Understand your fishing vessel licence

How to understand each part of your fishing vessel licence – vessel details, conditions, schedule, annex and their current copies.

All licences refer to fishing opportunities within the UK EEZ

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 MMO fishing vessel licensing team 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.

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

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

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 – Category A

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

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