Get a fishing vessel licence: 10 metres or under

Overview

Fishing anywhere by a British fishing boat is prohibited unless authorised by a licence,licence. unless you’re exempt. If you fish without a licence or don’tdo not comply with your licence conditions, you may be prosecuted. All owners are jointly liable for any offences committed by the vessel.

To protect fish stocksstocks, noMMO newdoes licencesnot areissue creatednew licences 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 don’t need a licence for your vessel if any of the following apply:

• it doesn’t have an engine
• it will only be used to fish for common eels, salmon or migratory trout – you do need a rod 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) (MCA)

Get a licence entitlement

A licence entitlement is the right to apply for a fishing vessel licence.

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)entitlement is:

• the correct licence category for your fishing requirements. See See licences and permits
• suitable for a vessel 1010m metres and under
• suitable for any shellfish requirement (if applicable). See See licences and permits
• the correct tonnage of your vessel and
• the correct engine power (kilowattage) of your vessel

IfYou required,can youlicense cana aggregatevessel twousing orone morelicence entitlementsentitlement. This is referred to coveras youra vessel.single Youlicence cantransfer. alsoIf splitrequired, anyou entitlementcan viacombine antwo ‘Applicationor more entitlements to Disaggregatelicense ayour Fishingvessel. VesselThis Licenceis Entitlementreferred (AFL19)to formas Commercialan fishingaggregation. vesselYou licencecan applicationalso formssplit  ifan youentitlement havewhich surplusis KWreferred orto tonnage.as a disaggregation.

Aggregation and disaggregation rules:rules

Only licences of the same type and category may be aggregated together.otherwise 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.entitlements used.

OnIf disaggregationyou anywant shellfishto permitsdisaggregate associateda withlicence theentitlement licence,that willhas bea permittedshellfish topermit, the permit can only be allocated to beone used,of inthe onedisaggregated transactionparts. only,You eithercan collectivelychoose orwhich singlypart (nominatedwill inreceive the permit on the AFL19 form).application. However,All other componentsparts ofrelating to that permit will be allocated a track record.

For example, the donor entitlement has a shellfish permit:

• you have applied to split an entitlement into three new disaggregated licence,parts.
• you nothave requested the shellfish permit to be allocated withto the first new disaggregated part.

As the shellfish permit willhas retainbeen allocated to the first new disaggregated part, a shellfish track record will be allocated to the second and third new disaggregated parts.

Disaggregated parts may be aggregated with baselicence licencesentitlements which do carry thea permit,full withoutpermit theto resultantform a greater licence losingentitlement which does carry that authoritypermit. (aggregationsAggregations involvingusing componentstwo withoutor amore shellfishdisaggregated permitparts orwith track recordrecords, wouldor at least one licence entitlement without a permit at all, will result in the loss of the permit).permit.

Aggregation restrictions and engine power Limitslimits

Licence entitlements from vessels under 88m metres may not be used in an aggregation to licencelicense a vessel between 8 and 1010m. metres. A single licence transfer from an under 88m metre vessel tocan placedbe onused to license an 8 to 1010m metrevessel, 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 metres10m
• 100 kw limit on aggregations onto vessels under 8 metres8m

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.

TransferringEstablishing a licence/licencelicence entitlement

When the current holder removes the licence from a vessel and wants to anotherretain partythe entitlement this process is referred to as establishing an entitlement.

TheIf currentyou licence/entitlementare the current holder and want to establish an entitlement, you will need to complete application ‘Establish Establishment or Transfertransfer of an Entitlemententitlement and Transfertransfer of a Licence’licence that is administered by Marine Management Organisation (AFL7).

Once declaringMMO thatreceives the application, if everything is in order, they arewill surrenderingaim theto send your ‘Notification of Entitlement’ within 5 working days.

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

Transferring a licence/licence entitlement

If you are the current holder and want to transfer a newlicence holder.entitlement, Inyou 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 surrender the licence entitlement.

If you are wanting a licence entitlement to be transferred into your name, you do not need to complete this application theybut you will need to provide the current licence/licenceholder entitlementwith the following details andso thethey newcan holder’stell name,us address,that emailthey andare mobilesurrendering phonethe number.rights to their licence/licence entitlement to you.

The MMOcurrent holder will checkneed the applicationfollowing anddetails notifyfor theall new holderholders.

