Our report on a fall through an internal hatch on board the fishing vessel Artemis on 29 April 2019 with loss of 1 life, is now published.

The report contains details of what happened, the subsequent actions taken and recommendations made: read more.

A safety flyer to the fishing industry summarising the accident and detailing the safety lessons learned, has also been produced.

The Prime Minister today held a positive meeting in Downing Street with Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission.

They discussed the situation in Iraq, agreeing on the importance of Coalition forces being able to continue their vital work countering the shared threat from Daesh.

On Brexit, the PM stressed that his immediate priority was to implement the Withdrawal Agreement by January 31. They discussed the progress of ratification in the UK and in the European Parliament.

He said the UK wanted a positive new UK and EU partnership, based on friendly cooperation, our shared history, interests and values.

The PM reiterated that we wanted a broad free trade agreement covering goods and services, and cooperation in other areas.

The PM was clear that the UK would not extend the Implementation Period beyond 31 December 2020; and that any future partnership must not involve any kind of alignment or ECJ jurisdiction. He said the UK would also maintain control of UK fishing waters and our immigration system.

The PM made clear that we would continue to ensure high standards in the UK in areas like workers’ rights, animal welfare, agriculture and the environment.

The PM said the UK was ready to start negotiations on the future partnership and Canada-style FTA as soon as possible after January 31.

We are inviting tenders from 2018 Standard Civil Contract holders currently delivering housing and debt services to deliver HPCDS services in Boston and Lincoln.

This opportunity is open to all 2018 Standard Civil Contract holders currently delivering housing and debt services, and is not limited to current HPCDS providers.

Length of contracts

Contracts will be offered from 1 March 2020 until 30 September 2020.

Applicants interested in bidding for the Boston and Lincoln scheme may bid to deliver services at either Boston, or Lincoln or at both courts.

Up to 4 HPCDS contracts are being offered in the Boston and Lincoln scheme area, with the scheme scheduled through rotas.

How do I tender?

Tenders must be submitted using the LAA’s e-Tendering system.

Tender deadline

The tender opens on 8 January 2020 closes at 9am on 6 February 2020.

Further information

Civil 2018 contracts tender – to find out more and download the Information For Applicants document

e-Tendering system – to submit your tender

The new TAC regulations are expected to be published later in January 2020. In the meantime current regulations still apply.

This means that in January 2020:

• commercial bass fisheries limits remain as outlined in 2019 bass authorisation letters
• for recreational bass fisheries it is catch and release only

The 2019 bass guidance can be viewed here

Following the Agriculture and Fisheries Council of the 16-17 December 2019 the MMO expects the following rules will apply to bass fisheries.

Commercial bass fisheries

All commercial bass fishing in ICES divisions 4b, 4c, 7d, 7e, 7f and 7h and in waters within 12 nautical miles from baselines under the sovereignty of the United Kingdom in ICES divisions 7a and 7g will require an authorisation to retain bass. Commercial bass fishing will be prohibited during February to March 2020.

The MMO will be writing to all fishing vessel owners with a revised authorisation to catch and retain bass and will provide further guidance on our website once the 2020 TAC regulations are published. In the meantime, current authorisation letters from 2019 are valid.

Bass will continue not to be subject to the landings obligation. Any bass caught above the quantity a vessel is authorised to land and any undersized bass must be discarded.

There will be changes to the limits that can be landed by authorised vessels:

Recreational bass fisheries

For recreational fisheries, including from shore, in ICES divisions 4b, 4c, 6a, 7a to 7k a limit of two fish per day from 1 March to 30 November 2020 may be landed.

Recreational fishers will be limited to catch and release only during January, February and December 2020.

Full detailed guidance will be published once the TAC regulation are published. For further information please contact: bass@marinemanagement.org.uk

Published 10 October 2019
Last updated 4 March 2020 + show all updates