Guidance to support commercial fishermen, merchants and exporters following the UK/EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement.

Following the Trade and Cooperation Agreement with the EU, the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) has updated the ‘one stop shop’ guide for commercial fishers, merchants and exporters. This covers the administrative side of the fishing industry – signposting to business requirements needed such as for fishing, landing, exporting, importing, transportation, food hygiene and regulatory controls.

There is also a handy step by step guide to exporting fish and seafood products to the EU, and a checklist for fishers intending to landing their catch directly into the EU.

Provisional arrangements have also been announced today which includes temporary catch limits for UK fishermen to ensure fishing continues uninterrupted until annual fisheries negotiations with the EU, Norway and Faroe Islands conclude. Fishing vessel licenses have been amended and provisional catch limits have been published for the 10 metres and under and over 10-metre non-sector pools on the which reflect these arrangements.

As the UK/EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement states, UK vessels will be permitted to fish in EU waters and EU vessels in UK waters during the adjustment period. However, from 1 January 2021, UK and EU vessels must not fish in each other’s waters without a licence. Licensing of UK and EU vessels will begin shortly, initially for the 12 – 200 nautical mile limit of the UK and EU Exclusive Economic Zones. UK licenced vessels will be notified by the UK Single Issuing Authority and EU vessels will be notified of the licensing arrangements directly by the fisheries administration in each relevant Member State. The list of vessels licensed to fish in UK and EU waters will also be published by the UK SIA when available.