Fishing - pelagic quota cuts 2026: business and regulatory impact assessment

Section 4: Additional Implementation Considerations

Enforcement/Compliance

The Scottish Government monitors industry performance against landing targets as part of its annual administration of the economic link licence condition.

All fishing vessels with an AO category licence are obliged to comply with the economic link licence condition, where vessels have recorded landings of more than 10 tonnes of the named species (in combined total).

Vessels may comply with the licence condition (as currently drafted) in two ways:

• Land at least 55% of the listed 8 key species into Scottish ports; or
• Pay quota back to the Marine Directorate (for onward distribution to Scottish vessels) in the following year, equivalent to 26% of the value of the shortfall to have otherwise meet criterion 1.

The proposed amendment adjusts criterion 1 to require vessels to:

• Land at least 55% all landings of cod, haddock, whiting, monkfish, hake & nephrops (combined) and land at least 70% of all landings of mackerel and 70% of all landings of herring into Scottish ports.

Criterion 2 is not being amended.

The Marine Directorate will utilise established corporate systems (Compass and IFish) to assess vessel landings against Criterion 1.

Where the Marine Directorate finds that a vessel did not meet with either criterion, for complying with the licence condition, a recommendation on appropriate punitive action will be passed to Scottish Ministers for consideration.

The Marine Directorate has the necessary regulatory powers and existing resources to enforce the revised economic link licence condition. The proposed enforcement approach mirrors and is aligned to previous policies and requirements.

UK, EU and International Regulatory Alignment and Obligations

Internal Market/ Intra-UK Trade

Revising the landing thresholds within the economic link condition in the Scottish commercial fishing licence will increase a policy divergence within the UK Licencing regime, with other devolved fisheries departments having different compliance eligibility criteria within their licences. That said, this difference will only apply to 21 pelagic Scottish administered vessels and is unlikely to have any practical impact across the remaining UK Fleet.

UK and devolved ministers have wide ranging sea fisheries licensing powers provided under the Fisheries Act 2020, which allows for regulatory and policy divergence between UK nations.

Fisheries Administrations apply common licensing rules and protocols on the administration of licences under their management. This common approach is underpinned further by the UK Concordat 2012, the Joint Fisheries Statement (JFS) and UK Fisheries Agreement.

The JFS sets out the policies of the UK fisheries Administrations for achieving or contributing to of the Fisheries Act’s eight fisheries objectives and forms part of the UK Fisheries Management and Support Framework. In developing the revised economic link licence condition for Scottish vessels, we have maintained engagement with the other devolved departments and have considered the following in our decision-making process:

• The national objective in bringing social and economic benefits to Scotland and the UK by vessels administered by the Scottish Ministers.
• Processing and Marketing sector – by promoting a resilient industry and its communities.
• The seafood sector by safeguarding existing employment levels
• Assisting coastal fisheries and their communities adapt to future needs.
• The needs of seafood businesses and fishing industries to remain economically viable.

International Trade Implications

The proposal will not:

• Affect imports or exports of a specific good or service, or groups of goods or services.
• Affect trade flows with one or more countries.
• Place particular technical requirements upon imported goods.
• Include different requirements for domestic and foreign businesses.

The proposal is in line with our international obligations under World Trade Organisation (WTO) agreements and UK Free Trade Agreements (FTAs).

EU Alignment Consideration

The proposal is not relevant to the Scottish Government’s policy to maintain EU alignment, nor will it impact on the terms of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement with the EU.

Legal Aid

There is unlikely to be an impact on the legal aid fund. The change to the economic link licence condition does not create a new procedure or right of appeal to a court or tribunal. The new licence condition could be challenged by way of a judicial review in the Court of Session. Legal aid is available for judicial review applications if the legal aid means test and certain other requirements are met. It is unlikely that an applicant with necessary standing to bring such a claim would meet the means test and qualify for legal aid.

Digital Impact

There should be no effect or impact.

Business Forms

This proposal will not bring in any new forms for business to complete for monitoring or reporting.

Post Implementation Review

To be reviewed in 2026. The Scottish Government will keep the amendment under review during 2026 and amended if necessary. This will be achieved through engagement with stakeholders, ensuring that feedback from the implementation of the revised economic link is taken into account as we consider the ongoing effectiveness and impact of this policy.