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

Once MMO receives the application hasfrom beenthe receivedcurrent holder, they will notify you by email and you will be processedable to check the licence/licence entitlement details. If everything is in order, they will aim to send your ‘Notification of Entitlement’ within 5 working days.

Becoming

You theshould holdernote that a Notification of Entitlement is NOT a valid fishing vessel licence.

Disaggregating a licence entitlement

TheIf you are the current holder and want to disaggregate your licence entitlement holderinto 2 or more parts, you will need to complete applicationApplication to Disaggregate a Fishing Vessel Licence Entitlement (AFL19).

If you are the current holder and want to transfer a disaggregated entitlement you will need to complete ‘EstablishmentEstablishment or transfer of an entitlement and transfer of a licence that is administered by Marine Management Organisation (AFL7)’(AFL7) to transfer the licence entitlement into your name..

If you are wanting to transfer a licencedisaggregated entitlement to be transferred into your name,name and not split further, you do not need to complete thisthe AFL7 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/licencedisaggregated 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 MarineMMO Managementreceives Organisation receive the application from the current holder, wethey will notify you by email and you will be able to check the licence/licencedisaggregated entitlement details. If everything is in order, wethey 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

SelectTo thisapply link tofor opena ourfishing applicationlicence formfor pagea British registered fishing vessel, you will need to applycomplete Application for ana fishing licence for a British registered fishing vessel (AFL2).administered by MMO.

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 your local MMO office.

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

Moves in and out of England

Category and permit changes

EntitlementsAs transferringpart backof the 2009 latent capacity exercise, category A limited licences were issued to 10m and under licence holders in England withwho ahad previouscaught trackless recordthan 300kg of havingquota beenstocks Categoryin the best 12 months during the period 1 July 2006 to 7 August 2008. There was a subsequent 2016 latent capacity exercise to issue category A limited licences to 10m and Underunder Limitedlicence holders in England who had caught less than 300kg of quota species in each calendar year during the period 2010 to 2013.

If a category A limited licence transferred to another UK fisheries administration, it would be received by that fisheries administration as a category A licence. If a licence transferred back to England that had a track record of being a category A limited licence (often referred to as capped. See See licence types ) )it will revert to being a limited/cappedcategory licence.A Thislimited rule also applies to aggregations.licence.

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 betweenduring the period 2010 andto 2013. The status of the suspended permits is subject to a Defrareview review.by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. 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.

FQAFixed Quota Allocation (FQA) units moratorium 

There is a current embargo on the trading of FQA units to and from Scotland and the rest of the UK. ThereforeTherefore, 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 20162016.

Request to change UK fisheries administration

Any vessel wishing to change administration within the UK should submit an an application to change UK fisheries administration, before a transaction proceeds, to its current administration for consideration.

The reasons for requesting a change of the country of administration should take into account the Concordat criteria that fishing vessels will, in general, be administered from the territory that they predominantly fish out of.

The completed form should be submitted to their current administrative office, who will then then forward it to fishingvessellicensing@marinemanagement.org.uk for consideration to either be added or released from the English Administration. The form must be completed by the vessel owner(s) who wish to request the change of administration between England to Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.

Bass Authorisations.

authorisations

If you want to catch and retain bass by gears other than demersal trawls and seines, you must have a written authorisation from the MMO to do so. Authorisations are being issued to vessels with a track record of landing bass during the reference period of 1 July 2015 to 30 September 2016.

Once you have been issued an authorisation you will be permitted to catch and retain bass with the gear types listed on your authorisation, subject to the specific limitations for each gear.

A Bassbass authorisation does not transfer ownership with a licence entitlement. The authority remains with the vessel. If you are replacing a vessel that has a bass authorisation, a transfer of authorisation will be considered but is subject to strict rules. It is the responsibility of any vessel owner to seek relevant approvals from the MMO prior to making a commitment to purchase a new fishing vessel, where they are wanting to transfer any existing authorisation.

Full details of the current Bassbass Fishing Guidance can be found at the following webpage: Bass Fishing Guidance 20232024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) and queries relating to a Bassbass authorisation or transfer of an authorisation should be directed to to bass@marinemanagement.org.uk

Contact information

For further information on domestic fishing vessel licensing rules please contact the Fisheries Management Team.

MMO Helpline: 0300 123 1032

Email: Email: fishingvessellicensing@marinemanagement.org.uk