GovWire

Overview

Fishing anywhere by a British fishing boat is prohibited unless authorised by a licence, unless youre exempt. If you fish without a licence or dont comply with your licence conditions, you may be prosecuted. All owners are jointly liable for any offences committed by the vessel.

To protect fish stocks no new licences are created and there are a limited number of licences in circulation. The only way you can get a licence is by transferring an existing one to your vessel. You need a licence entitlement to do this.

Exemptions

You dont need a licence for your vessel if any of the following apply:

• it doesnt have an engine
• it will only be used to fish for common eels, salmon or migratory trout you do need arod licence
• you fish only within the 12 nautical mile limits around Jersey, Guernsey or the Isle of Man you may need a licence from the suitable authority
• you only use your vessel to fish for pleasure

Register your vessel

You must register your vessel on the UK Ship Registry to get a fishing vessel licence, unless your vessel is registered in the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man.

For more information contact the:

• UK Ship Register
• Maritime Coastguard Agency (MCA)

Get a licence entitlement

You can get an entitlement by obtaining:

• the entitlement from a vessel that has sunk, been scrapped or is no longer being used for fishing
• a licence currently on a vessel

You need to make sure the entitlement(s) is:

• the correct licence category for your fishing requirements. See licences and permits
• suitable for a vessel 10 metres and under
• suitable for any shellfish requirement (if applicable). See licences and permits
• the correct tonnage of your vessel and
• the correct engine power (kilowattage) of your vessel

If required, you can aggregate two or more entitlements to cover your vessel. You can also split an entitlement via an Application to Disaggregate a Fishing Vessel Licence Entitlement (AFL19) form Commercial fishing vessel licence application forms if you have surplus KW or tonnage.

Aggregation and disaggregation rules:

Only licences of the same type and category may be aggregated together. Where this is not possible, the licence issued to the incoming vessel will be downgraded to take the lowest common level of authorisation of all the donor licence entitlements.

On disaggregation any shellfish permits associated with the licence, will be permitted to be allocated to be used, in one transaction only, either collectively or singly (nominated in the AFL19 form). However, other components of the disaggregated licence, not allocated with the permit will retain a track record and may be aggregated with base licences which do carry the permit, without the resultant licence losing that authority (aggregations involving components without a shellfish permit or track record would result in the loss of the permit).

Aggregation restrictions and engine power Limits

Licence entitlements from vessels under 8 metres may not be used in an aggregation to licence a vessel between 8 and 10 metres. A single licence transfer from an under 8 metre vessel to placed on an 8 to 10 metre vessel however, is permitted, subject to the dimensions of the entitlement being suitable for the larger vessel.

There are engine power limits for vessels of 10m and under which are licensed by aggregation. They stand at:

• 150 kw limit on aggregations onto vessels between 8 and 10 metres
• 100 kw limit on aggregations onto vessels under 8 metres

Single licence transfer over these limits will continue to be permitted unless the entitlements to be used have been created through aggregation outside of English administration after 24 February 2015.

Transferring a licence/licence entitlement to another party

The current licence/entitlement holder will complete application Establish or Transfer an Entitlement and Transfer of a Licence (AFL7) declaring that they are surrendering the licence/licence entitlement to a new holder. In this application they will provide the current licence/licence entitlement details and the new holders name, address, email and mobile phone number. The MMO will check the application and notify the new holder that the application has been received and will be processed within 5 working days.

Becoming the holder of a licence entitlement

The current licence entitlement holder will need to complete application Establishment or transfer of an entitlement and transfer of a licence that is administered by Marine Management Organisation (AFL7) to transfer the licence entitlement into your name.

If you are wanting to transfer a licence entitlement into your name, you do not need to complete this application but you will need to provide the current holder with the following details so they can tell us that they are surrendering the rights to their licence/licence entitlement to you.

The current holder will need the following details for all new holders.

• name
• address
• email address
• mobile phone number
• your company registration number if you are a UK company.

Once Marine Management Organisation receive the application from the current holder, we will notify you by email and you will be able to check the licence/licence entitlement details. If everything is in order, we will aim to send your Notification of Entitlement within 5 working days.

You should note that a Notification of Entitlement is NOT a valid fishing vessel licence.

Apply for your licence

Select this linkto open our application form page to apply for an fishing licence for a British registered fishing vessel (AFL2).

You may need to demonstrate an economic link between the vessel and the UK, Channel Islands or Isle of Man to make landings at certain ports within designated times. For more information, please contact yourlocalMMOoffice.

Your vessel licence covers the UK EEZ. If you want access to non-UK waters, you should contact the UK Single Issuing Authority (UKSIA)

Moves in and out of England

Category and permit changes

Entitlements transferring back to England with a previous track record of having been Category A 10m and Under Limited licence (often referred to as capped. See licence types ) will revert to being a limited/capped licence. This rule also applies to aggregations.

As part of the 2016 licence-capping scheme in England, shellfish permits have been suspended from licences with a track record of under 1kg of shellfish as defined for the purpose of the licence in each calendar year between 2010 and 2013. The status of the suspended permits is subject to a Defra review. Licences with suspended permits on transfer out of England will be transferred without the permit. Entitlements transferring back to England with a previously suspended shellfish permit, will revert to being suspended.

FQA moratorium

There is a current embargo on the trading of FQA units to and from Scotland and the rest of the UK. Therefore FQA units will need to be removed from a licence entitlement before the entitlement can move to or from Marine Scotland.

The ban on the movement of FQA units from Scotland to the rest of the UK has been in place since January 2014. The embargo on units transferring from the rest of the UK to Scotland has been in place since December 2016

Request to change UK fisheries administration

Any vessel wishing to change administration within the UK should submit an application to change UK f

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