishing vessels involved in research
  • catching and landing fish stocks for which a vessel has no quota allocation

2% of quota allocated to England is in principle available for scientific dispensations. For any quota requests made by applicants for dispensations the MMO will determine whether the quota can be granted based on the context of the application and the availability of the specific quotas.

Licensing and consenting requirements

You may require additional licenses and consents to carry out your proposed research. This is relevant regardless of which type of vessel you are using, and whether you require a fisheries dispensation.

Protected species

A marine wildlife licence is required by anyone who wishes to carry out an activity in the English marine area or the Welsh offshore area that is prohibited under nature conservation legislation where the activity cannot be sufficiently mitigated against.

Marine licensing requirements

Work within the dispensation application may also require a marine licence or application for an exemption. It is the applicants responsibility to ensure that they have all relevant licences in place before they start any survey. Information on the application process and list of licensable activities is available.

Marine Protected Areas (MPA)

The MMO is responsible for making byelaws in English inshore waters to protect European Marine Sites (EMS) and Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs) from activities that may harm them; these may be commercial and/or recreational. MMO byelaws must help to further the conservation objectives of the site.

You may be required to comply with these byelaws and, unless stated, the derogation does not allow you to operate where it is not permitted within the sites.

Your dispensation application will ask you to provide details of any marine protected area you may be operating in. A map and details of all marine protected areas can be found on the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) website.

Foreign vessels engaged in research or UK vessels which do not complete a dispensation application are encouraged to complete a voluntary notification form if the survey will take place within or close to an MPA.

MPA activity – Voluntary notification form

Other authority consents

You may also require consent or approval from other bodies before you are able to carry out the work that the dispensation applies to.

Local byelaws are the responsibility of the local Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority (IFCA). You should familiarise yourself with the IFCA byelaws in your research area and contact your local IFCA if necessary.

If your research involves salmon, eels, elvers, lamprey, sea trout, smelt or crayfish the Environment Agency should also be contacted to discuss your research.

If your research involves work within a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) Natural England should be contacted to discuss the research application.

Further information

For research in other UK waters, dispensations will be issued by:

Under international law, all states have the right to conduct marine science research subject to the rights and duties of other States. The Marine Science Research (MSR) webpage contains application forms and guidance.

The UK Government has a target to protect habitats and species in our seas. Foreign vessels engaged in research are encouraged to complete a voluntary notification form.

Voluntary notification form

PDF, 69.9KB, 3 pages

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Contact information

Marine Conservation Team

To discuss fisheries dispensations, wildlife licensing and Marine Protected Areas.

Telephone: 0300 123 1032

dispensationrequests@marinemanagement.org.uk

Fisheries Management Team

Telephone: 0300 123 1032

fmc@marinemanagement.org.uk

Marine Licensing Team

To discuss sampling and sediment analysis.

Telephone: 0300 123 1032

marine.consents@marinemanagement.org.uk

Marine Conservation and Enforcement Team

To discuss wildlife licensing and Marine Protected Areas.

Telephone: 0300 123 1032

conservation@marinemanagement.org.uk



Collection: Harbour orders public register

Updated: Transfer of Mutford Lock HRO’s added

There is an archived version of the register that includes details of more applications.