Fishing vessel weekly licence variations 29 December 2023

ALL groups

AU,AUP & AO

Removal of licence condition

AU/AUP – condition 2.6

AO – condition 2.8

Notwithstanding any quota limitation detailed in the Annexes, the vessel to which this licence relates may retain on board and land Cod caught in ICES Divisions VIa; EU and International Waters of Vb east of 12°00'W only insofar as such catches do not exceed 500 kgs (by live weight) and do not exceed 2.5% of the total landings (by live weight) retained on board the vessel during each fishing trip.

0001 hours on 1 January 2024

New condition added to licence

AU/AUP – condition 2.9

AO – condition 2.13

Authority: Crawfish

By way of exception to retained EU Regulation 1241/2019, in ICES sea area VII (of English waters), the minimum conservation reference size for Crawfish (Palinurus spp.) shall be 110mm. 

For clarity, in all other waters of ICES sea area VII the minimum conservation reference size for Crawfish (Palinurus spp.) shall continue to be 95mm.

A Crawfish shall be measured, as the length of the carapace, parallel to the midline, from the tip of the rostrum to the midpoint of the distal dorsal edge of the carapace.

ALL groups

AU,AUP & AO

New condition added to licence

AU/AUP – condition 2.17

AO – condition 2.22

Fishing Restrictions for Undulate Ray in VII d & e

Undulate Ray (Raja undulata) may only be caught between the hours of 00:01 on 1 January and 23:59 on 30 April; and 00:01 on 1 September and 23:59 on 31 December. 

Each calander year a fishing vessel may retain on board and land any Undulate Ry caught in ICES area VIId and VIIe provided that the following conditions are met:

a)  No more than 200 kilogrammes of Undulate Ray in live weight may be retained on board or landed per fishing trip.

b)  In cases where it is not subject to the landing obligation set out in Article 15 of Regulation (EU) 1380/2013, no Undulate Ray which measures less than 78 centimetres when measured from tip of the snout to the tip of the tail shall be retained on board or landed.

c)  In cases where it is not subject to the landing obligation set out in Article 15 of Regulation (EU) 1380/2013, no Uduate Ray which measures more than 97 centimetres when measured from the tip of the snout to the tip of the tail shall be retained on board or landed.

d)  No Undulate Ray may be transhipped.

e)  Undulate Ray may only be retained on board or landed whole or gutted.

0001 hours on 1 January 2024

New condition added to licence

AU/AUP – condition 2.18

AO – condition 2.23

Fishing restrictions for Bass

This licence does not authorise fishing for, retaining on board, relocating, transhipping or landing European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax) in ICES divisions 4b and 4c, and in ICES sbarea 7.

Condition 1 above does not apply in ICES divisions 4b, 4c, 7d, 7e, 7f and 7h and in waters within the territorial sea of the United Kingdom in ICES divisions 7a and 7g to a vessel using demersal trawls (all types: OTB, OTT, PTB, TBB, TBN, TBS and TB) or seines (all types: SSC, SDN, SPR, SV, SB and SX).

Condition 1 above does not apply in ICES divisions 4b, 4c, 7d, 7e, 7f and 7h and in waters within the teritorial sea of the United Kingdom in ICES divisions 7a and 7g to a vessel which has been additionally authorised in writing by the Marine Directorate to fish with a permitted gear.  

A permitted gear means one of the following gear types:

  - hooks and lines (all long lines or pole and line or rod and line fisheries: LHP, LHM, LLD, LL, LTL, LX and LLS)

  - fixed gillnets (all fixed gillnets and traps: GTR, GNS, FYK, FPN and FIX).

For vessels using demersal trawls and seines the vessel may only retain on board unavoidable by-catches of seabass that; do not exceed 5%  of the weight of the total catches of marine organisms on board during any single fishing trip and; no more than 3.8 tonnes (3,800kgs) per vessel per year.

A vessel authorised to fish for seabass using more than one of the gear types set out in condition(s) 1 and 2 may not retain on board seabass if more than one of the gear types is present on board the vessel during any single fishing trip.

All Groups

AO/AU/AUP

Stanhope Ground – seasonal cod closure coordinates change

AO - Condition 5.7 – AO

AU/AUP - Condition 5.6 - AU/AUP

60° 25'N - 001°45'E

60° 25'N - 002°00'E

60° 10'N - 002°00'E

60° 10'N - 001°45'E

0001 hours on 1 January 2024

500kgs per month

10 Metre and Under -  Non PO

AU

Change in limit

Pollack

VI; EU and International Waters of Vb; International Waters of XII & XIV

0001 hours on 1 January 2024

Non-sector

AO

Closure

Mackerel

VI, VII, VIIIabde; EU and International Waters of Vb; International Waters of IIa, XII & XIV

23:59 hours on 31 December 2023

ALL over 15m vessels

AO

(2024) Effort allocation confirmed

Edible crab (Cancer pagurus) and Spider Crab (Maja Squinado)

VII

160 days for the period 1 January 2024 – 31 December 2024

0001 hours on 1 January 2024

ALL over 15m vessels

AO

(Quarter 1, 2024)

Effort allocation confirmed

Scallops

VII

70 days for the period 1 January 2024 – 31 March 2024

0001 hours on 1 January 2024