Fishing vessel weekly licence variations 30 May 2025

Licence condition changes 

Producer Organisation/Non-Producer Organisation Group	Type of Licence	Licence conditions text amendment	Effective date
All groups                                                           All Groups	AO                                                           AO, AU, AUP	CONTROLS WITH RESPECT TO FISHING IN SPECIFIED PARTS OF THE SEA – Lobster & Brown Crab Condition: 5.32.1. replaced with: From 00:00 hrs on 31 May 2025, the vessel to which this licence relates* may not deploy creels, pots or traps for the purposes of catching or retaining quantities of brown crab and/or lobster from within any part of Scottish inshore waters (0-6 nautical miles)**, with the exception of the inshore waters surrounding St Kilda (Hirta and Boreray), Flannan Isles, Rockall, Sula Sgeir, North Rona, Sule Stack, and Sule Skerry. *(Fishing vessels of greater than 14 metres overall length and fishing vessels of greater than 12 metres overall length which have notified catches of over 200 tonnes of brown crab and/or lobster to the competent authority during any 12 month period(s) from 2020 onwards). **(As defined in the Inshore Fishing (Scotland) Act  1984). Condition: 5.32.2. Removed. RETURN OF CATCHES TO THE SEA – Lobster & Brown Crab Condition: 3.1.5. Replaced with: From 00:00 hrs on 31 May 2025, the vessel to which this licence relates* may not, retain onboard, land, offer for sale, or consign lobster (Homarus Gammarus) or brown crab (Cancer pagurus) carrying any spawn attached to the tail or other exterior part; or in a condition as to show that, at the time of capture, it was carrying eggs so attached.  *(All licenced fishing vessels of all categories.)	31 May 2025                                           31 May 2025     31 May 2025

For awareness, from mid-May 2025, Marine Directorates Marine Protection Vessels (MPV) Hirta and Jura will be utilising ship based short and medium range Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) technology to support fishery controls with aerial surveillance capacity. The RPAS will be launched from the MPV’s and may operate beyond the visual line of sight of the MPV and not be visible during their operation.

The following are presented for clarity of the current fortnightly period.

Organisation/ Non-producer Organisation Group	Type of Licence	Reason	Species	Area of Sea	Limit	Effective Date
10 Metre and Under- Non PO (Moray Firth)	AU	Effective date	Mackerel	IIIa & IV : EU waters of IIa, IIIbcd	Fortnightly catch limit of 1.5 tonnes	0001 hours on 01 June 2025 - 2359 hours on 14 June 2025
10 Metre and Under- Non PO (Shetland)	AU	Effective date	Mackerel	IIIa & IV : EU waters of IIa, IIIbcd	Fortnightly catch limit of 1 tonne	0001 hours on 01 June 2025 - 2359 hours on 14 June 2025
10 Metre and Under- Non PO (Orkney)	AU	Effective date	Mackerel	IIIa & IV : EU waters of IIa, IIIbcd	Fortnightly catch limit of 1 tonne	0001 hours on 01 June 2025 - 2359 hours on 14 June 2025
10 Metre and Under- Non PO (IVb)	AU	Effective date	Mackerel	IIIa & IV : EU waters of IIa, IIIbcd	Fortnightly catch limit of 2 tonnes	0001 hours on 01 June 2025 - 2359 hours on 14 June 2025

Notice to fishers

We are providing this update from the UK Fish Export Service to fishing vessel licence holders registered with the Marine Directorate of the Scottish Government.

We recently advised of changes to the EU’s Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing regulation. These new provisions, which include measures to support traceability of fish produce entering the common market, will be mandatory for all third countries from January 2026. You can read more about these changes in the EU’s frequently asked questions document.

While you may not export directly, much of the seafood caught by UK vessels is exported abroad with around 75% of this going to EU markets. This means these changes may impact you and your produce further down the supply chain.

Marine Management Organisation (MMO) and the other UKFAs and CDs are still working to better understand these changes but it is clear that updated IUU documents being rolled out as part of the new EU regulation will require additional information beyond what you currently provide. This includes:

• Catch dates

You currently provide the landing date for the products that you sell that may be exported. The EU will also require a start date. The information exporters will need will be:

1. ‘Start’ date, defined as the date the vessel left port on the trip the fish was landed.
2. ‘End’ date, defined as the date the catch was landed (or the first day landing begins if this is not completed within a single day).

• Catch Area(s)

You will need to provide the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) the produce was caught from, where applicable.

You will also need to provide the Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs) where applicable. Discussions with the EU are ongoing to better understand this requirement.

• Fishing Gear(s)

You will need to provide the gear used to catch the produce.

What is next and how you can help

MMO will be making changes to the Fish Export Service (FES) in the coming months to accommodate these changes. A phased roll-out will see additional fields added to the service incrementally to help exporters familiarise themselves with the new requirements. Consequently, to ensure a continued ability to export fish to the EU, we are asking you to begin sharing this information up the supply chain to whomever buys your catch, including merchants and exporters.

In the meantime, we will continue to engage one-to-one with fishers, merchants and exporters to better understand your processes, what these impending changes might mean for you and how we can best support you. We encourage you to have your say and help us shape the export process - if you are interested in taking part, please complete the sign-up form below (see link) to join our research panel. Our User Researcher will then contact you directly to arrange a research session:

Sign-up form

MMO and the other UKFAs and CDs are committed to working with the industry to help minimise any disruption or additional administrative burden and to ensure we are compliant with this revised regulation. We will be in touch again soon with further details, including a timeline for the impending FES updates.

Remote Electronic Monitoring

Remote Electronic Monitoring (REM) is now mandatory for any vessel dredging for scallops in Scottish waters, and for Scottish scallop dredge vessels wherever they are fishing. Read the Remote Electronic Monitoring guidance.

The legislation - The Sea Fisheries (Remote Electronic Monitoring and Regulation of Scallop Fishing) (Scotland) Regulations 2024 – also requires REM on relevant pelagic vessels from 7 March 2026. In order to prepare for the new rules coming into force, remote inspections and system test trips can be carried out from 7 September 2025.  Guidance on the pelagic vessel requirements will be published in due course.

Fishing vessel quota limits tables: 2025 - showing the quota limits applicable to 10m and under and over 10m non-sector vessels.

Fisheries closures table: 2025 showing all fisheries closures, by group, for Scottish fishing licences.